Hi All, I'm new to this site. Great to find a place to talk to others with the same problem.
I've had a chronic fissure for about four months now. It began while I was headed for Galapagos for vacation and nearly ruined my trip.
I've tried all kinds of things , and practically been living in my Sitz bath !!
About two months ago I had Botox injections under general anesthetic.
Frankly, I don't think it did anything except relieve me of control of my tunes from the rear trumpet. What a waste of time and expensive as well.
My Doctor surgeon sais he wants to try Botox two more times before doing the lateral spinkterectomy surgery for the final try.
I would like to try everything else before any more Botox or going there.with surgery..................
What other remedies might any of you tried and had success with ???
Thanks Much

I got my fissure on Hawaii - so I know exactly what you are talking about : (((. Fortunately I was there many times before, so it was not complete loss : (.
Did you try Nitro creams or Nefidapine? They relax sphincter too. They helped me heal my fissure in 8 weeks but than it opened again
and I went strait for the LIS - just had enough of it !!!! (total of 5 months).
Now, 2 months later my fissure has healed and I am pain free and without any side effects from surgery (except one skin tag that bothers me sometimes, but nothing that can be compared with fissure).
You have to adjust your diet - a lot of fiber, stool softeners , etc. to make your poop as fluffy as possible but not liquid ! Also, drink a lot of water/tea, at least 8 glasses a day, and avoid alcohol, coffee and everything else that might dehydrate you. Try to read as much posts as you can - you will find a lot information about all of the above.
All the best and welcome to the forum : ) !!!!

Thanks Fissulyna, Yea, in Galapagos I was scuba diving every day and I think the salt water for ten days scuba diving almost cleared it up, but it went bad again flying home.
I tried the Nitro cream and almost died of a heart attack when I put too much on one nite - really scared the heck out of me !
What is Nefidapine ??? Not heard of that one ..................
I am trying some suppositories with hydrocortosone for a few weeks to attempt to heal it up. I've tried tons of different creams and getting really tired of shoving stuff up there.
My Sitz Bath looks like an old worn out Chinese hat it so worn out. My diet is plenty filled with fiber and never seem to need softeners .
Thanks again for the comments and I'll keep reading other's comments.
JA

You are welcome : ) ! Nefidapine is also cream that relaxes sphincter and I applied it outside, same as Nitro. Nitro can have side effects, so some people prefer Nif. cream. You can not buy it without doctors prescription, so ask your CRS to do that for you. At one point I used Nitro AND Nif. together trying to find some relief of horrible pain 24/7. I had continuos spasms and excruciating pain going to the bathroom : ((( ! Just wanted to die : (.
Hydrocortisone was never proven to help with fissures -it can actually thin the skin and make the things worse : (. I would stop with it if I were you. I tried TONS of different creams - spent TON of money : (((. I managed to heal but for the only 3 weeks ...I also had very healthy diet (since I am originally from Mediterranean region) but still, I had to make my poop even softer since my CRS advised me that it has to have consistency of a "toothpaste" for the fissure to heal ! I was taking Milk of magnesia and mineral oil and that made me go 5 times a day : (.
I lost 20 pounds in 4 months and I thought that that was the end of me : (((.
I wish you best of luck !!!

Sore,
Sorry to hear it's been so bad.
I think a couple rounds of botox is definitely worth trying before moving on to surgery. But is interesting that you didn't seem to get much out of the first round.
Nefedipine and diltiazem are both blood pressure medicines which can be compounded into a cream and used to relieve the tightness in the anal canal that most AF people have. It can heal in many cases, and bring some relief in others. Ask your GP or CRS about them. My general surgeon was unaware of them as an AF treatment but let me have it anyway.

Well, I was not a candidate for LIS due to some other health problems but I was successful using the diltiazem and 3-4 baths a day. But with that regimen I had hardly any time for anything else. It was like a full time job trying to get rid of this thing.

It seems like most people need more than one botox treatment so don't get discouraged.

One thing that I find that helps with the spasms in to take a small dose of valium (like 5 mg). I find within 30 minutes the pain would get better because it relaxed the anus. I know some CRS's will prescribe it but some are hesitant because it could be addictive but at that small of a dose I would take my chances. Just an idea.

I know you have probably done everything to keep your bowels soft and non-scratchy but one thing that really helps me is to take some mineral oil, flax seed oil or fish oil and it kind of coats the stool so it doesn't scrape as much. Of course even with that I am bleeding some (due to hemorrhoid surgery) but I think it was be worse if I weren't using it. I just walk around with greasy lips all the time like i have been eating KFC.

Good luck and welcome to the board.

Thanks you all for the advice. I did try Nitro cream and used too much one time and scared the H""L out of me - thought I was going to die ! It didn't seem to help with anything so I quit.
I have been drinking Aloe , applying Aloe, doing Sitz three times daily, eating Arnica, vitamin C, and E .......
No wonder I don;t need stool softeners right ? LOL
Anyway, this fissure doesn't totally ruin my day - just uncomfortable sitting and just won't heal up !!! Errrrrrrr....!!!
I'll ask my Doc for the Nefidapine and try it . Maybe all this stuff I'm taking will poison me and cure the problem ............

Fissulyna and Lecia, I am sorry the hear of the pain you two have endured. It is great that you are here helping others get through this misery. Sometimes I wonder how people get throught this sort of relentless pain.
What I have learned recently in life is not to jump right into surgery for a fix. Sometimes the surgery is disappointing and causes more problems than you had. ( recently had kneee surgery like that )

Dear JA,
I really hope that you will heal soon. One never knows - it can happen when you expect it the least ! You need to be very patient and very consistent form many, MANY months, and once that fissure heals don't forget that it needs about a year to regain it's original strength, so even when you heal you have to be extremely careful not to reopen it again : ( !!!
Yes, one should not jump into surgery - but for me it was a life saver ; ) ! My husband has great success with knee surgery too, I guess it is like with everything else in life - sometimes you drive a great card, sometimes not ; ))) ! BUT, we have to plow forward !!!
All the best always

Thanks Fissulyna, I am determined !!