hello
i was just diagnosed by my doctor with an anal fissure he gave me Proctosedyl lotion to apply daily and advised to take warm baths for 10-15 minutes at least once a day.
im so scared that i will now have painful bowel movements for the rest of my life.
any tips on what to do to alleviate the pain, im scared to even eat just thinking of what the pain will be like when i next go to the bathroom.
this is a great forum and has given me comfort already

Hey Jodes,
So sorry to hear you have a fissure, but welcome to the forum. There's some really good info and support here.
The pain is horrible, but there are a few things that can help. The most important thing is diet and keeping the bm's soft. Avoid sharp foods like chips, nuts, pop corn and anything that can cause harder bm's or constipate.
Many folks here use stool softeners such as miralax or docusate sodium (colace).
I've actually never heard of the Proctosedyl lotion.
Most CRS's will prescribe diltiazem, nitro, nifedipine for fissures. It's pretty common for other DR's who don't specialize in butt problems to prescribe hem ointments or other useless ointments, so it's pretty important to see a CRS.
The baths can be very helpful few times a day. 20 minutes-3-4x's a day. It will relax the sphincter and promote blood flow to the fissure.

Jodes, don't know where you are but Proctosedyl is sold over the counter here in Australia, mainly for hemmaroids but label does say in the small print it can help heal fissures. Its often the 1st suggestion of a Dr. inexperienced with fissures. Didn't help me. My CRS prescribed Retrogaesic, also available over the counter ( here anyway) but as you'll find out from all the great & helpful info on this board there are mixed results regarding the success of the various creams & lotions.
Good luck & take on board all the advice (and comfort) on here.

Hi jodes, I'm not on much anymore, three months post LIS, but when I read your post I had to comment! I was also given proctosedyl at first, it is a steroidal cream and within two weeks made my fissure much worse! It thins the skin and makes it more likely to tear. My bleeding was continuous after that, only got some relief from nifedipine which, ultimately, didn't heal it either but there was improvement. It was surgery that finally helped me. I haven't felt the burn since that day. Literally. Good luck finding a solution but I don't advise u to use that cream. It will set your healing back, trust me!

I agree w/ Elphie, it will make the fissure worse and thins the skin. I was prescribed a ointment for hems(in the US) when I first got my fissure and after 2 weeks of use, my fissure got worse too.
I looked up the ointment you were prescribed after reading this post and saw that is was for hems.