also, what kind of aloe are you guys using to get them smaller? just straight aloe from a plant or what? will they eventually go down/away if your fissure is healed?

I am not an expert, but I think they are the same.
I like the aloe gel made by jason, but is still has to use preservatives. I've heard that aloe doesn't seriously work it's magic unless you use it fresh from the plant.
I've also heard it helps, but isn't a cure.
That said, I used the jason's gel on a small patch of precancerous skin on my shoulder, and it cleared up in a week or so with just a faint scar left behind to remind me of where it was. So I would never downplay the benefits of aloe.
I did read about a guy on another forum (healthboard) who's tag virtually disappeared overtime after the fissure had fully healed, without any added help.
-woi

Thanks for info Woi!

Hey there,
Yes they are the same thing! They may or may not heal with the fissure. Some have to have them removed as I did with surgery.... There are quite a few folks on here who have not had to have them removed after healing their fissures- with or without surgery. They can shrink and leave just a small piece of loose skin. It's just really hard to say if they will completely go away/ heal when the fissure does. It's so different for everybody... It's a mystery why some do and some don't develop them with a chronic fissure as it is if they will heal or need to be removed. There are folks in here who have had fissures for years and didn't need to have one removed and others such as myself who had to have one removed after 8 months. It's just so unpredictable and varies from person to person... :roll:
I did use aloe straight from the plant when I had my fissure. It didn't heal it( obviously) but it did help with the burning.

I have one also, but did not have it removed. My CRS said it was small and would shrink up when my fissure heals. I will say when my fissure was at it's worst, it swelled and hurt more than my fissure, but when my fissure was behaving you could barely see it. My CRS is not a cut happy surgeon, thank god, and even though my fissure is very deep, all I had was LIS. He has 24 years experience and has never made anyone incontient. I trust him completely. He said more work down there would be more healing time and more pain and more chances for complications, if you don't need to have all of that done your better off not doing it but if I need to have all that done, he would have done it.

How does one know if they have one? :( I'm new to this n so ignorant but so thankful for all here that share with us :)

Hi Maria, you are definately not ignorant!!! This AF business takes learning to a higher level..LOL Who ever thought when we were growing up, we would also have to add fissurology to the mix!!! Some people never develope a tag, usually us the luck ones that do are when they are chronic. The tag is a piece of skin the is supposed to guard the fissure, but is really just a pain in the a$$. It is skin colored and sticks out, mine is small but some on here have had very large ones that actually cover the whole opening.. :/ ouch!! Some people think they are hemorrhoids. Hope that helps

SO I asked my csr about my sentinel and he said that they are almost always associated/caused by some sort of trauma, usually an AF.
So it pisses me off because when I saw the last CRS in Albuquerque, he never mentioned an AF. I had him remove the sentinel because it caused me some discomfort at times and I was tired of having to be so careful wiping around it. But if I'd know the scar tissue from it would compromise that are, and if I knew anything about AFs at the time, I would have rather just lived with it. I will be writing a very negative review on that fool on RateMD.com.
-woi

Yes, I have one too and it is small. My CRS opted to leave it b/c it is so small and that is exactly what he said. He could remove it, but the area would be compromised b/c of the scar tissue and it is small. So he left it.

Hey workingonit, what do you mean when you say the area was "compromised"? Sounds ominous. I have one that I'm looking into getting removed.