Hi, another newbie here - it was a great relief to find this forum tonight while scouring the web for info after a particularly alarming... 'BP'? 'BM'? 'PM'? (I've not quite figured out the terminology used here yet ) poo.
I've had a chronic fissure for just over 2 years and my new years resolution for this coming year is to beat the damn thing, and keep it beat, hopefully by simply adjusting eating/drinking/exercise patterns without resorting to medication. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
I find that sites giving formal info just aren't quite.. detailed enough to let you know the extent and range of symptoms and experiences.
I can put my finger fairly squarely on the incident which caused the original acute fissure... let's just say after a brief foray into such activities, I don't anticipate ever returning to them after the pain of the last 2 years. :o
I can also put my finger fairly squarely onto a handful of lifestyle issues which helped it stick around instead of healing like the majority do...
-lack of fruit & veg
-drinking next to nothing most days
-sitting on my backside for long periods without moving owing to the nature of my job
-being an impatient strainer on the loo
-eating too much in one sitting
I really regret not getting to grips with it early on, I didn't even get it diagnosed for 6 months I was so distracted with other life issues at the time, I assumed the intense pain I was experiencing was piles and just grinned and bore it. What I would really like to know now is, once you've had one this long, how likely is it that it will ever fully heal? I appreciate that once you've had one, you may have to be more careful than most ever after.
To describe my symptoms - for the first 6 months there was no bleeding, just searing pain on the loo which cleared up shortly afterwards. It would sometimes vanish for a week or so, as if partially healing, but then owing to said lifestyle issues, it would come back. Then I saw blood and spoke to a doctor who identified it as a fissure. I'd never even heard of them, piles get all the press! Since then it has bled as often as not, though not been so consistently painful. The amount of pain seems in no way proportional to the presence/amount of blood. The longest it has gone without bothering me is maybe 2 months while I've been going through periods of attempting to lose weight via uber healthy eating... which tells me all I need to know about how to start tackling it, I guess. It is quite hard maintaining that degree of discipline in your eating though! I respect the hell anyone has endured to be driven to maintain such healthy eating patterns. I'm borderline normal/overweight on the charts, not horribly overweight or anything.
Anyway, I managed to open the damn thing back up again last Sunday, and it's possibly the most bloodbath-like incident so far, which I find more worrying than the searing pain variety, hence my determination to beat the thing. And it's always nice when the 'cure' has the side effect of getting you slim :)
Thanks for reading, and for the comfort I have felt reading your posts!

hi there!
i think it's great for you to address the above issues and try to incorporate positive changes with regards to diet and intake of fluids as well as exercise. don't forget that taking time out for your mind and escape counterproductive thoughts is also key.
i had/have a fissure that was the worst thing ever for the first four years and for whatever reason, i caught a break for almost 2.5 years.
i had a very conservative CRS who never took me down the road of the creams or advised to do the miralaxes/citrucels - as a matter of fact he always recommended to deal with it naturally as much as possible.
of course, i would attempt on my own to buy the cheap OTC stuff like citrucel, induldge in all bran bran buds, and explored different products that contained magnesium. i explored using anti-fungal cream, vicks, aloe vera, vitamin e, etc.
probably what i have kept in the last 2.5 years is a combination of aloe vera (recently started to use it off and on), palmer's cocoa butter and jojoba oil to moisturize after blow drying the butt post shower.
but that is it.
i have tried my best to keep my stools soft strictly by what i put in my body. mostly i am successful, but when i have brushes with anxiety, it doesn't matter what i do, any normalcy or consistency goes out the window and either i will have to deal with constipation or explosive, gasy stools, both which cause irritation.
about four weeks ago, had major constipation and i could tell i really pushed my limits, tore again, and the rest of the two weeks were puzzling cause i had horrific pain that lasted all day long - unlike the shards of glass, it was just a mofu of pain.
this week has been a very good week with pain almost diminishing to nothing. i haven't bleed for about two weeks. and that is that i have brought squatting back into the equation about three weeks ago.
if i can add any thing to what you are going to do, try adding squatting to relieve your bowels along with these other changes.
i don't want to say you can't heal - but you will have to be meticulous about all aspects of your health, mind, and spirit, what you put in your body, and how you deal with elimination. even if it does not cure you 100%, you will be better off with being mindful.
take it easy. take is slow. but do follow your intuition and go down the road you see for yourself.

Thanks for your advice happyass!
That's the real pain about fissures, months of discipline and care then one rash incident and you've undone all the work again. Meticulous is the word!
I have occasionally taken over the counter laxatives to help me heal through a difficult patch, so a little pharmaceutical intervention isn't out of the question - thanks for your recommendations :)
I'm curious about the squatting - if you mean do it while actually relieving yourself, I don't see how you could do that on a regular toilet. Do you use something else, or do you mean do it before going to the loo to relax the muscles?
Nice avatar btw

hi fierybiscuits!
when i first started the squat, yes, i actually would climb up over the toilet - having to balance my feet on the toilet seat!

now in my wiser age, i just get like some old newspaper (easy to find as i can pick up the free daily newspaper) and just set it on the floor and i squat down over that!
it has helped me so much to recover in the last few weeks.
**
i usually won't go to squat until i listen/feel for the signals that my 'butt' is ready to bring new stool into the world! LOL!
so usually as soon as i squat, i take a very deep breathe in as if bringing lots of air into my belly and it helps easily push out the BM rather than trying to push using your muscles voluntarily. it's an odd feeling but as soon as the BM starts coming out, you continue with taking in deep breathes of air - either thru your nose or mouth at an easy pace so you slowly fill up your tummy with air.
pretty soon it's all done.
just clean up.
since i have a dog, i usually dispose of my waste by wrapping it up in the paper and then put it into a doggie bag and throw away in the trash (i live in a building so i go to the trash door in the hallway to dispose of it).
i know it's a lot more work than simply flushing waste down the toilet....
but it's a well-worth, additional inconvenience that has given me more progress in repairing the damage down there.