i've been browsing this forum ever since i had my sphincterotomy on may 15. i've been very frustrated with my progress the entire time since the surgery. i dealt with this horrible problem for the last 8 months, having it misdiagnosed as hemmorhoids and trying every "treatment" under the sun before finally finding out it was a fissure and choosing surgery as a simple solution to my pain (or so i thought). i've read everyone say how little pain they felt only a week or 2 after, but i honestly don't feel much different after this month. i take 2 250mg stool softeners a day, 3 warm baths, at least a couple tylenol, and eat tons of fiber and drink lots of water. i know i'm doing everything right, but it's just not getting better! :(
i had a good-sized skin tag removed at the same time as the LIS was done, and this is very slow to heal as well. I'm wondering if anyone else had a skin tag removed and how the healing process for that was? and if that maybe affected the healing of the fissure? the area where the skin tag was removed has closed together but is still somewhat swollen and very tender.
does anyone have any advice or any similar experience after surgery?? my dr. says "give it more time" and that some people just take longer to heal. but i am unbelievably frustrated and depressed that the surgery has not taken away my pain. at this point it doesn't seem to have fixed anything. i'm feeling very hopeless.

juney,
i am sorry you are not feeling any better than before your LIS.
for what it is worth, one of the things that seemed a challenge in considering LIS for me was that there could be a year or two to heal. for the most part, definitely allow six to eight months for sure.
with your fiber, stool softners, water, better foods...you would think that you would feel an improvement post LIS two weeks.
however, sometimes, depending on the surgeon, one may be super conservative and not cut as much as needed, etc.
plus the fact that you did have your skin tag removed, i believe may be adding a different level of pain to your situation. removing the skin tag removes skin and flexibility from your anus and thus requires healing of those tissues, which i would assume would be somewhat longer time to heal.
i am curious if you feel any difference in eliminating your bowel movements? are you still straining? or does your crap come out with ease and with smooth? let's start with that assessment of your bowel movements.

thanks for a quick response! i guess i should have mentioned some other things in my post: my surgeon said expect soreness for up to 4-6 weeks. i guess i just assumed "soreness" would be a different kind of feeling. i can only assume i'm still having the same fissure pain because it's in the same location. maybe the pain is actually from the removed skin tag. i feel the most pain when i've been sitting for awhile and then stand up, like a sharp pain upon standing. exactly what i felt before the surgery. for hours after a morning bm.
my bm's are soft and regular. after months of dealing with this, i learned not to strain, rather just hover over the toilet and let it come (TMI, i know, but probably not for this forum). there is no pain at all with the actual movement, only afterwards. just as it was before!
i'm just wondering, where did you hear it could take a year or two to heal from LIS surgery? the surgeon, along with so many people on this forum, made it seem like pain relief (and healing) would be almost immediate.
has anyone on the board had a long recovery?? also, when people talk about their spasms (before surgery), are they constant? did anyone else experience pain after their surgery? everyone makes it seem like such a rosy recovery process. i'm hoping i'm confusing my recovery pain with the pain i used to feel, although it's very similar. that's the most frustrating part.

I think it IS possible the pain is from the skin tag, but you know your pain. After my "hemmorhoidectomy" last August, two days late, I was in the exact same pain and that's when I knew i had to have a fissure. I recognized that I was still in the exact same pain.
If you are not better in the prescribed time, 4-6 weeks, you really should see another CRS for a second opinion. If it's not the skin tag, then something is wrong.
Are you having spasms after the bowel movement? If so, how long do they last?

i am having the same type pain as i always had before the surgery. i always assumed what i was feeling was spasms since i definitely had a fissure. it's very sore in the area, with occasional sharp pains.
i usually go to the bathroom in the morning, around 9ish, and then am in constant pain for the rest of the day. it subsides by the late evening and i wake up feeling decent, but the cycle continues every day. just like it used to! i work at an office so i am sitting on it all day. if i sit in a comfortable position i don't feel any pain. but when i stand up, it's like a sharp stabbing feeling, which i'm used to from before surgery.
i had my surgery done by an assistant chiefs of surgery at kaiser, so i feel like he knows what he's doing. but i'm getting annoyed that everytime i complain of still having pain he brushes it off, offers more painkillers, and says "give it more time".
maybe i'm jumping the gun in worrying, but it's been 1 whole month and i've never heard of anyone taking this long to feel relief.

