i'm 5 months out from my 2nd surgery and i've never completely healed. neither LIS surgery noticeably helped me at all. my case is so atypical though! i don't know why i haven't healed after 2 surgeries, and it's beyond frustrating for me.
i'm not having much pain anymore though. as long as i stick with 1 tablespoon of MOM everyday i'm able to have easy BMs. I can only hope some more healing is occuring down there. But i still can't have "normal" BMs and that really concerns me. I know the fissure isn't healed b/c I feel it inside and sometimes (average once a month) i have a hard BM that hurts like hell coming out and for a long time afterward. at least it's not everyday like it used to be!
i actually have an appt with a CRS today (not the one that did my surgeries) so i'm going to ask for some more advice. I saw her in December and she suggested botox and a full exam under GA but i'm hesitant to do that. I'm hoping she'll tell me to give it a few more months to heal and that using MOM long term is ok. That's what i'm hoping anyway!!
keep ya posted!!

Sorry to hear about your setback. I was just thinking about you the other day. My body gets used to the same old, same old too so I have been having to change things up from time to time. I like this fiber/probiotic supplement called Digestive Advantage for chronic constipation. It doestn't make the stool bulky at all. I have also had to try mineral oil for the first time. I am recovering from hemorrhoid surgery and if I don't basically give myself modified diarhhea I start bleeding again. Did you ever try the miralax?

Do you think you would give botox a try? I am think about it if this wound from the surgery doesn't heal. It is essentially a fissure though it was an incision that has busted open.

Take care and hope you feel better soon. And it does seem that surgery has helped quite a few folks here. I am always sad that Juney's didn't give her the relief that she needed but the others here are really glad that they had it done.

We're going to get Juney well though! Just wait and see.

Hi Lecia!
All the pain you've endured seems to enter my thoughts regularly. I don't know how you function. Have you recovered at all from the nerve damage at all? I've prayed about that for you.
I have not tried Digestive Advantage yet, but that is next on my list. I went to a doctor in late January who put me on digestive enzymes and probiotics, so I didn't want to complicate things by taking much else simultaneously. He wanted me to report back within a month to let him know how things worked, and I didn't want to contaminate the results with other things. Unfortunately, I did just that by taking at least 1 TBS of MOM per day. I just couldn't get away from it, given that I've been having bouts of hard stools since late last Fall. My CRS wanted me to try Miralax, but because I need relief right away, I always resort to more MOM when things start going awry. (I had tried Miralax one day, and when it didn't give me immediate relief, I turned to MOM, after reading how well it worked for Juney. It has worked just as well for me. I really have always planned to give Miralax more time, but I'll wait until my bms are more stable, and I can afford to experiment, if you know what I mean.) If Botox isn't FDA approved yet, the insurance might not cover it. I think surgery has appeal because I would like to have a looser sphincter. If mine is tighter than a lot of people's, I think that's obviously the source of the problem. I'd like to get through March without surgery, though, as I enjoy St. Patrick's season, and Easter is early. Plus, we're so busy at work. We'll see. Thanks!

LIS helps in about more than 90% of chronic fissures. My CRS said 98 %. So, it must than depend also of the expertise of a CRS and also if the patient has some underlying condition that is preventing fissure to heal. I found an article in which it was stated that when examined, patients that had LIS and no healing, there were ALWAYS findings that the LIS was not done properly. The CRS either cut wrong muscle or on the wrong place or did not cut it at all !!! Also, more than one CRS told me that the longer the fissure is present, the harder it is for that menace to be managed since it starts to form scar tissue. The one that operated on me strongly suggested that waiting more than a year would bring me in that category. So, I did LIS and my fissure is gone, thanks God !!!
Juney, I wish you would do complete exam and look in what went wrong with LIS : (((. I know that you are sick of doctors probing you and poking you - it almost starts to form feeling of abuse : ( - I know it started to feel like that to me. And, feeling sore after exam - it just drives one crazy !!! Like there was not much pain to begin with. But, we have to look for answers - we have to get rid of this pain !!! Don't ever give up, dear Juney : (, there MUST be the answer for you ! I also can't wait for you to heal, because i know that they messed up somewhere with you and it makes me furious !!!!!
I wish you both complete healing and SOON !!!!!!
XOXO

Hi Fissulyna,
That's what I fear - It's been nearly 18 mos. for me, and I'm afraid the scar tissue might be an impediment to healing. I read somewhere that they often remove the scar tissue in surgery, so I don't know just how bad it really is. My CRS has a lot of experience, and he didn't say anything about the time frame. But, then again, maybe he didn't want me to have more things to worry about. How long did it take you to heal after surgery (or at least to not have anymore pain)? Thanks.

