Hi everyone,
I wonder if any of you have had a similar problem? I notice from reading your posts that your pain is much worse if you sit. Apparently sitting is the worst thing you can do.
For me sitting is the best. The harder the chair the better, too. If I sit on a firm surface (a kitchen chair or a desk chair) the pain pretty much disappears.
The weird thing is that the worst thing I can do when I have the pain is to lay down. If I try to go to bed or stretch out on the couch the pain is agonizing and will last for hours.
I haven't been 100% diagnosed with an AF - the first doctor I went to saw a tear and the surgeon I just saw recently didn't. He said my symptoms sounded like a fissure but, visually examining me, he didn't see one. I'm scheduled for a colonoscopy next month. Anyone have a similar experience?

I have heard others say their doctors did, and didn't, see the fissure. Some may be very hard to see.
Sitting was absolutely the worst for me, or kneeling, even. But I could lie fine as long as I didn't pull either leg upwards.
The position of the fissure within the anal canal is probably another factor in whether sitting or lying is worst/best.
A hard chair for me would have been an instrument of torture.

I have had times when lying a certain way would hurt more. Like it would pull the fissure a bit.

I always used to sleep on my left side, which is where my fissure is-the 8 o clock position, and I can't lay that side at all now which I find really annoying, but sitting in general is torture, laying down flat is lovely!

Kinda depends. I coulnd lay flat on my back. the right side was more painful than the left and sitting was torture. Too bad I couldn't sleep standing up--like a horse.

Hi Arsetravaganza,
I find that lying down can produce more pain sometimes, especially if I'm lying on my stomach. Maybe the fissure area gets stretched by certain muscles. I'm wondering if the pain depends on how many nerves are concentrated in the area where the fissure lies, how deep the fissure is, ligaments used in the body movement or position, etc. My CRS said you could have a big tear that really doesn't bother you much, or you could have a very small tear that hurts a lot. As far as the doctor not visually seeing a fissure on you, I can relate to that, as well. My regular physician, who I first saw, said I had a fissure (he must of seen it or felt it during the exam). The second or third time I saw him, he said everything looked good on the outside, and that was only a few weeks later! I was still in a lot of pain, though. The CRS said he could tell I had a fissure because of the tightness in the area, a cardinal sign. So, he did not see anything on the outside, either.
Queen of Pain (AgonyAnn)
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