I'm new, I'm still in managing pain mode but I have a secret weapon. I got this bean shaped liquid filled pillow from Brookstone, it's called a "Body Bean." You plug it in for fifteen minutes and it gets hot, unplug it, zip it up in its velour pouch and then slightly spread the buttocks and sit or lay on it. It can be used at work or in the car. It stays hot for a few hours. It can get to places a heating pad doesn't and works just as well as a sitz bath for me.
I carry the medicated prep H wipes wherever I go, they seem to help when that burning sensation starts.
I'm taking Miralax and Benefiber now. Today I had my first BM without pain, used vaseline, arched my lower back so the stool was pressing on the front of the anal canal and not on the back where my fissure is. Usually I'm down for most of the day after pooping, but today was better.
My wost time is after a shower, I no longer use soap, but about 5 minutes after I get out, the pain is so bad I can't even dry my hair. Today I slathered with vaseline first and it still hurt.
Anyway, my CR Doc says most do heal on their own with fiber, but it seems crazy to me that I got sent home with a tube of hydro cortisone cream when this is so debilitating. My whole life revolves around my poops and my pain now. It totally sucks.

this forum is great, eases my mind i to get stabbing pains in my groin and sometimes it feel like someone has kicked me bloody hard in my tail bone :( ouchy.
i have been using a cream called retrogesic, it doesnt help much but if i dont use it my fissure gets very sore, but the cream does give me bad headaches, some mornings i can hardly use it because of the spasm i cant get the cream in :(
it sucks that something so little can control ur whole life, it has pretty muched stoppe mine, even going in the car is painful.
i hope everyone gets better soon. :)

I can not believe how many people suffer from this. How can doctors not know more about it and offer a solution and sound advice! I can't believe that they alll keep telling me fiber, water, sitz bath.....blah blah blah. How long does it take for this to work! I had Botox which made it worse and the nitro paste isn't great unless of course I want a headache or to completely faint and almost bust my head open! I call the dr. His advice is surgery or water, fiber sitz bath. OMG. Is this a recording. It's going on 6 months. Does anyone get better without surgery after this long! I'm scared of surgery. If I'm not healing from this who's to say I'll heal from that. Surgery for thrombosed hemorrhoids got me into this mess!

Badd825 wrote:I can not believe how many people suffer from this. How can doctors not know more about it and offer a solution and sound advice! I can't believe that they alll keep telling me fiber, water, sitz bath.....blah blah blah. How long does it take for this to work! I had Botox which made it worse and the nitro paste isn't great unless of course I want a headache or to completely faint and almost bust my head open! I call the dr. His advice is surgery or water, fiber sitz bath. OMG. Is this a recording. It's going on 6 months. Does anyone get better without surgery after this long! I'm scared of surgery. If I'm not healing from this who's to say I'll heal from that. Surgery for thrombosed hemorrhoids got me into this mess!

I couldn't agree with you more, considering how debilitating this and how many people have this, it is shocking there are aren't better treatments and we are sent home with a tube of cream and told to sit in a tub. I did read the FDA has pushed a new drug to the top of the list that is showing promise. I talked with my sis who has had many fissures and fistulas due to Crohn's disease and she gets Remicade treatments now which healed her and prevents relapse. She was also initially given antibiotic therapy. She has one of the top specialists around but he is a Gastroenterologist, not a CRS.
I'm three weeks into my fissure and I am much, much better. For all the great advice here, I am healing because of Miralax. Soft, regular stools that can be evacuated without straining seems to be the cure. Maybe fiber therapy will work to prevent fissures in the future but to heal it sure didn't do the trick for me. I also swear by a thick coating of Vaseline before every BM to prevent the burning.
BTW, six months is way too long and I would be getting a second opinion.

Hi I did a get a second opinion, the 2nd crs was the one that found the fissure. The first doctor diagnosed spasms and did botox but did not see a fissure. He said I had a small thrombosed hemorrhoid that he didn't feel should cause me so much pain. We tried the nitro paste first and then the Botox. The 2nd crs gave me the same story. Water, fiber, sitz bath, seriously shouldn't this have worked by now. She also thought I should give Botox 3 months before contemplating surgery. This will bring me to July 2nd. Not sure I can hold out. My stool is soft but bulky and not formed. Could this be making me worse. Could I be on too much fiber? I still strain but very little. I always feel like I'm not completely done. Anyone else out there having this problem? I'm so glad I found this forum! Support and understanding from people who get it!

Valium and ibuprofin worked pretty good for me.