I am a healthy 34 year old male who has been suffering from pain in my anal region since my early to mid 20's. I have IBS and occassionally get loose BMs and contipation, but I have noticed that the IBS stuff has gotten better as I get older. I figured the pain during and after BMs was just due to the BMs I was having due to my IBS and the pain and irritation would go away in a day or two.
The first time I saw a doctor about my issues was when I noticed some bleeding after a BM (this was in my mid 20s). He took a look up in that area with this scope thing and said I had a hemmoroid. He suggested some diet changes and see what happens. I went about my business and didn't really think about it at all for years. I was still having some pain occasionally but it wasn't affecting my quality of life or causing me any anxiety.
Last June, I decided to see my GP again to get his advice on getting rid of the pain, itching, and bleeding (almost always when I wiped) and he refered me to a CRS to have the hemmoroid removed. I saw the CRS about 2 weeks later and to my surprise, he said I did not have a hemmoroid (that he could see atleast) but I infact had a fissure! I didn't even know what a fissure was so he informed me about it and told me ones that have been there awhile tend to develop skin tags (which I had). The most embarassing part was he had two nice looking young ladies there that were his students so I had 3 sets of eyes on my rear end instead of just one! He suggested LIS and I went ahead and scheduled it for three weeks later. I ended up canceling the surgery as I got nervous about having surgery in that area and thought I could just live through any discomfort I having.
Since last June, I have had my good days and bad days with my fissure. Theres usually isnt much pain during BMs on bad days but the pain afterwards and the itching were getting to me. While the pain was probably a 3 or 4 on a scale of 10, it could last anywhere from an hour to 8 hours after a BM. Itching was a real issue to and was completely annoying. I went back to my CRS in January of this year to get re-examed and see what he thinks. He said the fissure was still there and looked kinda ugly. I am thinking probably because I have had it for awhile. He said he's seen ones that look worse than mine that dont really bother people and ones he can barely see that causes terrible pain. I told him I only have issues about 50% of the time after BMs so he suggested more fiber and stool softeners to see if it can heal on its own. Two weeks after my appointment I had it and scheduled the LIS surgery. I was tired of having any pain after BMs even if it was only 50% of the time. This thing had to go!
So I have my surgery tomorrow morning at 9:30AM. I am hoping this will conclude a chapter in my life that has been going on for almost 10 years. I wish I would have gotten the surgery last year, but hindsight is 20/20. For the past week I have not really had any issues with my fissure, but history tells me it could come back with vengence at any time. I am not one of the people who are in so much pain that it affects their life everyday, but since I have had this for so long, I might be the posterchild for a chronic fissure. I will post updates daily in the hopes that it can help others in their struggle with fissures and deciding on LIS surgery.