I have been using diltiazem for almost 8 weeks and there has definitely been a marked improvement in my condition. Though my pain during and after BM has never been unbearable, I have had absolutely no pain for the last 3 weeks. I saw my CRS yesterday and she said she longer sees a fissure and that I am healed. However, I do a small swelling on my skin (on the outside) close to where my fissure was. It has been there ever since I started using diltiazem. My CRS says she has never seen anything like it but is sure that it is not a skin tag. She says probably the skin near my fissure expanded (forming a little pouch) a little bit to allow for stretching without re-tearing. I have no pain at all when I touch that part of my skin and it is definitely soft to touch (not like a hard bump). Has anyone ever experienced anything like this? Will that ever go away?
Oh I think I may have developed a tiny new fissure after yesterday's proctoscopy (it doesn't hurt though). Hopefully with everything I am already doing, it will heal up fast!!!

Redbug,
Sounds like you are doing great! I also have a lot of praise for Diltiazem too after using it for 7 weeks myself. My pain levels were so reduced too but I didn't quite realise how effective it had been until I stopped using the cream....Did you start the cream soon after the fissure developed? The quicker I think you start dealing with the issue, the quicker you seem to recover...(although not always unfortunately) The small swelling you describe does sound a bit like a sentinel pile, closely associated with a fissure, as they form in the area to help protect the fissure but I'm sure your CRS knows best! If it's not giving you any pain at all then I really wouldn't worry about it. Obviously if anything changes and it starts to hurt or pus or anything, get it checked asap.....I seem to have developed a few fleshy painless "mounds" around my anal opening over the last year or two and they're definitely not piles - not sure what they are but they never bother me and no, they shrink and expand a bit now & again, but have never completely disappeared....
Keep up the good work!!! and hoping you make full recovery as soon as possible! :)