Hello everyone,

I don't know how many of you still use the forum. Hopefully some other new comers will stop by.
I am really looking for ways to relieve this horrible problem.
I have a fissure (maybe 2 or 3 ) that has resulted as a postpartum problem from well - pushing a baby out (6 hours of actual pushing). The fissure didn't tear right away - but about 6 weeks postpartum after passing one -not -even -so -hard stool.
Doctors have me on dilitiazem.
But please share what has worked for you! And how long it took...I am really curious to hear from anyone who has RECOVERED from a fissure. It's been 2 months now with no hope in sight (or so it feels)>

I'll try anything!

Thanks!

Hello,

I am very sorry to hear you are going through this with no progress after two months. A fissure seems to affect everyone differently and give different symptoms. For me, my symptoms were sharp pain on the fissure whenever water hit it, mild blood on tp(never visible in the toilet), and (what I found to be most disturbing and debilitating) was a constant feeling as though I needed to urinate.

It took me a month to go see a proctologist because I was just not getting any better and I was really getting depressed. The proctologist diagnosed me with a fissure and prescribed nifedipine 4 times a day.

While the relief wasn't immediate, at 4.5 weeks of treatments, as well as adding Metamucil to my diet and increased water intake, my symptoms have drastically improved. I still get swelling and soreness from time to time and the urinary feeling shows up every now and again but compared to where I was before it's really night and day. Taking a few baths day and just relaxing also helped.

I think it's very important to see a proctologist and get the right medicine. A fissure is very difficult to heal naturally. Also, I think it is important to understand that this is a LONG healing process. It is sometimes discouraging to measure progress day to day...better to measure things week to week.

I hope you start feeling better soon!

Thanks!
I've seen a general surgeon. He's the one who prescribed the diltiazem.
I don't think there is much more he can prescribe since I am still breastfeeding.
He said the next steps were a Botox
Injection or surgery to cut the sphincter forcing it to relax.
Neither sound great.
I'll give the medication a few more weeks and then try the other options I guess...

Hi and welcome to AF forum. I also am a postpartum sufferer, and too had it occur a few weeks after the birth with a not that hard BM. Not sure about you but it was quite a shock when the pain first hit as it seemed to have come from nowhere.

How soft are you managing to keep your stools? It took me while to get them soft enough to see any real healing progress as I am breastfeeding too. I take lactulose and magnesium, drink 6 L of water a day and eat mostly soluble fibre.

I've just been prescribed Lignocaine gel which I insert up prior to a BM, as it is numbing I am more relaxed down there during the day and the blood flows better and therefore better healing. I've felt a lot better using the Lignocaine gel, it's meant to be used for the urethra and comes in a handy syringe. It's not subsidised where I live but worth it. I also warm a wheat bag and sit on it every time I am breastfeeding, again is soothing and helps the blood flow.

I would encourage you to do as much as possible as soon as possible to help the healing process. The less scar tissue that builds up the more easily you will heal. Someone told me that 5 months is the average healing time.

Hope this helps, it's great you've got diltiazam already and have seen a surgeon.

Thank you,
What does your diet generally consist of?
I am taking Garden of Life Raw fiber, drinking prune juice, and trying to eat a high fiber diet, but my body doesn't seem to produce the softest stools...

Hi, Sorry you are dealing with this not at all fun ailment! I found that magnesium helped me and that medihoney applied a lot with lanolin was good when the fissure was dreadful. I generally tried to cut out to much white stuff. cake and bread from my diet and ate a LOT of sweet potatoes and greens. I had GTN for mine and it took a while to kick in but from what I have read, some people need to use the creams for quite a bit of time and definitely for at least 6 weeks for the fissure to start to heal properly. Good luck and make sure you support yourself emotionally, I found yoga a lifesaver.

Like Felix, I eat a lot of sweet potatoes, lived on sweet potato soup every night for some time. Generally for breaskfast: porridge with either canned pears, apricots or peaches and probiotic greek yoghurt and dates and half banana, lunch is half strength protein shake in oat milk and rice thins with lots of nut butters and a piece of fruit then vege soup and toast for dinner. Sometimes I have over cooked veges and some fish for dinner. I've cut out red meat, coffee, booze and eggs and cut back on the dairy. Brussell sprouts and oat milk are good. That is my cautious diet, every now and then I will change it up a bit and add a green smoothie or legumes. I sometimes have fresh kiwifruit juice with protein meals as it contains an enzyme that helps break down protein.
I lost all my pregnancy weight very quickly and am now struggling to maintain a decent weight so am eating a lot of nut butters and trying to add coconut oil to food. Just a heads up, I now look at new skinny mums and wonder if they are going through the same struggle.

Oh, also I don't take extra fibre and a lot of people on this site say it's detrimental to healing to bulk the stools. I do take slippery elm though. Personally I would rather bulk with food fibre rather than supplement fibre.
Definitely took me a while to work out how to soften the stools right.

I've suffered with fissures on and off for a few years now, but recently had a bad few months. The doc prescribed Anoheal )diltiazem hydrochloride) after trying Scheriproct with no avail.
I found that magnesium citrate food supplement tablets made a huge difference too for me, after reading on here that they helped as a muscle relaxant and relieved the burning spasms as well as helping with smoothing the BMs. I take two tablets a day which equate to total of 400mg. If you are breastfeeding, better check if it's ok to take them.
I also bought a sitz type bath/portable bidet that sits over the toilet bowl. Dissolve Epsom salts in warm water & sitting in this gives relief if you get burning spasms.
I also used coconut oil before & after each BM.
I do hope you find something that works for you, as I'm sure not everything works for everyone in the same way. If you are desperate like I was, you'll just be glad to try anything other might work & also be glad to know that you are not alone & that this seems to be a common problem, but people just don't talk openly about it because of the nature of it! Good luck, there is light at the end of the tunnel!