Hi guys :)
I'm new on here so very sorry if this topic has already been covered. I've suffered with a fissure and skin tag for the past 6 months although I think tbh it might have been around before then and last October was when it became chronic...
After trying to muddle through with just warm baths and more fibre for a while, I'm on my second tube of Rectogesic. Things felt like they were on the up a few weeks ago and the fissure was finally going away but then it returned with vengeance, more blood, more itching, more keeping me up at night and generally driving me mental
I feel like this is the first time I've really thought surgery the best next step... but have a few questions that I would love answers for if ya have em :D
1. At what point do you guys think surgery is really the next logical step (I can be a touch neurotic so not sure if I'm overthinking this) Does my sphincter muscle have to be constantly in spasm for my doctor to refer me?
2.) I'd also love if some UK residents who've had LIS done on the NHS could let me know what to expect. I'm still at uni so sadly private health care is not an option.
3.) I guess one of the things that concerns me most is my skin tag. I flipping hate it. It's really affected my confidence in my body, especially with my boyfriend and I really really want it off! When my gp saw it she said its removal would be considered a cosmetic procedure so wouldn't be removed on the nhs and I'd just have to live with it (she made a stupid joke about calling it a name, not one I appreciated much at the time!)
Has anyone had a skin tag removed with LIS on the NHS? Or if privately done in the UK how much did it cost you?
I'd be very grateful if anyone has any answers . Thank you so much :)

My specialist-doc has said that the next step after stizbaths, softeners and different ointments have been tried without (enough) effect, would be a botoxinjection. Which should make the muscle relax for 3 months. Botox is costly, though.
If THAT doesn't work, then surgery.

Hi Downthere :D
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can make it go away without going down the surgery road... I'm not even sure if botox is something they offer for it on the NHS, I hope so!
In a really awful way there's a bit of me hoping that if I get the LIS done, then at least the horrible skin tag can be removed. Although having read accounts of the surgery on this forum I'm quickly changing my mind. It doesn't sound like a walk in the park lol...
Anyway thank you for your reply, I really appreciate it. I've found this whole experience pretty ghastly, particular as it's not the sort of thing you can discuss openly with your friends so this forum has been a total lifesaver
:D

I was diagnosed a year ago with my fissure, after referral by my GP it took 3 months here in Canada to see a CRS even though I was his patient a few yrs earlier because of hemmeroids. By the time that ass on fire three months was up I was begging for surgery. I read all about the ointments Botox etc... And knew I would end up having the surgery but the CRS was reluctant and explained I had to try 1. Diet 2. Nifedipine ointment 3. Botox if all that failed, surgery. So my LIS is April 28th and I can't wait!
I hope your surgery is a success for you good luck!

Best of luck with your surgery Elphie, I really hope it goes well for you! Definitely seems the best thing to do when you've tried everything and sounds like for so many people it really sorts everything out.
My GP has told me to come back in a few months if it's still not healed. The trouble is I feel like it has for a week then suddenly it's terrible again. Irritatingly I saw my doc last week and was saying how much better it was only to find it all horrible again the very next morning...I think this may be the nature of the beast though...

It is the nature of the beast, unfortunately and I demanded surgery basically right away, but that's me..read through some old posts and you'll be less afraid of it. It honestly isn't bad at all.
Good luck and welcome to the board!
For me personally, it was the only way to go.

Layla85 wrote:I'd also love if some UK residents who've had LIS done on the NHS could let me know what to expect. I'm still at uni so sadly private health care is not an option

Hi Layla... I had LIS on the NHS 8 months ago, on the day of surgery I was admitted to the pre-assessment suite where all my obs were done (BP, Weight, Height etc), then I had to get changed into a gown and some sexy white stockings LOL.. after that the surgeon told me what he would be doing which put me at ease a little, I then returned to the waiting room and waited for my name to be called out, I was expecting to be wheeled to theatre but instead had to walk, when I arrived just outside the theatre I was asked to get on a trolley where the anaesthetist gave me some calming drugs via a drip in my arm, then she injected me again and the next thing I knew I woke up in recovery and was given something to eat and a drink before being sent home with some Ibuprofen and Metronidazole plus some Fybogel sachets to get the bowels working.
That basically sums it up for me, I would expect yours to be similar.
Best of luck ~ Steve

Hi Sidra and Steve, thank you very much for your replies :)

Hey Layla! Don't fear the surgery... It's so much easier than having a fissure.
I just have to say, when you get into that pattern of heal/tear, heal/tear...you know things are really chronic now. I was there, and Miralax was a great fix for that, if a temporary one; I still opted to do the surgery.
And like Steve, I don't remember a thing about it thanks to the fabulous drugs they give you. It's like I wasn't even there.
I hope you can get something done about it soon!

Thank you for your reply alpinestrawberry :D
Glad you also had a positive experience of surgery. It's comforting to know. I'm starting to feel that it is definitely going to be an inevitability at some point. I'm 25 and at some point would like to have kids etc... I really don't want to have to deal with the whole heal/tear thing whilst pregnant or post birth. I can imagine that would be a total nightmare!
The thing that is making it a little more complicated for me is that I believe my fissure is strongly connected to my having herpes 'down there'. Although I occasionally had some discomfort when passing BMs before this it was never bad at all and I always felt very "healthy" in that area. But when I first had my first herpes outbreak it made me incredibly constipated because it was such agony to go. I couldn't for like a week , it was unbelievably horrible. My doctor literally sneered at me when I tried to go and get help for it and was just like "You just need to be patient and wait for the herpes to get better" (When I hadn't been able to have any BMs for 5 days and was literally in tears) and it was only when I went to the STI clinic they gave me some instillagel I was finally able to go to the loo. Nightmare...
That's when my skin tag appeared and the fissure has been on and off again since. The thing that's making me confused is that I know herpes causes fissures inside the anus and it makes me wonder if my fissure is a. caused by the first outbreak or b. Is a reoccurring outbreak of herpes inside my anus. I feel this even more today because I feel I'm having my second outbreak of herpes around my bottom and its strangely appeared five days or so after the fissure got terrible again. No idea if this is a coincidence and it's making my head spin! I hate having to deal with the both of them at once.