Hi, I had LIS a few years ago. It helped some but not a 100%. It turns out that I have anal stenosis. It's caused by a number of things one of which is scar tissue that restricts the opening of the anus from stretching. That's how I got my fissure. The LIS did help relax the muscle some but I still need to keep things soft. There's another surgery that might help with the stenosis but since scar tissue from a hemorrhoidectomy caused my stenosis, I'm in no hurry to jump into another surgery. I've met a number of people who suffer from stenosis so I personally don't think it's that's rare anymore. Infact hemorrhoidectomy is one of the biggest causes of rectal stenosis. I wish you luck if you have this condition. I try to keep my stool soft by using miralax and benefiber and I eat bran flakes. I do okay but sometimes still get small tears and it takes a while to heal. Try to stay positive. Suzy

Hey Suzy, wow I didn't realize you had several surgeries already. So you had hemorrhoidectomy first, then got stenosis which caused the fissure, and finally LIS which partially helped?
I don't think I have stenosis at this point. It was just mentioned as a possible effect of LIS (which I'm getting tomorrow) so I was curious if anyone ever got stenosis from LIS. So far I haven't had anyone personally tell me yes, but the literature seems to suggest it's a long term risk.
If you don't mind my asking, how bad was your pain before LIS and how much is it after? The "small tears" that you mentioned getting sometimes -- are they fissures?

Hi, I wouldn't think LIS would cause stenosis but any surgery can cause scar tissue and I guess it would depend upon how you scar and if the LIS relaxes the sphincter muscle. I wouldn't worry about it too much though. It's also possible to get stenosis from repeated fissures healing and retearing. This too can cause scar tissue. It's all a pain in the a$$. LOL. For me I had the hemorrhoid surgery 30 years ago and didn't get my first fissure until about 8 years ago. Too bad they didn't know back then what could happen and I could have been more prepared for all this. There are ways to help when you have this problem though. Good luck with your surgery.
The LIS surgery isn't bad at all. No worse than your fissure except the pain only lasts for a short time and your behind will start to feel better. I didn't take any of the pain meds they gave me after and I'm a big baby. I had my surgery on a friday and laid around all weekend. It took a few day before I was able to sit good but some people don't even have that problem. The small tears I get now are fissures unfortunately but not with the same intensity as before the surgery. They take any where from a day or two or a few weeks to heal up but they don't interrupt my life like before. If you have difficulty having a bm or tend to be constipated continue with your stool softeners even after surgery. I know some doctors say you won't need them but I personally didn't find that to be true. Between what I eat and my benefiber I get about 25 grams of fiber a day and I still take miralax before I go to bed. I eat normally now just a bit healthier. The only down side of the surgery for me was that once the constant pain was gone I started to eat again and gained some weight. Now I'm exercising again. I couldn't do that comfortably when my fissure was active. If you don't have stenosis you'll do great. I didn't know I had it before the surgery and the dr. couldn't tell because of the fissure but most people who have LIS do great. All the best Suzy.

Thanks Suzy! Just talked to the surgeon and I'm going in in 3 hours :) I definitely plan on continuing Miralax after surgery. I'd like to stop at some point but that won't be for a loooooong time if it ever happens.
No pain meds after surgery is amazing -- I don't know how you could manage that! I plan on popping a vicodin as soon as I'm awake :)
I would really love to get back to being active as well. That's one of my main reasons for going through with LIS. Not only am I tired of the pain, however minor it may be right now, but I also gave up snowboarding, mountain biking, and riding motorcycles because of the stupid fissure. Well ok maybe motorcycles don't really count as "being active" but you get the idea.
I'm so sorry to hear that you've been through so much and still have issues from time to time. Thank you for your support to someone who is a "surgery virgin"!

NG,
Good luck. I'll tell Dwight this afternoon when I speak with him again!!

Thank you Cheryl! Anxiety is kicking in hard now, but hopefully this ends the saga :) Too bad they can't bump up my appointment and just wheel me in there right now!

As a veteran of 9 surgeries, I can understand your anxiety. It's normal!! Just think about fried onion rings (I just ate a few) and all of the other junk food you have been craving for sooooo long! I'll tell Dwight when I talk to him. You might not need Vicodin. I had one surgery where all I took was one Tylenol. Be positive and strong! You can always meditate, pray, and/or do deep breathing when you get anxious!!

Wow holy cow, didn't know you had 9 surgeries before Cheryl. Ever since I scheduled LIS, I've talked to a lot of people and have come to realize that lots of folks have had surgeries (but 9 definitely qualifies for "vet" status). They just don't whine about it all day like I do
You really know me too well by now. How'd you know that I absolutely love onion rings :) Burger + beer + onion rings = YUM :) Add a day of snowboarding around a meal like that and it's heaven on earth!
I've packed some ibuprofen along with the Vicodin, so I'll see how it goes I guess. Opiates make me nauseous so it'd be great to not need the Vicodin.

Alright finally show time. Time to have fun with a Fleet enema and then take this show on the road to the OR. Thanks for holding my hand everyone!

1. facial surgery I guess I miscounted--it's been 10!!
2. Tonsils
3. Female surgery
4. Female surgery
5. Carpal tunnel surgery
6. Carpal tunnel surgery
7. Facial surgery
8. Blepharaplasty (while awake)
9. Foot surgery
10. Foot surgery