I wanted to post this in a separate thread because they are the two most important factors in me not living the life I want.
My BM's are a little uncomfortable but not agony, it's the pain I get during the day that is causing me problems.
Does anyone else find that walking for long periods and sitting for long periods increases pain?
After a longish walk (walking around town) i get a swollen sort of feeling and then spasmy pain. Then from then on that week will be more painful than most. Similar for sitting, except a different sort of throbbing pain. Difficult to describe!
How do you cope?

Hi
Yes I assume this is very common because it is also my experience. Walking does hurt after a while but it is sitting that has always caused me more pain.
At work I kind of put my leg under me and sit on it (its hard to explain). This keeps the centre bit of my bum out of contact with the seat and means there is less pressure on the vital area.
In terms of coping, it's difficult no question. My pain lasts for 4-5 hours after a BM and is of various intensities. Sometimes it is almost nothing othertimes it is very painful indeed.
The best scenario is to prevent the pain (as much as you can). Are you taking sometime of stool softener? This is the best thing plus loads of water. There is loads of info on the various softeners on this site. For me Movicol (or Miralax in the US) is the best but everyone is different.
I have found that if I take ibuprofen and paracetemol together that this takes the edge of the pain. Just make sure you follow the instructions on the package for dosage obviously!

Hey
Yeah I do the sitting thing too- bend one leg and sit on my foot on the opposite cheek. Is better than nothing but for long periods tends to cut off the blood supply in my foot, so have to alternate.
I'm taking Movicol and Lactulose. Doing everything to keep the stools soft though it only needs a tiny prick of pain during a BM to cause spasm all over again :(

Hi
Sorry since posting I've read your other posts and I can see that you have been taking Movicol etc.
What I would suggest is that you go see your CRS again and see if you can get botox maybe. It's fairly non-invasive and works for most people. I live in the UK and I got this on the NHS (I have to admit it didn't work in the long run tho! but for most people it does).
I left my fissure far too long before getting proper treatment and once it gets a hold it is difficult to heal it. I'm not sure how long the ointments are supposed to take to work but I would assume that it should be no more than a couple of months or so.
My fissure follows the pattern of healing for a few weeks/days before re-tearing (either minor or major). Movicol and GTN helped me have more good times than bad but for me it didn't cure the fissure long term and I had surgery a couple of weeks ago after 5 years. Don't let yours go that long! Make sure the docs get you some treatment that works!

when my fissure was at its worst i couldn't sit, stand, walk, or lay down...but surprisingly it was more uncomfortable to walk than to sit...i think putting pressure on it helped me...but not constant...as far as sitting is concerned if my fissure pain was acting up i would sit and rock...i looked like an idiot, i know, but it helped me...
ultimately it took surgery for me to feel good and normal...i'm almost one month post-op--just had my check up today and i'm nearly healed--after 13 years (i'm one who postponed really dealing with it...)
good luck with finding what works for you...

Hi thanks you two for sharing your stories.
Can I ask, how severe was the fissure for you? Was it excruciating or really annoying? Did you bleed?
Trying to work out whether I will need surgery, it's not agony like some just a semi-constant throbbing pain. The CRS i saw last time said the fissure is small and I would heal with creams. Thing is it's been nearly 2 months (since creams) and no healing!

Also, sorry one thing I forgot.
Walking and sitting hurt sometimes, OK I can cope. The thing is, is that pain indicative of damage to the fissure? I swear I have felt like certain walking sessions have caused me healing setbacks before, but the doc and CRS say that only BMs cause damage... Confused, they say one thing, I feel another.

Hi
I bled quite a bit but only mostly when doing a BM. Sometimes if it was really bad it would also bleed during the day. Strangely enough I often felt more pain when it didn't bleed. I personally wouldn't say my pain was ever excrutiating. It got pretty nasty on occasions. I never took any time off work with it though so I could cope with it thru gritted teeth.
The walking thing is interesting because I remember a few times where my fissure was fine and then I had gone for long walk (5 miles plus) and the next BM would tear the fissure again. Connected? Who knows? Equally the fissure would just tear with no apparent reason.

Hi, I have had a similar experience with walking, and it makes sense that it would tear up the wound.
The leg muscles and the fascia that runs through the foot up to the lower gluteal muscles are also connected to the lower back muscles, and when walking all of these stretch to provide the muscle strength required for locomotion. This involves obviously also the buttocks muscles and hence also your large intestine, where the fissure is located.
The larger the wound, the more potential there is for it to tear when walking.
I have found that walking slower helps, and also keeping the length between each step smaller (i.e. a shorter gait). This will stretch the muscles less, and so will also stretch the muscles connected to the buttocks area less.
From experience, I have also found that wearing trousers that are tight will cause more tearing, and so wearing looser trousers has helped.
The other thing I have found helpful, and a great way to provide intense circulation is to cycle instead of walking. The only thing is, you cant sit down (or not for long), but that of course makes the work-out better :)