Hi, I am new to this forum but have been having the same problem as everyone else here. I am a 21 year old female student and am really nervous about going back to school with this fissure. I was hospitilized in march for a clostridium difficle infection. It is pretty much a bacteria that eats away at the linning of your intestines. And as I was getting better I got a horrible fissure. The burning and stinging were pretty bad at first. But now I dont see as much blood but it stings even more than usual. My gastro prescribed me lidocaine but I had a horrible reaction. I started going into deep cold sweats right after applying it and felt like I was going to have a heart attack. The doctor said I may have been applying a bit to much but he said to keep trying and get it inside if i could. And if i did get it inside it would burn and sting so horribly. I just recently visited my colorectal surgeon and she did a "finger" exam and i cried.. like a big baby.. i felt her break it open again and she confirmed it was a fissure so she just recently put me on nefedipine versa 2%. I am curious about how most people apply this ? I have been using a cottonball and try to dab one end and gently push it inward..? it seems to help with the soreness I feel most of the time. But I have school comming up soon and this fissure got so bad that I had to quite my summer job and I just want to lay in bed with my feet up so I dont feel any pressure or stinging in my bumbum. I have become super afraid of the toilet and did not realize how painful these fissures really are :( Any suggestions on pain relief or foods to eat would be appreciated and helpful. I did notice if my stool is too soft I get extreme burning and stinging though so I try not to eat tooo much fiber. Sorry if there was too much detail in there