Hi!

I'm so glad I found this place, I've been embarrassed for weeks!

I've suspected I had an anal tear for over three months now. I'm in agonising pain on the toilet, sometimes taking as long as 20 minutes, experiencing a horrendous burning pain afterwards to the extent I can barely walk sometimes, and had some really hellish itching.
I saw my doctor on Friday and he immediately said it wasn't a tear but more likely piles. He asked a few questions, which seed to confirm this diagnosis, and prescribed me some Anusol. Note that he didn't even look at where the pain is, the entire consultation was verbal.
On Sunday I can only compare my bathroom experience to childbirth. I screamed for fifteen minutes as I struggled with the discomfort of having to "go" and the severe pain of attempting to do so.
Tonight I squatted over a mirror and there it was: a small tear in my anus. It took me about 4 seconds to locate, something my doctor didn't even consider doing.

I'm now self medicating with Dulcolax (stool softener), magnesium tablets, and porridge for breakfast along with lots of water and antiseptic cream.
I've read that coconut oil is good so will try that, but other ideas are welcome! My current methods are working in that I no longer have pain so am, I hope, giving everything a chance to heal. But I would try virtually anything to avoid experiencing that pain again!

Mostly just needed to vent about how hopeless my doctor is, but I'm happy to take suggestions for healing!



-LlamaLlamaButt

Doctors can be very ignorant when it comes to fissures. When I first saw a doctor about mine I told her I suspected a fissure and she didn't confirm or deny. She gave me a rectal exam so she knew it wasn't hems as she couldn't feel anything but she gave me no advice on how to heal it. She also gave me anosol suppositories which don't work at all. Plus sticking a hard bullet-like objects up my butt every night tore my fissure so much more. I blame her ignorance for it becoming chronic.

If you are starting to feel better then i'd be in quite a happy place right now. Unfortunately I was lazy when I first got mine and didn't take good enough care to keep my bm soft so it just got worse over time.

Sounds like you're nipping in the bud. Keep doing what you have to do to keep your bms soft. That is the most important thing. Exercise is really good for that area. Take hot baths to make sure you keep the area clean after you've been to the toilet, not being properly clean down there slows healing and can sometimes lead to an infection as you can imagine when you times an open wound with poop. Baths will also relax your anal sphincter and get the blood flowing round that area.

I put coconut oil in my baths. Applying it directly can be painful given that my fissure is higher up and it would mean inserting a finger.

Yes

Most general doctors know next to nothing about anal issues, shocked that a full exam was not done.

Cortisone/anusol is the typical prescription. You are doing the right things, but try adding ground flax or whole bran to the porridge and supplement with ripe pear later in the day with lots of water, should keep bm smoother and easier

God bless, oh a touch of over the counter lidocaine gel helps if you have bad pain, use only when really bad

I am actually really annoyed that he didn't bother to check for me, although not altogether surprised. I have some spots of psoriasis on my bra line that never heal because my bra rubs against them all day. He refused to look at those either and said I'd have to see a female doctor for that. Sigh.
He did put in a referral to a consultant, but that could take months, so I'm pretty frustrated with his lack of action. Taking Dulcolax is very unpleasant. It rushes my food through so quickly that I know I'm not absorbing the nutrients, but it's such a relief not to be in that amount of pain that I don't mind taking multivitamins and stuff in the short term to make up for that.

I'll definitely try a hot bath, that actually sounds very pleasant! I think the biggest challenge is just leaving it alone for now. No scratching!

Thank you for your responses, I really appreciate it! :)

Sorry to hear about yet another ignorant Doctor making someone's fissure troubles much worse. That is a neverending story on here. Glad to hear you are taking care of yourself and doing the right things. Sounds like you have already gotten some great advice on here as well. One thing though, I am not familiar with Dulcolax but I think it is what is considered a stimulant laxative. You may want to consider using just a stool softener. That would lessen the 'rush' and malabsorption issues but keep the BMs soft.

As a stool softener, the over the counter stuff is Docusate Sodium

My first doctor didn't help me either, just made it worse, go to a specialised one, proctologist, if you have the budget. My proctologist did check me out and as I am not healed 100% the difference after seeing him 3 weeks ago to now is amazing, pain has gone from 10 to 1 and blood has disappeared. He gave a Nytrogliceryn ointment, no tag in the tube so I am guessing this is not a normal ointment that you can get over the counter. This has worked really really well, they say it helps getting blood to the fissure so it can heal faster. Try to get some or ask your doctor. It gives you a little headache but its nothing compared to the pain of BW with a fissure.

Another thing that helped me was having 2 spoons of Metamucil at night, it softens your stool lots and helps you not getting constipated.

Hope this can help, hang in there!