Anyone have successful LIS for a fissure that is more than a year old? Thanks.

Hi Queen : ) ! You know what - I was "shopping around" for CRS trying to find one that would trust my butt with, and every single of them discovered to me something "new", something that previous did not mention, or forgot to mention or didn't want to mention. And frankly, I don't know if they all know everything either. So, I would take what looked logical to me, and discarded what did not. One of them said that fissures are something that i will have to deal with all my life and oh well - obviously he was wrong !!!! And I knew that he is just arrogant bastard right there and than and never came to him again. All of the others told me that it is not true at all !!!
Regarding scar tissue - it can be removed when it appears but if it is too extensive it leaves bigger "gush" that needs longer time to heal and may have difficulty healing. The scar tissue is easily seen and also the extent of it, so your CRS would be able to exactly tell you what situation is. More than a year just makes it more possible for scar to form BUT it does not have to happen !!! So, don't be worried -maybe you have none at all !!!!! I know that Gareth (Happyass) had them for long time and they healed spontaneously ! I just didn't want to live in pain any more or risk anything , not even recurrence - I have my life to live - so I jumped on that table happy as a clam. My sphincter was also unusually tight, on the last exam my CRS said that she will not even attempt exam since it was in such spasm - she was shocked . My pain went from 7 to 1 the moment I woke up and stayed there for about 6 weeks with being less, and less where now I have none. I have one skin tag that occasionally bothers me, but it can not compare with fissure pain and spasms 24/7 that I have to endure !!! And, I can cut it off of if it continues to bother me in the future.All in all, LIS was a miracle cure for me- I wish I did it even sooner !!!!! Fissure took a great toll on my general health and I am still recovering in that respect. I had my LIS on Dec. 20th, and I had my Post op 19th of this month and I insisted on internal exam because I wanted to know if it closed (although had no pain , just wanted confirmation), and I was told that it did indeed close !!!!!!! (knock the wood ; ))) So, for me the relief was immediate. I took only one Perkocet after surgery and even my first BM was so uneventful - I couldn't believe my butt !!!
I wish you all the best and if you have any more questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Hi Queen
Yes, I've had successful LIS for a fissure that was about 2 years old. During that 2 years or so prior to surgery, I used an ointment called "rectogesic". The active ingredient in this cream is "glyceryl trinitrate". This worked on & off over a 2 year period. When I used it for the first couple of times it gave me a shocking headache, which is very common. Then my body got used to it & it never gave me another headache. There were times when I really thought the fissure had healed, but before long it would always resurface.
It's now week 6 since my LIS. I also had several external/internal hemmies removed, 3 skin tags & several polyps removed. As I had so many things done, I don't know how long it took for the LIS pain to go away. I was in severe pain after surgery & I didn't know what was causing what pain. It took about 2 weeks for the severe pain to end & then about 1 more week for there to be no pain whatsoever. During week 5 I had a small set-back after bleeding from a hard stool, but this only lasted for 1-2 days.
Having surgery has ended the excrutiating pain I had felt on & off for 2 or so years. No regrets at all - except that I should've had surgery a lot earlier.
All the best. Thinking of you & praying for you.

Hi Fissulyna and Brett,
Thanks so much for your replies! Yes, I'm amazed how opinions differ so from CRS to CRS. I'm just thinking that the fact that I've had this condition for about 18 mos. makes me think I won't heal on my own. And so, my thoughts are turning more to surgery. It's amazing how a tear could produce so much pain, and keep you from making short or long-term life plans. There are a number of events I'd like to attend in March, but I'm afraid of making commitments without being able to predict my pain level. It concerns me, Brett, that you were in so much post-op pain. I know you had a few things done, and don't know what the pain was from, but I can't imagine coping with severe pain for two weeks! I'm afraid they might find skin tags and whatnot to be removed from me, as well. With a tight sphincter, who knows what damage I've done. Thanks again for your replies.
Queenofpain

Brett had a lot more than you are going to have Ann. Recovering from hemorrhoid surgery (which I had 6 weeks ago) is much more lengthy than LIS. As you can see on the boards that most people are feeling better quite quickly and so far no one has regretted their decision to have the surgery. When I decided to have hemorrhoid surgery I figured I was in pain anyway so what was I trading? Pain for more pain but the chance to perhaps heal and not have to deal with recurring thrombosed hemorrhoids. Time will go on regardless but for me I didn't want to continue to be in the same boat a year from now.

I would trade severe pain for 2 weeks if it gave me the freedom from daily chronic pain, but that's just me.