I drank Ensure with fiber to get a double bonus. Everyone is right--you have to eat. Having a fissure is a great weight loss diet!!
I synopsized an article that I read on Dazzy's thread. It is very important to keep a good mental attitude which is so difficult when your butt hurts like H*ll, and no one seems to understand your plight. You have to keep telling yourself that you can heal even if you really think you can't. Good luck and again welcome. Lastly, I agree that the person who created this forum did such a great service to mankind. Must be the name!

Praise Jesus I have an appt with a CRS today @ 3:30. Hopefully he won't have to be super invasive but at least I know that I'm gonna be dealing with someone that knows their stuff.
I'll let everyone know how it goes- thanks!

Good luck with your exam !!! That is great that you got app. so fast !!! With proper early treatment you have a great chance to heal naturally !!!
You can eat some fish and chicken but make sure you eat also a lot of cooked veggies with it at the same time. Beans also give very nice poop (any kind of beans). Eat fresh fruit or cooked ones (canned if you do not have time to make a compote yourself). You will have VERY soft poop if you eat cooked oatmeal (with water/milk in 50/50 ratio mixed with freeze dried fruits ). Cook it to be in a mushy consistency when done. In my experience, with active fissure even whole wheat bread made poop more formed - so I just skipped breads and pasta all together, except of little bit of noodles in a chicken soup with lots of carrots and peas in it.
It is great that Milk of M. gave you such a great result - you can experiment with the dosage until you find the perfect amount. It is very individual. I discovered that taking a small amount 2 times a day (one TEA-spoon) worked better than taking big spoon once a day. I also used Mineral oil softener that made poop "glide out" easily , but you can use natural oils too (like olive oil, fish oil, etc.) BUT DO NOT TAKE MINERAL OIL AND MILK OF MAGNESIA together - that can cause very bad side-effects. Maybe it is better to stick with natural oils -they have many health benefits anyway :D !!!
Do not underestimate the importance of hot baths - they relax the muscle and promote circulation and help fissure heal !!!!
Ensure etc., are OK of course - some people even find that Ensure makes the poop softer !
Hope your exam was not too painful - but the visit to CRS is essential ...
Best of luck with everything and remember that you have a great chance of healing with acute fissure - just stick with protocol and once you feel healed continue with it for 6 month at least . The biggest mistake new fissure sufferers do is to stop with regiments too soon and re-tear :( and than they have to go through pain all over again. Not only that - any time you injure that area again - it makes it more prone to re-injuring and inflammation and than fissure can become chronic

Jason,
Happy you were able to get an appointment so soon! Be sure to let us know what you learned from the doc appt. Good luck.
Fiss,
Lovely pics!

So my CRS says I have not only an anal fissure, it's also an anal fistula. He said the fissure wouldn't require surgery, but the fistula does. And he said since he's going in for the fistula that he'll also work on the fissure. I go in for surgery Thursday.
He prescribed nitroglycerin .2% ointment. The hospital had a Walgreen's that actually compounded for them downstairs from his office so I filled it there. I just took a bath (he had to go in and inspect...not pleasant) and I dried off and put a dab of the ointment on the outside. He said to NOT put any on the inside. The pharmacist said I should use a cotton ball or glove to apply it...why? The CRS didn't mention it; he just said if it causes a headache to take ibuprofen.
So I'm happy that I'm gonna get treated. He said the surgery is like 97% recovery rate and that I shouldn't have any problems later. I'm still going to be very careful about my diet and health though, never want this to happen again.
I'm thinking about eating a plum now. Fruits and vegetables should be ok, right? I'm frickin terrified of my next BM. But I think if I fruit/veggie it and no bread/pasta/meat I can keep my stool soft. Plus I'm gonna take some more MOM tonight before bed. Maybe 1 miligram tonight, 2 miligrams seemed just a but much.

Oh nooooooo !!! Dear Jason - you are doing fantastic considering what you have !!! Fistula AND the fissure :( :( :( - that is a bummer !!! Many boarders had to deal with both menaces and I am so happy you insisted to see CRS - you see how important it is to fight for proper treatment and never let doctors tell you " that it is nothing" !!!!!
Good thing is that it is discovered so soon - the surgery will not be the "breeze" , but will save you many complications on the long run !!! Fistulas can be very nasty and "barrow" deep in and make twists and turns and drain in vierd places - so no matter how shocking the news are - you will fix that damn thing and be on the road to complete recovery soon !!!
Regarding Nitro - I used my finger and applied it outside and had great result. Just wash the finger immediately (which you would do anyway after touching your butt LOL), so extra Nitro is not absorbed through skin that way also. Nothing that will kill you, LOL, just maybe give you stronger headache. I rarely had headache and I used Tylenol with great success :). I also used it more than 3 times a day - about 5 times ... but do what you find works for you the best !
I wish you best of luck with your surgery . Ask your surgeon a lot of questions before the surgery - they are more open for questions before procedure than after LOL, and you will feel more informed and in control.

Oh, wow! Sounds like you got the two-deal special -- Fissure and fistula for the price of one! The surgeon much feel very confident about your recovery from the fissure since he's treating only the fistula. With two boardies either recovering from or about to have fistula surgery, maybe this should become the Anal Fissure and Fistula Support forum?
Good luck with the surgery, Jason... !

Why do so many get fissures and fistulas also???

When fissure forms it is perfect place for bacteria to grow and multiply and cause infection - fistula !!!!

OK--I understand!!