I may wait one more week to see if it feels better. After looking with a mirror it does not look bad down there. I do not itch or see puss. Just an irritation feeling. Sometimes I think it's a slight pinch feeling but it's hard to pin point the exact feeling because it is not constant just every now and then. If I have an abcess how is it normally treated? I am kind of afraid to go back to the doctor because if I have an abcess or fistula I will freak out and be depressed again. I went to the surgon the Thursday before last and he did not notice anything then. Could it just be a case where I am hyper sensitive in that area. When I don't think about it I feel normal. But when I dwell on the area I feel more of the irritation feeling I described. Who knows....it's just annoying.

Jas,
If you had an abscess, they are usually drained surgically. From what I've read they de-roof it- scrape and clean it out... I doubt you have an infection since your doctor just looked though.
You're definitely going to feel twitches, itches and all kinds of weird sensations for awhile for no apparent reason. I wouldn't worry unless you have any kind of lump or drainage. The irritation is a common part of recovery also. I still get some irritation and I'm almost a year post-op.
Try not to stress and just roll with the flow. Your butt will be freaking out for awhile. Everything gets better with time.
I may have mentioned this before, but keeping that area super clean and dry will help healing and the irritation. Even the smallest amount of stool can cause irritation. The hand held shower wand has been very handy for a quick rinse for me. Even wetting cotton balls/ q-tips with warm water then pat dry, air dry or blow dry and maybe apply some vaseline as a barrier can help. I can't remember how far along you are post-op, but I was advised not to use the vaseline until I was 4 weeks as it needed to air down there.
You may even want to sleep without underwear at night and just let it air down there. Patience is the hardest part about recovery. We spend months and sometimes years trying to heal conservatively and get so impatient after surgery, but it doesn't all go back to normal over night. It can be a long road but things will get better! Just don't stress and expect the worse!!! I doubt you have an infection but if you do, it won't stay in hiding. Worrying isn't going to help anything!

Thanks Dawn. Your right it is so easy to get impatient with the healing process. I try not to worry but it is so difficult to get my mind off it. I need to be strong and think positive instead of all the negative. So your saying if I had an infection I would definitely know it. I worry that if I had an abcess and wouldn't even know it due to the normal sensations I feel throughout the day. I am 6 weeks post LIS so I am hoping I see more improvement real soon.

Hey Jas - I know there are a lot of sensations down there and that makes it really difficult to get a sense of what's going on, but from my experience, you can tell that something is definitely not right when you have an abscess. Even if the abscess sneaks up on you and you don't notice it for a while, it certainly doesn't stay subtle for very long - eventually there would be swelling and/or discharge that you would definitely notice. Try not to worry too much! Six weeks is the minimum healing time so your on schedule. :D

You're welcome Jas and yeah I think you'd definitely know it. Like Hope said , it wouldn't be subtle for too long.
I know it's hard not to worry, especially after having so many highs and lows with the fissure. I felt the same way after my surgery and I still have to talk myself down after almost a year post-op! I have days when I think what if I have... I think we're just so use to something going wrong or not working like it was before surgery. I have had days with irritation, strange twitches out of no where and nothing came of it or got worse. Just try and stay positive!! By reading other post on here, it all seems to be part of it. I've heard other people say that it could possibly be the nerves meshing back together. I've had surgery for other things and I know the scar tissue kind of has phases- like it's really hard and leathery feeling and then over time it softens... Maybe that's some of the weirdness of the LIS and healing.
Everything you're describing sounds totally normal though IMO. I've never had infection/ abscess/fistula , but from what others have said- it will become pretty obvious eventually.
Six weeks is pretty early post-op and it may take awhile but you will get there. Try and look at the positive! No more spasms, no more shards of glass and you are set up for healing. You've made it through the worse part of recovery!

