Can anyone tell me how long it takes for an anal abscess to form? I have had an external fissure for some time now..It's getting a bit better, but in last 2 days I have had this sore ache on left side of bum, it feels like it's kind of deep. I have had occasional chills, etc, with it, no nausea, it's not horrendous pain but more like an ache but annoying.

I went to ER to get checked out they said they didn't feel anything externally, but wonder if it could be internal. But I had a colonoscopy last March of 2013 and it was normal, I did have a small polyp removed in that general area on the left side near anal verge in March of 2013, but there was no abscess then, or in July, or in December of 2013 when I was scoped again to have my fissure checked. So what could be causing this soreness, it's mainly when I contract my anal muscles.

Don't they take a long time to develop? I have been having some constipation, but I doubt that is related. What do you all think? If it's no better next week they said to come back to ER for CT scan, but the attending resident doc today said she thought it probably wasn't an abscess but then again she didn't look inside but my CRS scoped me not even a month ago, is it possible an internal fissure could be missed or would the scope see it? Thanks.

Hi Alex. Hopefully someone will come along soon who has had an abcess. In the meantime here is a link to very good info provided by pub med:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002487/

Keep in touch!

Hi Alex,
I had an abscess! It came on over the course of a few days and started with feeling sore and uncomfortable. The area was red (it was external) so easy to spot. The pain just built up very quickly as the abscess filled with pus and it was very painful. The same day I got to my GP, the abscess "popped" and I got a lot of yucky pus and blood discharge from it. The pain however disappeared almost immediately and the relief was amazing.
I doubt very much that constipation will be related to this if an abscess were the case and it seems the issue is on-going for you. Abscesses do come on pretty quickly as a rule. It's more likely that this could be related to your fissure issue, but only a CRS could confirm that for sure. It's also possible that inflammation from an internal hem could be bothering you? Have you had internal hems ever diagnosed?
A scope is pretty thorough and I know that mine picked up my fissure area and hems very easily, so I think if you've had few of these and your CRS is unconcerned, I would try not to get too worried about it all.
In my experience, a fissure and the hems create allsorts of differing pains and sensations, so it's very possible that the soreness is still connected with all this, rather then being something else.
Just observe it carefully but at the same time, try to stay as relaxed as you can about it too. Stress makes it all seem to much worse. It could be that you are simply tense when you go to the toilet and your muscles are reacting to stress & tension....I know I can relate to this.
Take care and try not to over-stress or self-diagnose too much. A lot of the time, our worries are unfounded :)