Hello fellow fissure friends,
As stated I've had the fissure for going on 5 weeks. It's been such a pain in the rear (haha) to get the doctors to cooperate with me. I've been to the ER 3 times because the pain was so umbearable. I am confused about quite a few things actually and am glad I've found this forum to hopefully clear up some of my questions. So, here I go...
1st- I have green/pus constantly coming from the rectum. Is this normal? Also, is it a sign of infection? The dr's don't confirm this but I'm worried. Also, is it best to keep it clean and dry as often as possible? Because I'm bathing and trying to pat it and keep it try often. Feels irritated if I let it stay damp.
2nd- It's been 5 weeks, no sign of recovery. I have an appt with the surgeon next tuesday. Will he likely perform the surgery? I'm desperate at this point.
3rd- My GI and one other ER Dr. seemed rather disinterested in my fissure. I mean, my GI literally said "well, do you want me to look at it?" and "what do you want ME to do about it?" Then sent me home with some dobicaine because she couldn't "see" the fissure.
4th- I CAN see the fissure!!! It drives me nuts that they say they cant see it. If I relax and deflower I can see it, if I squeeze I can SEE the puss coming out of it. It's baffled me how the Dr. can't see it. Though they did not use the probe to examine me nor did an anal exam just examed the outer region.
5th-Sounds crazy, but one day I was sitting on the toilet and it felt like I had been snapped with a rubberband. There use to be a layer of flat skin above my rectum and now there isn't. And it does feel raw and painful in the crease now. I'm so confused. Is it possible that my skin broke?

6th- Why do suppositories make it worse sometimes? A few times I've used one and it was the worse burning sensation i've ever felt. I cried for an hour straight. I'm scared to death to use them now. Or the foam. Is the foam any better? I'm scared to put anything on it at this point.
7th- Please, please, please any information/advice on how to help with the comfort or how to aid in the healing would be great. Also, if I do get surgery how soon can I expect to recover. I'm anxious to get this over with. It's effected my life WAY to much already.
THank you :D

Hey there,
I will try and answer as much as I can and hopefully others will come along and add.
Green pus does not sound normal at all with a fissure. That sounds like possible infection.
It's hard to say if your CRS would perform surgery this soon. All CRS are different. Some may want you to give conservative treatments a try for awhile before doing surgery. A fissure is considered chronic at 6 weeks so who knows,Lol...
Anything that is made for hems will not do anything for a fissure and can actually thin the skin after prolong use.
Both my CRS and GI told me to throw the the procto-foam( prescribed by ER) and the prep-H out. I would stop the foam or any other ointments for hems.
Most CRS will prescribe one of the fissure ointments like nitro, diltiazem that are made for fissures, not hems. ER's are just clueless and give the other crap. Just do the baths, air or blow dry on cool and apply some vaseline or A&D ointment until you see the CRS.
Surgery recovery varies from person to person. I had a really good recovery. I felt better after the surgery than I did with the fissure. I was sore but it was a different kind of pain than fissure and spasm. I would say two weeks of pretty sore but nothing unbearable.

holymoseph, so sorry to hear about your pain. It's irritating to hear your GI and ER docs sounded unsympathetic. Luckily we do understand about the pain you're go through. If you find your stools are hard and are causing pain do try Miralax and Metamucil along with increasing water to soften things. For the pus that could be an infection. My doc yesterday suggested buying gauzes pressing them against the anus and changing them up to 4 times per day. That should help keep things dry and clean.

Thank you so much guys and gals for your support and wisdom. I have a prescription for doxocyclin for acne that i've stopped taking because it cleared up. But my mom has been urging me to start taking it to help ward off the infection until I get to see the surgeon. I'm glad you guys said it sounds like it's infected because that's what I've suspected. Lawd I hope this is over soon. Hope you all are blessed to be healing (or healed) rather quickly

Hi Holy,
the skin snapping feeling couldhave been an abcess breaking. It does sound very likely that you have an infection.Antibiotics are a good idea, but they should be the right ones and be prescribed by a doctor. I dont know why doctors are so ignorant - a lot of us have had the same woes as you with daft doctors. You have to get tough with them!
Is your appt with a colo-rectal surgeon? If it is they will know what they are looking for. If they say surgery is necessary then dont worry, its a simple op and should improve things drastically.

Hey Val I'm not sure what kind of surgeon he is but they said he specializes in those kinds of surgery so I'd assume so. I wondered if there was an abcess too. Is there anyway I can tell the difference? Or is it possible to have a fissure AND an abcess? I'm so confused. Also, would it help to apply so pressure to the area to help drain it? If so, is there a certain way to do it? Sorry so many questions. Just feels like I'd get better answers here then through the doctors I've delt with. I started taking amoxocillin today (not prescribed... I know but I'm desperate). Hope it helps. THank you SO much for all your advice

If he's a specialist, then he should be a colo-rectal surgeon. Sometimes they are gastroenterologists - you would be better off with the CRS.
Yes, you can have a fissure and an abcess- I've had both and a fistula too, thrown in for good measure!
You could drain it yourself, I've heard of people doing that - but it's not really advisable, it's better to get it lanced properly in case of more infection. Abcesses can turn into fistulas - so keep an eye on things.
Antibiotics might not help, unless it is just an infection in the fissure, rather than an abcess/fistula.