New to this site as this is a very new problem for me.

I got an anal fissure 3 weeks ago from a bad bout of diarrhea. Very healthy late 30's male, not overweight, very active/fit and first time AF sufferer. The pain only lasted for 2-3 days and I'd describe the pain as very mild. Not one other symptom after day 3. Didn't hurt to laugh/cough/sneeze, no blood, no painful bowel movements... nothing. I'm doing all the fiber, hydration, sitz baths, ice packs, etc.

I've got a sentinel pile that three weeks ago was the size of a marble. It's been shrinking quite a bit in the subsequent three weeks and seems to respond especially well to ice packs.

Most of what I've seen on this site has been for those suffering from much more extreme AF's than I had. Can anyone who has been through this drill on a much less extreme case please let me know if the pile ever disappears? It's rather small now, but I'm hoping it disappears entirely.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

I cannot say for sure. I have heard people like my sister and father say they've had them and then describe times of not having them. Then describe times of them returning.

I am pretty sure I have also had them and they have resolved sometimes over a long, long period of time and then have returned but despite having been to a Doctor or two and having had them examined none of them ever actually diagnosed a pile in the first place. Just all the symptoms and the fact when I felt down there feeling a lump made me assume that must be it, especially with bleeding and soreness/itching.

So my assumption is and from reading that they can go away with conservative treatment, i.e. soft stool, plenty of fiber, not sitting on them, keeping the area cleansed... going gently and being patient

I definitely feel as though I have one or two now caused by an AF or piles or both... they seem to go and on and off and I am hoping like you they self resolve. As they have seemed to do in the past...

back when I was 14 I got this lump in the outer area which is a classic pile location and type. Felt it and it would get very sensitive to touch and itchy. I would sitz bath as told by the Doctor and apply a cream he had given me. I swear it must have taken 6 months or a year before I noticed it was shrinking. I really avoided sitting on anything that agitated it(I am and have usually always been a lighter man so I don't have a lot of padding back there) sitting on anything for extended periods of time is a definite agitator. I swear checking it again later cause the pain basically stopped and it become like a benign lump it eventually appears and disappears over a lifetime. Makes me wonder once an area is weakened is just prone to these issues for life and you gotta be religious about self care to keep the issues mild...

Same area is bothering me at this moment but it's deeper and more sore/persistent along with other locations... so my honest point of view is these things heal, just SLOW! Especially since we notice them slow. I am however of poor health and in my late 30s. When I was a more healthy person these things would go away faster. So you should heal faster ... Good luck with this

Thanks, OuchX. It's been a stressful process. I feel a bit bad complaining about my issue when people like yourself and others I've seen on this site have had it FAR worse than I do.

Helps to know someone relates, how do you really know someone else's pain if you haven't been there yourself!

(they say piles never heal just shrink on a lot of Doctor sites BTW...that's the prevailing wisdom I have read at least)

HelpMyRear wrote:Thanks, OuchX. It's been a stressful process. I feel a bit bad complaining about my issue when people like yourself and others I've seen on this site have had it FAR worse than I do.

Update:
6 weeks after my anal fissure and sentinel pile first appeared, I'm now sentinel pile-free. It happened pretty gradually over the entire period and really accelerated starting last week. Perhaps it's still there but heavily shrunk, but I literally can't feel a single thing down there.
So relieved.

OuchX wrote:Helps to know someone relates, how do you really know someone else's pain if you haven't been there yourself!

(they say piles never heal just shrink on a lot of Doctor sites BTW...that's the prevailing wisdom I have read at least)

HelpMyRear wrote:Thanks, OuchX. It's been a stressful process. I feel a bit bad complaining about my issue when people like yourself and others I've seen on this site have had it FAR worse than I do.