After reading another post, I wonder if what I am complaining about could be a skin tag. It kind of appears as a swollen area between the 9 o'clock LIS incision and the 12o' clock fissurectomy. It does not have puss or drainage. Just an area of skin that when I wipe becomes bothersome. This morning I did not wipe but took a shower to clean myself and it feels better. Usually when it bothers me it gets more of an inflamed swollen look. It does not hurt much just a subtle burn-twinge or pinch feeling every now and then and no itching. Surgeon said after the surgery that I had hemorrhoids but did not remove because they were not bad...maybe it could be bothering me some.

Hey Jas,
I've seen a few post where other boaridies have developed skin tags post-op. It may be just from the trauma of surgery and will go away. I had what looked like a tiny skin tag in the same place that I had one removed. I think I was about 8 weeks post-op and it freaked me out!
I just did my soaks and kept babying my butt and it soon went away and has never returned.
It may be just a temporary tag that will shrink once that whole area heals better. I think I had four bm's the day mine appeared and that was probably just because things were so tender and fragile in that area. Just keep and eye on things and give it some time. Hopefully it will shrink and give you no more trouble once more healing has taken place down there.
Jas, I think you're doing awesome! Have you read StevePains LIS/ Fissurectomy threads? You may find them helpful if you haven't already! I think you'll see, you're doing pretty good and things will take some time to fully heal! :)

Hi Jas-
I had LIS and a skin tag removal on Feb. 17, '11 so I am around 8 months out now? I haven't been on as much lately because things are doing much better. But I was definitely in the club of having the outside irritation for a long time and even now some, although in a very minor way. Like Dawn and others have said, if just a little bit of stool is there I will have some irritation. What has really helped me get over that hump has been Balneol. I use a regular bathroom wipe first and then put a little Balneol on a rinsed out Tucks wipe (they are really thin) and use that until it is completely clean. And then I either splash water up there or squirt water from a little bottle I keep in my purse. This has been my routine and it has really helped. I still will occasionally have a need for what I call my "second clean-up" where I need to use the Balneol again and water to splash. But we are talking a very minor amount of staining on the wipe- where I had the skin tag removed was most sensitive the longest. If you have developed a skin tag, that may be it- they can be pretty annoying. However, it still looked like I had a small skin tag until lately- in the last month things seem to have settled down and look smaller in general and much more normal. So hang in there! It gets better and it becomes a little, minor annoyance and I have faith that I am close to it going away completely.
Bambi

Thank for your insight. I am been taking more metamucil on the advice from my surgeon. My BM's have been softer but quite larger than I am use to. During the BM it does not hurt just feels a bit tighter. Today after my second large BM the outside of my anus not where I had my fissurectomes done feel sore. Does not feel like a new fissure just an irritated sore feeling that looks more reddish and inflamed. Last Thursday my CRS looked with an anoscope and said everything looked good. He did say I have a hemorrhoid but it did not look large or irritated. Funny thing is the area I am sore is where I had a prolapsed hemorrhoid a year ago. I wonder if these larger BM's the past couple days have irritated it. I wish he would have just removed during my LIS/fissurectomy surgery. He did prescribe my hydrocortisone suppositories last week incase i ever get irritated but I am afraid to use them. I used them for quite awhile and don't want the possible thinning of skin to happen. Even though they really soothe the area well.

Jas- The other things that have helped me are A and D ointment (a very very thin amount if things feel irritated) . Back when I was about where you are I found out about a product called Calmoseptine and it helped a lot. In our area in Colorado a few drugstores carry it- mainly ones near hospitals or medical clinics. I also bought some on Amazon. It is a combination of zinc oxide and has menthol I think- it is a nice cooling sensation for when things are stirred up and also healing. I know some people don't like it as much, but I still carry around a little bit in a small container just in case I need something stronger. You might try it. My CRS recommended it.
Bambi
And mainly as others have said, try not to worry too much- it does get better! It is just much slower than I ever expected. I just went on a trip to Las Vegas with my husband and I felt incredibly normal!! I still carry around everything but the kitchen sink in my megapurse, but my plan is to start eliminating some things- I am mainly anxious things will happen more than that they actually do on a daily basis, if that makes any sense at all...