Hi Andy- I agree with Cheryl- I think you should see your Dr. about the temperature. I am certainly no expert other than reading about things over the past year and I did have LIS 6 weeks ago.
I will attempt to answer the "what is LIS" question. You should go to the section labeled "considering surgery or have had surgery" because the administrators of the board have a couple of "stickies" right at the top of the section that have a lot of information.
LIS is short for lateral internal sphincterotomy and is the surgery of choice for fissures. Most of us who have had a fissure find ourselves fighting to not have the surgery, but then many of us wish we had done it sooner. Most Drs try more conservative methods first. My Dr. had me first use the medication Nifedipine in an ointment base. It is a blood pressure medication that works to relax the sphincter and hopefully allow the fissure to heal. The other medication is a nitrogycerin medication- I never used that but I think the one article below or the information here on the board explains it. For some people, it can cause headaches. If you are lucky, one of these medications may help to let the fissure heal within a few weeks. If not, they will consider botox injections. The purpose is the same- trying to break up any spasms that are occurring in the internal muscle and relaxing it so the fissure gets better blood supply and can then heal. If that doesn't work, the LIS surgery is considered. The success rate is quite high and don't let the 8% rate the one article quotes of incontinence scare you. I read in a couple of other places that that risk is very low (maybe around 1-2%) and that many who do have any long term issues had issues with muscle strength and flexibility beforehand (more elderly patients or those with another issue). The other thing I think is not addressed completely in those statistics is when they checked in with people and what they called incontinence (a slight discharge for a short period of time post surgery, for example, vs. long term more significant issues). Anyway, here are the WebMd and the wikipedia definitions of treatments , including LIS. Hope this was helpful. It is a path you are on, not one any of us wanted to walk on, but try to just put one foot in front of the other and hope and pray for the best. And know that if you do need to do the surgery, most have had good results and then you won't have to deal with the stupid thing anymore! Oh and the last link is just for fun- don't forget to have fun. As a retired speech/language pathologist, this is my idea of a good time!
Bambi
http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/tc/anal-fissure-treatment-overviewhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateral_internal_sphincterotomyhttp://www.twinmamarama.com/