First time fissure sufferer. 34 yr female.
Started feeling rectum discomfort around 3/27. I work long hours sitting down. All hell broke loose after another long day at work on Saturday 3/30.
3/31: in bed (on stomach) pretty much all day. in retrospect this is when the spasms started. lasted all day. at this time I still thought the pain was because of my hemorrhoid.
4/1: in bed (on stomach) pretty much all day. spasms wouldn't go away. hurt to stand, sit, walk.
4/2: went to the doctor's, diagnosed as AF. doctor gave me nifedipine suppositories and lidocaine cream.
4/3 - 4/7: had to basically take the entire week off work. totally useless for the most part. BM in the morning. then excruciating spasms all day. pain level was through the roof. I have a pretty high pain threshold and this is WAYYYYY WORSE than anything I've experienced before (my comparison was to, say, almost chopping a finger off and getting hit by a car as a pedestrian). sitz bath helped some but the benefit usually ends after a few minutes out of the bath. I corrected my diet immediately after symptoms got bad and my stool was soft but in retrospect I was still straining (out of habit) to get them out at this point. BIG mistake.
On the evening of 4/7 I found this forum and read a bunch of posts, and realized I missed some important elements in my attempt to heal the previous week.
1) I needed to get my spasms in check. Spasms = no blood = no healing. Not to mention the physical sensation of pain.
2) Avoid reopening wound.
So on 4/8, I did the following (Lessons Learned)
To achieve 1) above:
- Relax the muscles. How? Stretch them! Just like how I stretch out any of my other muscles. Massage the area with ointment/cream. I supposed a variety of oil/cream would work, as long as it has the required properties (lubrication, antiseptic, soothing, etc.) I used a honey/propolis based all-purpose salve (which I had on hand and it used to work great for my cold sores, and I thought - hey a fissure is kinda like a sore in my bum).
I didn't see bright blood in stool and asked SO to check my wound. They are just raw but aren't bleeding so I figured finger dilation should be safe. Use clean fingers to massage around sphincter muscles and gentle go in and out. I ordered a dilation kit from Amazon but it hasn't got here yet - will switch to kit once I have them.
I spent most of today lying on stomach in bed (did some computer work). Probably massaged 4,5 times in total, about 5 - 10 min each time.
Also massaged immediately after BM around 1:30 PM, after cleaning of course. This is the first BM after which I did not get unbearable spasms since symptoms showed.
To achieve 2) above:
Massage and do some finger dilation before going. This relaxes the muscles AND lubricates the canal AND coats/protects the wound.
ABSOLUTELY NO STRAINING. Used a squatty potty (I got it a while ago but didn't use it religiously) and leaned forward. Just thought about relaxing the muscles and let it come out with deep breathing.
***
It is past 8PM now and I'm so pumped that I got through my first spasm-free day after having AF. Bought myself some extra healing time. Yay!!!!
In comparison, last week, my spasms last all day, non-stop, and renders me completely useless. Most of last week was spent in bed, lying on my stomach, frantically searching the internet or distracting myself from the excruciating pain with Netflix/Amazon shows.
I still felt some discomfort when walking around the house today, but felt almost like a normal person when lying on stomach in bed. Goal this week is that I heal enough to be able to sit down (and go back to work soon)!
***
Also, a recap on small things I think I didn't do quite right last week (which prevented healing)
- Ate too much chia seed to add fiber intake. Chia seeds made the stool too bulky.
- "Cheated" with some nuts here and there. Almonds and stuff. I'm going to cut out all food that's hard to digest from now on.
- Didn't apply lubricant to wound before BM. I would used a coconut oil based suppository before bed so I mistakenly thought that was enough. Nope. The pathway and the wound need some coating too.
- Obviously didn't do enough to relax the muscles. The prescribed nifedipine didn't really do much for me and was very hard to apply.