When I got my first anal fissure (the first one that I noticed, anyway) 2 and a half years ago, I went in agony for a month before I found relief in Dr. Wheatgrass Skin Recovery Cream. I just applied it twice a day on the end of a Qtip bud, and I noticed a huge reduction in pain in just a few days. Within four weeks, the symptoms of the fissure were completely gone. However, the fool that I am, I went right back to sloppy eating habits (eating whole pizzas, lots of chips, etc.), and the fissure returned in all of its terrible majesty! Tried the Wheatgrass again, and the fissure disappeared in about three weeks, and wasn't all that bad. Got sloppy AGAIN, and when it came back two months ago, it was the worst ever, and a colonoscopy showed a deep, long, chronic fissure. The wheatgrass ointment did not seem to be working anymore, so after two more weeks of agony, I opted for LIS.
So, I think that even home remedies like Wheatgrass can work if the fissure is caught early, and then treated with respect for the rest of your, and its, life. Dr. Wheatgrass himself says that the goal is not in healing the fissure itself, but in relieving the symptoms of the fissure.

I think I will also have a try with the wheatgrass ointment, for between Nifedipine treatment. Thanks for the suggestion. If it could relieve the symptoms, especially as I have no pain reliever in my Nifedipine (allergy to lidocaine), that would be a joy.

I would love to promise that it will, but "results may vary." (I hate that phrase with a passion) But it's still worth a shot, in my opinion.

Reading that you went back to pizza, etc! I so miss not worrying about what I eat. I try to keep my diet bland, and for someone who loved curries and things like that in days gone by, it is such a pain (pun?) having to worry about everything going in, how much it's going to hurt on the way out...

I understand, Em. I had pizza last night, and it was very hard to control myself and have only a couple of slices instead of eight! Even though the pain is gone, there will always be that nagging little voice in the back of my head, saying, "Dude, don't overdo it -- you don't want to go back to square one, do you?" That's enough incentive for me to keep it real!
I noticed that you were born in England. I visited over there back in 1992, and absolutely loved every minute of it. I spent about a month there, and traveled from London to Land's End, and hit almost every place in between. I spent about a week in Tavistock -- what a beautiful place. In London, I went and saw The Phantom of the Opera twice at Her Majesty's Royal Theater, because it was so inexpensive compared to what it costs in the states (like $12.00 compared to $60.00 or so). I didn't get further north, but I plan on going back someday, and exploring a bit further.
Keep your chin up.

Hi there Matt! I will go to the "off topic" section and talk a little about the UK there!

Hey Catnap,
I noticed this was your last post.
Does that mean that conservative measures did work for you?
Just curious.
-Tanya

Good question, WOI! I have tried all sorts of different things, but just when I think things are going well (no blood for about 10 days), suddenly things seem to return to square one=blood. Very disheartening.
Are you doing the dilation, and if so, how is it going?
I am still working on going to NYC, but will wait a couple of months for the weather to improve. I have not made an appointment, as I also will no doubt have to have some sort of a look 'inside', and am playing with what I want to have done instead of a colonoscopy. I have thoughts of a capsule endoscopy, but not sure of how that will work. I have had trouble with anesthesia in the past, and am just petrified to have it, and have no wish either to have a colonoscopy awake. Capsule endoscopy, I hope, would cover as much as necessary and with no pain.
Do you have IBS? I am wondering if I have that, as I have bleeding that I think is from the rectum, but when I had both an MRI and a CT scan they could see nothing. I do (supposedly) have something called Behcet's Disease, and this can cause all sorts of problems, and this could include what I am going through now. But, who knows.

Hey Sav,
I was reading some old posts on the yahoo anal fissure forum by a couple people who had SAD by dr. Sohn before he retired. I also have a long document I made of all the old self dilation posts on that forum.
I don't know how to attach them to PMs here so I'll just PM my email address to you.
I don't have IBS, but I was often pretty loose before I started the metamucil. I think I will always take that as it seems to help. I think it's because my hormones changed after I had my daughter.
I had never heard of behcet's disease before. Is it hard to diagnose? I thought there were medications for autoimmune disorders?
I have not been doing the self dilation as I think I am making some progress and don't want to rock the boat. I hope to do it after I heal to prevent recurrences. But I did order the dilators!
I had an endoscopy last year when my throat was so tight from the ativan withdrawal. They had to rule out something physical. It was really quite easy. Very quick.
I would hope that the colonoscopy would be as quick.
The thought of having one right now does kinda make me panic. I assume the capsule endoscopy is where you swallow a camera in a capsule and it goes through you?
That doesn't sound very pleasant either. Would they give you an enema to force it out sooner?
I've only had anesthesia once for impacted wisdom teeth. It was pretty yucky. Felt very disoriented after and kinda nauseous for a day or so.
Perhaps you are just having a minor setback? Not all the way to square one?
-Tanya

I think with the capsule they give you something before to make sure that it will go 'through'.
I stopped breathing while under anesthia (sp?), so freak out just at the thought... I have had it before - had three hemmie ops (never again do I want anyone to touch my tochas with a knife), and did well then with going under, but that was years ago. My experience with stopping breathing was about five years ago, and I will never forget it, needless to say!
I hope it is just a minor setback. I don't have much pain, only the bleeding today and a bit yesterday, which was maroon in colour, so is from the rectum and not from the fissure. I suspect that the fact that I have diverticulosis is the problem, that this flares up as my immune system is a little compromised. There is lots of medication for Behcet's but I am lucky enough not to have to take any of it right now. I just go with the flow with the problems that I experience from time to time.
The capsule is the size of a vitamin pill, so should not be too difficult to swallow.
I sent off my email to you by PM.
I take metamucil too. The cookie ones with cinnamon. Only half a biscuit a day for me, as I really don't eat that much. Too scared of the next day...
I have stopped slathering vaseline on my rear, and thought maybe that was the reason for the blood stopping. Maybe it started today as I ate some Indian bread that hubby made...and ate a bit more today. So delicious.
Time will tell. I wrote this once already, and it did not post because of my lousy internet connection. This time I am saving as I go along.