Great to know about this group. Exactly what I was looking for. God bless the creator of this site.
I have had severe fissure pains for almost 7 months. I feel better for 3-4 days and then I am in terrible pain. I tried hydro cortisol supposotories, hot baths, Fiber changed diet etc. I also tried the 0.2 % nifediphene no relief.
My primary care phy prescribed 2% nitroglycerene. I applied 1/4th inch and got a throbbing headache and palpitations.
I have noticed that if I eat nuts, white bread then the next day I am definitely going to be in pain. I take stool softners every day for the last 3 months. The stool is soft but when I have a BM it wont come without a lot of straining. When this happens I know I am screwed. Few hours later the pain will begin and then I will get another BM after which it hurts like hell.
If I go to the gym and pick weights then I am sure to be in pain the next day.
Lately I have also been under a lot of stress. The days I am stressed then the fissure hurts like hell.
I am 32 years old and also am hyperthyroid. I have controlled my intake to 1800 calories no sugar and bad carbs, no coke etc. I am not overweight. I drink 2 litres of water every day.
Dr recommends surgery. I did some reserach about it and found that incontinence is a probable side effect. Based on this would you please recommed I go for surgery or not.

I had LIS in December after 5 months of horrible pain. The relief was instantaneous !!! My fissure healed in 9 weeks completely, but now I have new one because my sphincter regained its' strength. I will probably need a second LIS to fix it. Most people do great without any problems after the LIS, and if your CRS had no cases of incontinence in his practice, you are, in my opinion VERY safe. I wish that my CRS cut me MORE !
All the best, and welcome to our group !

I had my fissure that long, seven months. It was all I could stand. I didn't want the surgery, as I too feared incontinence.
But it finally came down to a quality of life choice, and in retrospect, it was a choice I should have made sooner. Fortunately for me, my doctor did cut deep enough and my fissure has been healed now for 1 1/2 years.
You need to avoid the nuts, anything crunchy or that may have sharp edges on the way out. Some folks even avoid potato chips. You need fiber.
If your doctor recommends it, I would seriously consider it Incontinence is NOT a probable side effect, it occurs in less than 1% of patients. No one has ever been on this board and stated they became incontinent from LIS, but some did not get the results they wanted. Most likely you will!
How long did you use the nefedipine, it didn't begin to help me until a week and a half, and while it didn't heal me, it made things so much more tolerable. The headaches get better over time with the nitro.
Finally, the straining is making things worse. Maybe some prunes or prune juice, or MOM would help get things moving faster. Do you use any stool softener?

stay away from hydrocortisone in the fissure area. it will make the skin thinner and more susceptible to tearing.
if you want to give macrobiotics a try - a complete way of eating healthy that would help many imbalances in your body which will then in turn help your digestion and elimination. it is not a gimmick and you need some time to adjust and learn how to eat macrobiotically.
for me, macrobiotics saved me from LIS and a fistulotomy.
i am not 100% macrobiotic now - and to be honest, under stress, for me, macrobiotics goes out the window - but at peace with myself, i am best when eating macrobiotically.
it puts a lot of things in perspective within your body.

Welcome Ravi!
I have not had the surgery but from the experiences of others here I would recommend it if you haven't healed after 7 months. If other conservative methods aren't working and you are debilitated I would seriously consider it. The risk of incontinence is very, very small. Doctors are very judicious about how far into the tissue they cut so it seems like based on the experience of some of the boardies here, the doctor hasn't cut deep enough the first time so I think the risk is small that you will be left with any muscle laxity.

Hang in there!

Hi Ravi,
sorry you're suffering. I had the LIS and it REALLY helpd! As long as the surgeon is competent then you really shouldnt have anything to worry about. They are only telling you about incontinence being a side effect in the same way as they warn you about every little thing which COULD happen if you have a general anaesthetic, you know when you get a list of things which could go wrong? Its just to cover their own backsides in our world of claiming compensation!
I suffered 7 months, and my only regret is not doing it sooner!

Hello and Welcome Ravi !
I am sorry to hear your troubles
Have you tried Diltiazem - This works in the same way as nefedipine but doesnt cause the nasty headaches, i dont think anyway !
You will find some great information here....
I wish you all the best in making your decision.

Thank you so much for the quick replies. I have used nifediphine for 3 months. Four times a day. when I initially started to use it the pain stopped for 3 weeks and again came back all of a sudden and since then relief has not been more than 2 or 3 days in a row.
A follow up question is after the surgery after how many days can you resume normal day to day activities like say going to a gym, yard work etc.
Is there immediate pain after the surgery? If so is it tolerable? What happens if you have to have a BM on the day of surgery after the surgery?

theres pain after most surgery, but if you've coped with a fissure, you'll be able to cope with that pain! Everyone dreads the first BM after surgery, most people have one either the day after or the day after that. It will be ok, dont worry about that!

I think you can resume most activities after a week or two, but I wouldnt advise going to the gym too soon afterwards, just relax and heal!

This makes me feel better. I am taking a second opinion on 15th and on 18th I am planning to talk about surgery. To answers Kim's question I am taking colase stool softner. I take fiber twice a day. I think fiber makes it worse for me as I need to go for BM twice and as I mentioned before the 2nd one is the one that kills me.
I have not tried Diltiazem but after one application of nitro 2% I am scared to use it again. Yesterday I applied for the first time and I was not sure if the headache and nausea feeling was worse or the fissure pain was worse. I had to skip work and go home and sit in a sitz bath.
Thanks to all of you brave folks who have gone through this and taking time to respons to people in need like me