Ok so I know this sounds like a dumb question, but here's the deal. When I first got my fissure, it hurt like bloody hell. Every BM involved intense, blinding "sit on the toilet sweating and crying" pain that made it nearly impossible to even stand up afterward. That pain of course came with the long-lasting spasm that felt like my sphincter wanted to pucker itself outward. I spent every moment dwelling on what the next BM would bring.
However after a few months of conservative treatments (creams, stool softeners, and Botox), the pain is much more manageable, yet still present. But now it's not blinding crippling pain anymore. These days it's a dull ache in the buttocks that radiates up to the lower back, accompanied by some moderately sharp pain if I strain during a BM (but very soft BMs come out without too much trouble). Bending over also causes pain so I just avoid bending over. So at this point it's definitely a big nuisance, but I can't say I live in sheer terror of every BM anymore.
My question is: does this pattern of pain match any of your experiences? Is your fissure pain always intense or did it start off intense and then kind of taper down?
The reason I ask is that I'm trying to decide whether to take the LIS plunge. If every BM still hurt like they did in the beginning, I'd do it for sure, no questions asked. But as it stands, my fissure isn't really healing, but it's also not making me live in constant overwhelming fear, either, so it's kind of hard to decide what to do. Maybe fissures just become less painful when they become chronic or something?
BTW I posted on page 1 of this thread in another forum a while ago when I was new to fissures, but stopped checking in on it because I found this great forum here. But I just checked in on it today. Apparently there have been quite a few new posts, some of which I found very informative. So I thought I'd share it with you all who, like me, are on the fence about LIS. The feedback there seems to be very positive hence why I'm giving LIS more serious consideration now than ever:
http://www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=704601
All of those posts saying "just do it and get your life back" just sound ooohhh so tempting :)