by msimon » 13 Nov 2015, 12:25
Hi there, and also welcome to the forum. So sorry to hear you have had to go through this. I also had an abscess (from my LIS) which then went on to start forming a fistula tract. Mine was operated on before it formed that second opening and so was called a 'sinus' rather than a 'fistula.' Anyway, it's kind of a distinction without a purpose because I had the same surgery, it was laid open to heal from the inside out.
I wish I could offer some more info about the extra and sore skin but the truth is that everyone reacts differently to anal surgery. It is very common to develop skin tags and they can be sore for a long time after, especially hemorrhoid surgery. I had this years ago and had that experience. I had to keep the area dry at all times with gauze and avoid too much friction or sitting on it.
I had massive swelling after my LIS and then of course swelling that increased and decreased based on how my abscess was doing. Once I had the area laid open, a lot of that extra skin was removed and I had a ditch. It was one super painful wound that took months to heal. I think these are much more painful when they are close to the opening, as mine was. It went up inside so was constantly being moved somewhat and BMs were absolute agony. Healing from this surgery is usually 3 months because it take the new skin a long time to replace the layers they take off.
Can you tell us more about your pain? Is it all the time or mostly around your BMs? Is it dull and aching/throbbing, or spastic? Does the area feel hot? Swollen?
Are you able to look at the area? If so, can you describe what it looks like (ie., red, scabby)? Is there any discharge and what does it look/smell like?
Where is the swollen part in relation to the wound you have?
Dec '13 Fissure from anoscope
3 X internal sphincter botox
'08-'15 Botox for pelvic floor dysfunction
Nov '14 LIS/sentinel tag removal
Feb '15 Deroofing of recurrent infection from LIS
summer '15-healed but still ongoing muscle dysfunction/pain