RELIEF FOUND - Pelvic floor physical therapy

This helps the spasming STOP!!

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RELIEF FOUND - Pelvic floor physical therapy

Postby GetBetter » 24 Oct 2020, 14:23

Hi Guys

Wanted to pay forward what I got from this site which I found at a very dark time for me during the depths of having a chronic fissure/anal spasming. DONT LOSE HOPE!! I know how depressing this can get but what follows is what I think could help in most circumstances!! My anal spasming now only occurs occasionally and is only a 1 or 2 on the pain scale and it is my body telling me to do PFPT (discussed below) and to chill the F out!! A lot of my issues grew out of my chronic stress/anxiety and my coping mechanism of trying to control everything. A silver lining to my fissure/anal spasming was that it forced me to face my demons head on via therapy which has helped a lot with my anxiety and byproxy my anal spasming.

SYNOPSIS: TRY THIS FIRST!! WORKS FOR GUYS TOO!! Pelvic floor physical therapy (PFPT), also referred to as
pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT), WORKS!! A conservative, first-line treatment for many pelvic floor disorders. PFPT is a general term for the instruction of pelvic muscle strengthening, relaxation, and coordination exercises by a trained physical therapist. PFPT may involve manual therapy, biofeedback or electrical stimulation, behavioral education, and the creation of home exercise programs. Scientific article I found to back it up: https://urology.stanford.edu/content/da ... -women.pdf

BACKGROUND/CAUSE of chronic fissure: Chronic stress/anxiety/control freak (which is quite common for people who end up with these issues) started early in life through emotional trauma resulting in my pelvic floor muscles constantly being drawn tight, literally being an 'uptight a$$hole'. This went on for years and I didn't even realize I was doing it, it was 'normal' for me. Things came to a head when I was getting ready for my baby daughter to be born, diet/exercise had gone out the window, not drinking enough water, then started adding flax seed to my oat meal which bound my poop so I had to push it out causing a tear at the opening of my anus, my chronic tight ass then cut off the circulation of blood stopping it from healing. This condition robbed me of some great times with my daughter during her first year of life but it also forced me deal with my emotional trauma so I can now be a far better father.

TREATMENT: I tried it all (the pain was like glass, barbed wire and acid down in a very sensitive area which I couldnt talk to too many people about) but what seemed to work the best was PFPT. Below is a high level overview of what I did to try to make the pain stop, starting with the most useful first:

- PFPT: My physical therapist was able to help me relax my pelvic floor muscles through having me perform exercises both in office and at home, as well as manually massaging around my anus (this really did the trick). I think this approach should be utilized before surgery, as the PFPT helps you relax and so stop the spasming, allowing the fissure to heal. Since the fissure has healed, the exercises have also helped stop the muscles from spasming/causing low levels of pain.
- Sitz baths: I dont know who came up with these but man oh man were these a blessing!!! Short term relief for sure and they can help you poop when your body is so tense/scared of the pain that it tries to stop pooping which causes even bigger issues.
- High fiber diet: Goes without saying you should adopt this ASAP, you want your poop to be coming out like soft serve!! Plenty of water will help this. Also, avoid spicy food as it will only cause the spasming to be worse!!
- Metamucil: Another God send, dont cheap out on the off brand name stuff, this helps the whole pooping process but get off it when it is safe to, as your body gets used to it, ends up not being able to function without it.
- Botox injections: These really helped me, may not help everyone. Be it known, these injections take about a WEEK to work!! The effectiveness wears off after a few months, that is where the PFPT helps. the injections can help the muscles stop spasming, then the PFPT keeps the spasming away.
- Lateral Internal Sphincterotomy (LIS): Definitely helped release the longterm pressure, which if you are a chronic tight ass, which builds up over years, this may be necessary to release the tension as your sphincter muscle may be physically unable to properly relax but once again, try the PFPT first!!! What LIS entails is putting a small cut in the muscle to help relieve the pressure. I used this Dr and he was very good, really helped me relax, very pleasant to deal with: https://gastrohealth.com/physicians/edu ... ajewski-md
- CBD Oil: This helped me relax in general, not sure how much impact it had on my spasming but I'm sure it helped to some degree, also THC as part of the oil should help with pain management.
- Acetaminophen: This should help with the lower levels of the pain. Be careful with Ibuprofen as it is rough on the stomach and can cause/aggravate stomach issues itself, worth reading about this elsewhere.
- Nitroglycerin ointment: Not sure how much this helped but DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT try to apply this directly into the cut. Me being a control freak I thought I knew better than the doctor about where this should be applied, why would you not want to apply it to the injured area?! For the simple reason that it does nothing to directly heal the cut, it is meant to be absorbed by the muscle to help it relax!!!
GetBetter
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Re: RELIEF FOUND - Pelvic floor physical therapy

Postby chachacha » 24 Oct 2020, 20:12

So nice to hear that you've had so much success in the end (npi)!

All forum readers though, should check with their physicians before adopting any changes to their treatment.
Fissure since about 2007
Fissure diagnosed in 2011
Diltiazem for two years - didn't work well
LIS January, 2015
Hemorrhoidectomy December, 2017
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