My CRS is a huge advocate of soaking. He said at least 3 times a day for 20-30 minutes nice and warm!!! I know it helped me!!!

Day 5 after surgery, hot bath is my only relief now. As the days pass the worse it feels.....i dread a bm, my meds are making me constipated an stool softners dont work. :oops:

Mrs.inpain,
Have you tried Miralax?

It is strange with the Sitz, or not as the case may be.
I soak for five minutes at a time, changing the water three times. It helps me, though sometimes there are spasms afterwards.
Getting into a bath and sitting would be impossible. I am too thin and it hurts the cheeks of my bum!
I try, when I do the Sitz, not to stretch, and I just about fill it with water, just off hot. It is my every morning thing, tailored now to a fine art...so to speak :roll:
I wonder if CRS will ever agree with each other with what is good vs what is not. No, don't think they ever will.
And I use M.O.M. and not Miralax. Another mystery. MOM works better for me, with a half a biscuit of metamucil. I remember when happyass started on them, way back. He thought they were gooood!! And so do I.

So sorry you are in pain, Mrs inpain. There are many posts on here about how to cope with that first week, and forward, after surgery. And many who have had surgery. I have not, so cannot really offer advice, but wish you less pain very soon.

Mrs. inpain, whatever works does vary, but I would definitely get another stool softener/ regimen. I think I read you're taking Colace. From my experience and many others on this forum, it's not all that effective. I took 6 a day with a gallon of water when I had my fissure and didn't get the results I had with a 1/2 of a capful of Miralax. Yes we are all different so it can be hard to find the right regimen, but it's imperative to get the BM's soft so that healing can take place. I hope you feel better soon!

I use prune juice for constipation. I am brand specific. I like the Sunkist because it has ONLY prunes no added water or stuff. BECAREFUL. I was really stopped up when I tried it and drank a glass full. Stayed in the toilet 2 days. Start with 2 to 4 OZ. I tried something I heard on the board and it worked (as so many things have). I was in a hurry so I heated it and it does work faster. Do not take it if you do not have a couple of hours to be close to the john.Savaici I got at Lowes a tub pad when my boney butt started getting bruises from the tub. Rubber maid makes it . It also comes with a pillow. I thought I could not do it without the pain meds but when I finally got away from them about 3 days and started using over the counter stuff I felt SOOO much better. I was about a week out of surgery when I finally too the last one.They were about to mess up all the good work my doctor had done.I hope you feel better soon.

I'll second the use of prune juice for constipation.
I give prune juice to my daughter but never more than 4oz at a time. Sometimes I sip it myself. Funny how much I hated it when I was a kid. I kinda like it now. But in moderation or it gives me the runs.
When I was doing a lot of sitz baths, I would sit on a washcloth folded up. Still felt sore, but it helped.
-woi

Sitz bath definitely helps. Pain is caused by spasm of the internal sphincter, and the fissure takes forever to heal because of the lack of blood supply to the posterior midline of the anus (near the spine). Sitz bath / heat packs will increase blood circulation to the area and cause the internal sphincter to relax.

ToothDoctor,
Welcome to the forum! Funnily enough, for a few of us here, the Sitz bath causes the spasms to intensify. But, I persevere nonetheless with it, though my regimen is 5 minutes soak and then clean water, and 15 minutes in all.