I had LIS surgery nearly 8 months ago for two anal fissures. I had two fissurectomies and had two tags removed. The first week post-op was very difficult - terrible pain even worse than the fissures had been causing, but very gradually the pain subsided, and now I feel I can safely say what my surgeon said at my last followup a couple of months ago...I'm cured! No pain during bowel movements or in between. And BMs are MUCH easier than they ever were in my life. With no incontinence. What a huge relief!

The recovery was much slower and more gradual than what I was led to believe it would be by my surgeon, but eventually it happened. I had suffered for about five months with those fissures, during which time I tried every topical remedy and dietary change that I could try. Nothing worked except LIS surgery. I'm so glad I did it. If you have a skilled surgeon with lots of LIS experience, and you've tried natural methods that did not work, I would definitely suggest that you do the surgery. Your odds are very high that it will cure you.

Thanks for your post, trill and I'm so happy to hear that the surgery was a success for you! I would love to be able to say that some day, too. I'm 6 weeks post op today. I'm not fully healed yet and feel like this recovery has been more in the shape of a wave with big ups and downs versus improvement continuing in a straight line. How long did it take before you were feeling 100%? My pain from surgery is gone now, but the surgical site still gets very red and angry at times and I'm dealing with some drainage and leakage still which causes the skin to continue to be very irritated... I can't wait until I am farther along in my healing and my arse isn't the first thing I think about when I wake up lol...

If your pain from surgery is gone now six weeks post-op you are doing better than I was at that point. I recall that at that point I still had a little pain from surgery, although it was much better than immediately post-op. And I still had the other symptoms that you describe: the surgery sites ( had TWO anal fissures plus two piles removed) were still very sore and that soreness/pain had big ups and downs, as you describe. And I still had some drainage and leakage. My recovery has been VERY gradual, with continued ups and downs, in the weeks and months since then. At times I was afraid that it will never truly heal, and at times I was afraid that I might have retorn something. I ran back to the surgeon a couple of times when I suspected a re-tear, but each time he assured me that I'm healing fine and it will just take more time.

The leakage didn't completely stop until about 3 months post-op. And I would not say that even now I am 100% healed, but maybe 98%. That is, I still feel a bit of irritation or soreness down there occasionally, but compared to the pain of those fissures it is NOTHING. My surgeon told me on my last visit that I probably won't be 100% healed until a year post-op. But it doesn't matter, because if I live the rest of my life with this slight occasional soreness I will be very happy.

So take heart. It sounds like you are healing very well. The surgeons seem to always greatly minimize how long the recovery will likely be. Some patients are lucky and recover very quickly - I assume that their fissures were probably minor and without piles or other complications. But others, like me, with more extensive, deeper fissures and piles etc., should expect much longer recovery times. The important thing to remember is that you ARE healing, and despite ups and downs, you will continue to feel better and better until eventually you will be completely healed. Of course, if you suspect that something is going wrong in your recovery go back to the surgeon to check it. But in all likelihood he/she will tell you what mine told me, that everything is fine and you are healing.

Thank you for your post, trillo. I'm so happy to hear that someone else had this frustrating leakage for as long as I have had after the surgery. Like you, I did have a lot of work done (three procedures) so it must just take our bodies a little longer to heal than the lucky ones who were back to 100% in a month. Looking forward to my CRS follow up next week. Wishing you full recovery soon and continuing good health.

Hello! So happy to hear everyone is getting along good. I’m following your story because I have an apt Dec 18th and will discuss LIS with my doctor. Other conservative methods have not healed my AF.

Hi North West Jen! Thanks for your note. I just posted an update in my Surgery Recovery Diary thread after having my first follow up with the surgeon today. It went pretty well :) Wishing you the best with healing your fissure. Have you tried the nifedipine ointment? It really does give us the best fighting chance to heal the fissure without surgery. I healed my first fissure 10 years ago with nifedipine and didn't need surgery. This time around I used it for over 3 months and unfortunately did not heal so I opted for the surgery. How long have you been fighting your fissure?

And trillo my CRS echoed everything you have said in your last few posts... so thank you very much for the encouragement and the reminder to be patient. I might not be healed yet, but I'm on my way there. :) Have you closed in on that last 2% yet to get back to 100%? Keep me posted on when you get there!

North West Jen wrote:Hello! So happy to hear everyone is getting along good. I’m following your story because I have an apt Dec 18th and will discuss LIS with my doctor. Other conservative methods have not healed my AF.

Hi North West Jen,

I'm always in favor of trying natural/conservative remedies for health issues whenever possible, but if you feel that you have given other remedies a fair chance and they have failed then I think you are doing the right thing to do the LIS - if you have a good, experienced CRS and if he/she thinks that it should be done. I'm very glad that I did it, and I'm fairly certain that you will be also.

Tight80,
Yay, so happy for your great follow up! I’ve been battling off and on for 3 years. I did dialtzem cream for 6 weeks 3 years ago and it worked but as soon as I stopped the cream the fissure opened back up. I did Botox after that and that worked great until about 4 weeks into healing when it didn’t heal right and formed an abscess, which turned into a low fistula. I had fistula surgery to unroof it and it took forever to finally heal...6+ months. I got pregnant with my third when I was still healing and I was terrified that something would happen down there and I would need a procedure and wouldn’t be able to have it done because of my pregnancy. Much to my surprise, about 2 months into my pregnant I healed up and felt normal. I went my whole pregnancy and delivery feeling great down there. 2 months after baby I started feeling uncomfortable again. I couldn’t wrap my head around it for the longest time but what I think happened is blood flow increases so much during pregnancy that I was finally able to heal and when the blood flow left after pregnancy things went back. It wasn’t the same pain as a fissure. No spams but just uncomfortable inside. I was thinking hemorrhoids since I just had a baby and she said I have a fissure inside just above where my old fissure was. This is where the dialtzem cream came back into the picture but I had a reaction this time and had to stop using it. We discussed Botox again but ultimately my CRS decided to refer me to a more specialized CRS who does lots of LIS. My CRS doesn’t do LIs much since Botox has been a thing. Anyway, I’m waiting to see the new CRS dec 18th. Wish me luck!

Wow... 3 years... I can't even imagine how frustrating dealing with this for so long has been for you. I could barely handle fighting with my fissure for 3 months! It sounds like you really have tried everything to heal it. Please keep us posted on what the CRS recommends. I have had a few friends that tried botox, too, but it didn't work for them so they had the LIS surgery. Good luck on the 18th!

Hi Tight80 and Trillin, it’s been a while since I love posted. The holidays had my running and so busy. Well, I did it. I got LIS and a Fissurecotomy today. Feeling good but still numbed up. I just took a pain pill to help me sleep as I know the numbing will wear off soon. Dreading the dreaded first BM but I also just want to get it out of the way. Thanks for the support and well wishes. It really helped me make the final decision to have the procedure.

Take care,
NWJ