After using Dilt for roughly 16 weeks I've decided it's probably done everything it can for me. It has helped to quite a big extent. I still have the fissure and I generally still have pain/discomfort during and after bms. The degree of pain varies from day to day but it has become liveable over the last month. The bm itself is easier and less painful but the soreness and feeling of swelling afterwards hasn't been helped by the Dilt. Actually I think it's made worse.

My CRS told me to keep the area as dry as possible but the cream takes hours to soak and always leaves me feeling moist until I wipe it off. When it's moist I get a feeling of soreness. When my bum is dry it is more comfortable so stopping the Dilt gives me the opportunity to really keep it as dry as possible. It's been 3 days since I last used it and I do think i've made some improvement. Less pain than normal. If things started to go south again I can always restart the cream since my CRS told me it's ok to use it for up to 6 months if you don't develope a problem with it.

Another thing i've introduced is bath products. All the stress we have and we can't even have a bubble bath to cheer ourself up? I finally thought to hell with it and started using bubble bath again. It hasn't harmed or aggrevated my fissure or my symptoms. The only difference is I actually smell nice when I leave the bath now.
It feels like a treat and no longer like part of a medical regime.

I'm still awaiting my exam under GA to see what's going on up there. How the fissure is looking and if I still have a fistula opening further up. The nurse said it will probably be sometime in November as the surgeon has a long waiting list and i'm classed as non-urgent.

Hope everyone is doing ok and hanging in there while we wait for the day we can say we are healed.

Hi Hayley, I just wanted to say that I agree about the dryness thing. It seems to feel better keeping it dry down there.
Good to hear that you're improving overall!