If you had the sphincter cut, a la an LIS procedure, the spasms, if that is what you were having, should have stopped the same day.
That the pain is constant seems to indicate to me, a non medical former AF sufferer, that it is not spasms but some other type pain, AF-related or not. The spasms should come and go, not be constant.
I wonder if you may also have some type of nerve damge or some other problem beyond just the AF. I am just guessing.

hmm, maybe i never had the same type of spasms that other people describe. although that's what i always thought i was feeling. there's no pain when i'm just sitting, or laying, still. but if i move then i get a sharp pain - like when i stand up after sitting. (taking the pressure off seems to result in a sharp pain).
the dr said it was definitely a fissure and that he did a clean sphincterotomy and it should be helping it heal. he seems to think i'm just one of those people who heals more slowly than most. just my luck.
i wonder if it's possible that i'm so used to pain down there that now i'm more sensitive to ANY pain at all, so it feels worse than it is? i guess i'm going to call the dr again. my 6-week post op is on the 25th but i don't know if i can wait that long. :(
has anyone had a skin tag removed at the same time as surgery?? what was your recovery like for that wound??

I haven't had AF surgery but I have had rectal surgery in the past and the healing is slow going. I think doctors actually do a disservice when they give you healing "dates." Then when that time period is up and you still feel pain, it is like something is wrong with you.
I would get the brush off from doctors about the immensity of the pain and that my pain was not being controlled to the point that I would lie on my stomach most of the time. It did get better but the answer the doctors always gave was that for some people healing can take longer.
One thing that helped to prevent a pain spiral was to take medicine before I went to the bathroom to get it in my system. I took 4 (200 mg) advil in the morning which is equivalent to one precription strength pill. I also increased my protein intake a bit and took vitamin C supplements.
Has your pain decreased overall since before the surgery? I think the longer you are pain the less resistance and reserves you have to ideal it. It can really weaken you! I think you need to be able to control the pain better so you can heal. I told the doctor that if I was thinking about my butt ALL the time that my pain was not under control enough. I did have to resort to taking stronger meds at times. I know it isn't recommended because they can be constipating but I just increased my fiber, water and flax oil to compensate.
You will get better. I know there were times when I doubted that for myself. I still have bad days or bad spells but overall am much better. Because that area is highly innervated and quite sophisticated it is pain can be quite intense. Healing can be slower too because that area is subject to repeated trauma from bowel movements and is not the cleanest area either.
Hang in there!
Lecia

thank you so much for that reply lecia! it helps to hear from someone so reassuring about the slow healing process.
i've been feeling so discouraged, thinking i'm nearing the end of the 4-6 week time period my doctor gave me for recovery. you're right, when doctors give estimates like that it really does make you feel like you're on a time limit...like if you don't heal completely by then something must be wrong. that's how i've been feeling lately.
i do think the pain is less than it was before the surgery, not as severe. it's just the same type of pain and by this point i'm so frustrated that any type of pain i feel down there feels horrible. like you said, i'm thinking about my butt ALL THE TIME, so i notice every twinge and pain down there, no matter how tiny it probably is.
i don't even remember what it was like to be "normal" and not worry about my bowel movements and how they would affect the rest of my day. i'm sure everyone on this board understands that.
thank you for your replies and support. i left a message for my dr earlier today. i think i'll ask for a refill of the stronger pain meds, just to help get through this rough patch.
also, lecia, how often do you use flax oil, and in what amount? i've never used it before, as i've been using the 250 mg stool softeners. but i'm willing to try anything else to help keep it soft.

Hey Juney,
I know how you feel about not remembering what it is like to be normal. I can't remember when I use to go to the bathroom and not have some pang of fear, hesitation or dread about what it would do to my bottom. But it will get better and there were days I really didn't believe the other board members when they told me that but they were right!
What I would recommend is to take a spoonful of flax seed oil in the morning and one at night. You can even use the flax seed oil on a salad or in a stir fry. I think the fish oil is good too if you can find one that doesn't smell so fishy. They have some that are infused with mint or orange flavor. I take Fisol capsules for fish oil which breaks down in the small intestine so you don't get that fish taste. But maybe just start with the flax seed oil and see how that does before adding to many things.
Take care,
Lecia