Hi Jax,
Yeah the only reason they look inside the anus during LIS is for inspection purposes - the incision point is external but very close to the opening. I personally had no stitches however i know of others who did.
The pain post surgery can be both the fissure and the incision site - for me the only discomfort (not pain) i endured post-surgery was a little soreness from the the incision point but it was hardly anything.
I think the high sphincter resting point is something you have always had and i dont believe anything we do actually contributes to it or makes it worse. My father had a similare thing so i do know if it is something in my family.
I am only 2.5 weeks post surgery at the moment but feel i can probably start running/exercising in about two weeks time providing i dont strain myself (This is one of the questions i intend asking at my post surgery follow up next week)
According to my LIS discharge notes i could start driving within a few days after surgery however living in Central London means i have no need for a car
Davo

Davo, thanks for your reply. I hope I have a similar recovery as yours. Like I said before, I'm just hesitant because my fissure, although chronic for last 7 months, rarely hurts. I've been keeping things fairly soft, even today, and I still saw a spot of blood on the TP. So I feel like LIS is my only option. There has been a few times when Ive been constipated where it did hurt even with small stools, but usually my stool are formed and soft and it just bleeeds verrrry little.
My butt often feels iritated/raw afterwards. Not sure if it really is or its me being paranoid or wiping too much. I find myself shfiting positions, not sitting up straight, whenever I sit now to reduce the pressure on my butt. Ughhh how did I get to this point lol.

Jax,
My fissure rarely hurt and i never had any blood which gave me the impression that i had almost healed. Upon inspection during LIS my surgeon told me that it was very deep and he could see the white of the sphincter muscle through it. Although the fissure was deep it wasn't actually that long so he only had to make a 4mm cut to the sphincter muscle.
I am still not 'out of the woods' yet as i am still recovering however things are looking good so far
Davo

Davo wrote:Jax,
My fissure rarely hurt and i never had any blood which gave me the impression that i had almost healed. Upon inspection during LIS my surgeon told me that it was very deep and he could see the white of the sphincter muscle through it. Although the fissure was deep it wasn't actually that long so he only had to make a 4mm cut to the sphincter muscle.
I am still not 'out of the woods' yet as i am still recovering however things are looking good so far
Davo

My fissure was small and never really bled. Every rare once in awhile, I might see a teeny line of blood - but almost never. But the pain??? Oh, merciful heavens! THAT was what convinced me to have the surgery. I just couldn't live with it, anymore.
And you're right - it takes awhile for things to heal. I had stitches on my LIS - but they were dissolvable and never needed to be taken out. They just broke off on their own.

Davo,
Please keep us informed with your progress. I wish you continuing success.
I took a mirror today and i think i see my fissure (anterior). It doesn't look pretty, it's not bleeding but the area around it looks bumpy. :/ I see a hemorrhoid too (posterior and to the right). :( I think it was from irritation i had from running in combo with the diltiazem ointment and sweat. It def cant be from straining since i've been on a high fiber and stool softener diet. Are there any links to hemmies and fissures? I wonder if LIS will help hemrroids as well since its reducing pressure either way.
Do you have any idea how much lower ur resting pressure is after fully healed from LIS?

Sweet,
thanks for your input. ughhh so many things to consider. I keep asking myself how did i ever get to this state lol. I just want this to be over.

jax wrote:Sweet,
thanks for your input. ughhh so many things to consider. I keep asking myself how did i ever get to this state lol. I just want this to be over.

jax, I asked myself the same question - how on earth did I get that AF?? And btw, all of us here has been there or are currently going through that misery. Honestly, I'm just now coming out of my AF nightmare (I hope!). Four years' ago, when I first had the AF problem, it healed within about two months, and I thought that was that.
It recurred last October - and after finally seeing a 3rd crs (the first two crs's didn't help me, at all), I had my surgery - an LIS and fissurectomy - at the very end of January. Because I had two procedures, and a painful setback a few weeks' ago, it's taken me until now to really start thinking I might be at the end of this dark tunnel I've been in.
I'm VERY careful now about getting enough fiber and also remaining on Miralax for awhile longer. --- That said, I'm glad I had the surgery, because I was not healing.
We all know what you're going through. Please try to hang in there!

jax wrote:Davo,
Please keep us informed with your progress. I wish you continuing success.
I took a mirror today and i think i see my fissure (anterior). It doesn't look pretty, it's not bleeding but the area around it looks bumpy. :/ I see a hemorrhoid too (posterior and to the right). :( I think it was from irritation i had from running in combo with the diltiazem ointment and sweat. It def cant be from straining since i've been on a high fiber and stool softener diet. Are there any links to hemmies and fissures? I wonder if LIS will help hemrroids as well since its reducing pressure either way.
Do you have any idea how much lower ur resting pressure is after fully healed from LIS?

Hi Jax,
I will keep updating this diary as and when something changes during my LIS recovery - things are pretty much consistant at the moment. I have no pain and no fissure symptoms, the incision point is still slightly swollen and can give off a slight amount of blood if cleaned to vigourously. I still have some very minor soiling each day which is mainly post BM but this seems to be improving too (its still less than 3 weeks post surgery). Apart from that there is nothing else to report so far - My Post surgery follow up with my CRS is a week tomorrow so i will have a better idea of things then.
I am a beliver that hemorrhoids are linked to fissures, i know i had them (two) before the fissure and i think the swelling of these contributed to the fissure and its healing. I still have them now (my CRS mentioned them to me after my surgery) and if i sit on the toilet for more than a few minutes they appear regardless of whether i strain or not. LIS is meant to help with the hemorrhoids as you dont need to strain as much with BM's.
With regards to Anal Resting Pressure after LIS, I posted a thread on this recently (See below link)
Davo
http://anal-fissure.org/t4524-anal-resting-pressure-after-lis

Jax,
if you go to the 'portal' page (see link above). Then use the search engine in the lower left side of page, click the google and post options.
this is the most effective way to search within posts.
tight sphincters often lead to hemmies. I posted a page i found from a forum for hemorrhoid sufferers, about using self dilation to cure hemmies.
there was a lady briefly on the forum, whose excruciatingly painful fissure was healed when she healed her hemmies. I think she used hemclear.
davos' post about resting pressure's is excellent!
hope you find your path to healing soon:
tanya

Oh yah,
my crs says to make sure your anus stays dry. If sweaty, he suggests to take a square of tp and fold it between your cheeks, and leave it there.
Kinda uncomfortable but better than gettinng your af irritated by sweat.
tanya