I am a 35 year old male. I am glad to find this support forum. I got AF in mid November. First few days were painful but pain subsided a bit after a week. When it didn’t heal after two weeks I went to my family doctor who suggested soaking my bottom in salt water and increasing fiber in my food. This did not help so in second week of January the family doctor referred me to a specialist whose appointment came five weeks later (welcome to free health care in Canada). The specialist prescribed Diltiazem and after two weeks I was pain free. But at the end of third week fissure flared up again. This time the pain was different. It has been more than two weeks now since the second flare and the pain hasn’t gone away. Although I think it is healing or may be I am just convincing myself that it is healing.
I am getting my fiber through vegetables, fruits and high fiber cereal. Because of high fiber intact I go to washroom about 3 to 4 times a day. I am applying diltiazem after every BM and first thing in the morning after I wake up.
I do not get pain during my BM but I feel it when I am cleaning after BM. Before I started applying Diltiazem, it would hurt to sneeze or cough. It doesn’t hurt so much but it is almost five months and I am quite frustrated. I am afraid to do surgery as I do not want go through side effects.
My next step would be to try anal dilation. However, I am not too sure what it involves. Also, I am not sure how long I should keep applying Diltiazem.