Hi everyone, my name is Marissa and I am suffering from an anal fissure.
However, my fissure has improved and almost healed over the last 3-4 weeks due in part to the amazing advice and support I found on this forum. I never posted but just loitered through the previous posts and found incredible tips and suggestions to help me recover. It all start when I gave birth 10 weeks ago, I think the pushing during labour might have started things. Then breast feeding my son made me very dehydrated and constipated. Also, I was passing HUGE BM's. Next thing you know I tore a fissure. I have never known pain like what the anal fissure caused me - even with childbirth in my recent memory, I would rather have another baby than another anal fissure. There was blood on the paper and in the bowl every single time, I cried and writhed in pain on my bed for hours after a BM. It made it really hard to take care of my baby! I stopped eating as I was so scared of passing a BM. This made breast feeding REALLY hard with nothing in my system to make milk with, not to mention I could hardly bear to sit!
I saw my gastroenterologist who prescribed some creams (rectogesic and proctoseydl) and laxatives (movicol and agarol) and salt water baths. From the advice on the forum I made some diet changes (esp water, water, water!), definitely did not strain and took the salt water baths straight after a BM (and hung in there because of the assurances it WOULD get better). Another great piece of advice I read was to lean against the fissure, mine was right sided, so I lifted my right buttock off the toilet seat when passing a BM. My anus was in such spasm I used a q-tip covered in glad wrap, and squat over a mirror, to get the cream where it "needed to go" as there was no way anything else would fit up there.
All I can add is once you get the right creams/laxatives, it can only get better from there so if you think you have a fissure, don't leave it for weeks before seeking help from a Dr. Every BM now is better than the last and I am nearly free from this horror, eating normally again and back breast feeding my bub!
All I really wanted to say was a huge thank you to the creator/s of this forum. I would have felt very alone and scared without this support over the last couple of months and even though I'm only posting now things are better for me I was definitely utilising this site every day, if for nothing more than a daily affirmation that it will get better and to hang in there.
So thanks again and best of luck to all the people coming to this forum. Marissa.