Hi,
The anal physiology is a test to measure the strength of your muscles.
You basically lie down on your side with your knees bent. They first do a digital exam to see if they can feel anything obvious, then they insert a small tube attached to a computer one end, and with a small balloon which they inflate with warm water and deflate whilst it measures pressure and resistance etc. they ask you to try and hold it in as if it were a bm.... Bear down...tell them when it feels like you would need a poo etc.
you do need to have emptied your bowels for this procedure, but I had already done so that morning so they didn't make me use an enima.
Hope that helps.... Any thing else just ask!!
OMB xxxx

Thank You owmybum.
I rang the hospital yesterday as well to ask a few questons to put me at ease, my main one been if it would be ok to take one of my diazepams the night before & on the morning in order to 'calm me down a bit'. Spoke to the receptionist who didn't know but said she'd have a word with the medical person doing the procedure & an hour later a woman rang me back who will be doing it on Monday & it has helped a bit to put me at ease, not that I'm looking forward to it still, haha, but the woman sounded very reassuring & said would go at my pace, explain everything & be gentle & use plenty of lubrication & I can bring my vaseline too & will be very gentle in order not to retear the fissure. She said it sounds worse than it is. Just thinking it'll soon be over & I should be used to strangers fiddling around with my bum by now

Hi lifelines,
The procedure really is nothing to worry about, I promise.. And the staff are used to nervous patients.. They try their best to accommodate as best they can.
My only thought on you taking diazepam in the morning would be that it relaxes you so the true extent of any anal tightness is not as evident under examination. It is vital that they get a true picture as they can if you know what I mean?
Don't worry... The barium they put up you to poop out is the exact same consistency as hand cream... It will not hurt coming out I assure you... As I said, the main problem of this procedure is the barium you have to drink beforehand coming back out. Please do everything possible to make its passage out as easy as possible. If I could do one thing differently I would have doubled my dose of stool softener and maybe taken some sort of oil, such as olive or coconut to help ease it out.
Feel free to pm me if you need to
OMB xxx

Well it's over with!!!
I didn't need to drink any barium.
It did hurt more than I thought it would though when they put the tube in, in order to insert the paste. Because I was tensing up with the pain it was making it harder to put the tube in and been told to relax in order to make it easier seems impossible when it's hurting so much. Luckily after that it was pretty straight forward. The woman stood with me whilst I was later sat on the commode when they did the videoing part of me pushing it out & I actually found it less an ordeal than I thought, I took your advice & told myself it was only the paste I was pushing out & I managed to get most of it out, was actually watching it on the screen & was fascinated watching it coming out & could see the final bit was struggling to come out nearly started laughing when I was told to push a bit harder as imagined it must be similar to giving birth, not that I've ever given birth & since I've never wanted kids can't imagine it's something I'd experience The last bit wouldn't come out but I when I got home I think I got the rest out so hopefully that's it all out. the only thing that alarmed me was when I looked in the commode there seemed to be a lot of blood which freaked me out slightly & I asked if that was normal?
I'm a bit sore now but so far no more blood. Although I am very sore again & I'm afraid it's retore my fissure which had been starting to heal
Next week it's the virtual colonoscopy, dreading the bowel prep.

I am so glad it's over with.... And you didn't have to drink the barium!!
How has it been today?
OMB x