This is like a sick joke or something! I woke up on Monday 6-20 and I had the worst pain down there. I couldn't sit on it or do anything at all. I hopped in the warm bath a couple times a day. Last week was just torture, I limped when I walked..... Plus, I have to sit all day at work, which I'm sure doesn't help. I changed my diet and have my bowels great, coming out really smooth, and when I wipe, I wipe w/ wet wipes and try to dab more than wipe. I continued with the sitz baths 2-3 times a day, I also bought 99% aloe vera gel and apply every so often. I started to get some real relief the past several days.... then even a bit of itching, which I thought meant healing..... But today 7-1 it's a bit sore again! Not nearly as bad as the horrible monday on 6-20 and I'm not limping anymore, but still.... it feels like I made so much progress and now today I'm sore a little less than 2 weeks after the initial horrible mornig... I don't get it, I thought I was healed! It actually hurts the most when I need to stand up out of the chair or sit down. Standing up I try to use my arms to push myself up and not my legs... and when I sit I try to ease myself down slowly with my arms. I know it's not as bad as it was, but it's just discouraging because today I felt like I took 2 steps backward. The good thing is that I have a 3 day weekend with the 4th of July this weekend, so I can baby it, do more sitz baths and not be required to sit on it as much... not so much fun for the 4th of July weekend, but I just want this thing to heal once and for all! Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry that your hurting atm. how long have u had ur fissure for?
yes just keep babying it and sitz baths.

New mum wrote:Sorry that your hurting atm. how long have u had ur fissure for?
yes just keep babying it and sitz baths.

Well I woke up with the pain on Monday June 20th. So it's been about 11 days. Based on my symptoms, I believe it is a fissure. Haven't gone to the doc, because I'd like to fix it myself before having to do that. Last week when it first started it was really bad and I was even limping... now I'm not limping anymore. I got itchy the the last day or so and thought it was all healing.... then today it's a bit sore again. Hurts the most when I need to stand up after sitting in a chair or couch for a while... Thanks for your response.. and any other advice would be appreciated.

If it was me i would go get myself some rectogesic or go to docs. the sooner you take care of it the less chance of ending up where most of us are surgery! they say after 6 weeks theres not much chance of healing without surgery. I dont know where u live but you can get some fissure creams over the counter here.

New mum wrote:If it was me i would go get myself some rectogesic or go to docs. the sooner you take care of it the less chance of ending up where most of us are surgery! they say after 6 weeks theres not much chance of healing without surgery. I dont know where u live but you can get some fissure creams over the counter here.

I really think I can heal this without going to the doc. I've had drastic improvement - no more limping, the pain turned to itch... I'm glad you mentioned the cream, because that is 1 question I've had... I've done some research online and bought myself some 99% Aloe Gel from the health store. But I've read some people online say "it needs to be dry down there for it to heal" while others say the Aloe Gel aids in healing... so which one is it? Dry or an ointment applied?

Healing: I wouldn't expect too much from Aloe Gel.
I've experienced that diltiazem gel probably helped my healing. Here you need a prescription to get it.
And to prevent it worsen or return: Use a stool softener like Miralax/Movicol.
That's what my own AFexperience and reading around in this group tell me. (Am no doc).
AND: You'll probably need to be patient. Many people here report that it can last quite a bit, sorry, but ...
Good luck!

Both really! Dry off thoroughly after washing, then apply the cream.
You really would be better off with the real fissure healing creams like rectogesic or diltiazem, and yes, it most definitely is easier to heal in its acute stage, the creams probably wont heal it once it has become chronic.
It is very up and down - one day you can feel like you've healed, couple of days later it's back where it started.

I can def relate to having to not being able to walk and trying to use arms etc to push yourself up. My muscles are aching like I've been at the gym some days. When I'm in acute pain I just try to let it pass (takes about an hour) before I get into a bath. For drying a good tip that the nurse gave me was to dry with a hairdryer with no heat.

Thanks all for the advice. I'm still not quite at 2 weeks yet, I hope I can cure it myself without going to a doc... I can deal with it and baby it and do sitz baths while home. But, the torture sometimes is at work when I need to sit for 8+hours. Any advice on that? Also, my wife may go out today to pick me up one of those donut things for the seat, so that I can sit comfortably tonight and take some pressure off and relax without laying on my side.

Sometimes the donuts do more harm than good - they put strain on the fissure, like when you sit on a toilet for too long!