Posting no longer available.

Amy,
Sounds to me like you are constipated! Straining to me means pushing to get things going which is a no-no, but something I used to have to do. Try drinking some lemon juice mixed with water in the morning to get things going. I used to do that a lot. Good luck!
Cheryl

Posting no longer available.

I do not think that you are constipated - how can you be constipated if you go every day LOL ! ?! In my humble opinion - what is happening is that since your fissure hurts so much now (unlike when you were healed for 6 months) , your anus and sphincter spasm to the max - can not relax reflexively due to the extreme pain. When you sing you relax it somewhat (again subconsciously) and drinking or eating anything starts peristalsis of the GI- reflexive reaction again that is controlled by peripheral nervous system. Coffee is also stimulant - initiates peristalses.
Of course you are holding breath - it is again reflex reaction to the pain. That is what women do when they give birth - stop breathing and that is why LaMaze is so helpful and "breathing over contractions". It helps relax muscles and also helps dealing with pain since one has to concentrate on something elese - counting and breathing.
To make the story short - if your anus was healthy, you would not feel the tip - no matter what consistency it was. I can almost bet that it is not "hard tip" - it is normal tip that your fissure registers as a "rock" since it gets stretched and hurts like hell : (((.
So it is vicious cycle - pain causes sphincter to clench - clenching makes poop go slowly out - going out poop makes fissure to stretch - it hurts even more - pooping is over - sphincter after the shock stays in the permanent spasm - that equals pain for hours , even whole day.
Try to use some laxatives and stool softeners even though you are not constipated - just to make your poop ultra soft and playable until you have your LIS and relax that sucker forever !!!!!
Best of luck and I hope my theory made sense for you

Posting no longer available.

amy - i know exactly what you mean. when i feel like i'll have a hard time getting the BM out i use a warm water enema and that helps it come out without pushing. unfortunately sometimes i get "caught in the moment" and push it out anyway b/c i panic and it's stuck part of the way out and i don't know what else to do...like 4 weeks ago when i retore after 6 months of healing from surgery.
it never ends.
i've been taking mineral oil, stool softeners, and magnesium to try and get things soft enough again. i've heard good stuff about miralax but am scared to try it myself.
fissy - your theory makes perfect sense. the "hard tipped" BM is just a feeling i've always thought, the feeling of re ripping a fissure and then once you do that the rest of the BM doesn't hurt as much.

Things sound slow moving Amy

I toilet everyday but can still have constipation Constipation is an array of symptoms !
Never push or strain but try deep breathing that helps me..
Have you tried movicol/miralax Amy ? It made such a difference to my BMS when my fissure was at its worst !
Juney, try the miralax

Yeah, my CRS and other sources I have read stated that by definition, constipation can be something as simple as not having a stool pass within thirty seconds after sitting on the toilet. I was shocked, but then as I considered it, it made sense. By that definition, the majority of people may be constipated semi-regularly.
Therein lies the rub for people with AF.... even "normal," everyday, unrecognized constipation becomes a nightmare.

I don't think having a BM every day necessarily signifies lack of constipation. A person should not need to strain to have a normal bowel movement.

Posting no longer available.