Hi, all!
I'm a 33 year old female who got my fissure over 10 years ago when I had my wisdon teeth out. (pain meds + young and ignorant about constipation = fissure!) I had no idea what I was dealing with, and when I finally saw a Dr., I was diagnosed with "hemorrhoids." After several weeks, my intesnse pain subsided, but nothing was ever "the same." It took almost 2 years before I finally got a real diagnosis from a CRS of "chronic fissure." But by that time, my pain was (still is) very intermittent and manageable. only about 1-2 times a year, I have a real "flare up" that includes real painful BMs.
I see a CRS every few years or so, and he tells me, "Yep! Your little fissure is still there. It's not big, but it's there, and you have a lot of scar tissue around it. Just tell me when you've had enough, and we'll do surgery." However, this is the same Dr. that told me "The only potential side-effect of surgery would be leakage, which would be no big deal. You'd just need to wear a menstrual pad. It would be like having your period all the time. And that's no big deal, right?" My internal response was "What the heck?? It would be terrible!!" And no, it would not be like having your period all the time--which would be bad enough! (And since he was a man, it was even more insulting.)
I tried all the topical Rx stuff: nifedipine, etc. Nothing helped or changed the fissure at all.
Anyway, fast forward to where I am today. As I said, whatever pain I have is manageable. However, what *does* bother me is that as the years go by, I seem to develop more and more skin tags, or "sentinel piles" or something like that. I have at least 3. Big ones. Hanging out there. And that makes it very diffucult to keep the area clean. Although I rarely have pain, I do have persistent odor, unless I clean up in the shower, since the skin tags seem to trap "stuff." In a word: gross.
At this point, I really don't want to risk LIS. Also, I have 4 small children, and I *really* don't have the time to "take off" to deal with the entire surgery and recovery period, not to mention leakage issues--even if only temporary. My life is very, very hectic.
I guess my questions are:
-does anyone have any thoughts on dealing with a persistent, yet mostly painless fissure?
-do minor fissures like this ever eventually heal themselves without surgery, even when chronic? mine seems to close and open every so often, but never get unmanageable.
-can i get surgery to remove skin tags/piles without LIS, or is that a waste of time, since they may just come back as long as the fissure remains.
-how does age factor in to all this? my CRS said he "never" does LIS on older people, since "they don't need it, because their muscle tone has decreased on it's own." does that mean mine could heal as I age?
-has anyone else out there had a similar experience with a small, annoying fissure that lasted for many years?
thank you, all! years ago (when my problems were "flaring!") I joined a fissure group on yahoo. anyone ever remember that group?

Hey Ruthie,
First I'd like to say that the leakage is nothing like a period. It's more like I didn't wipe good enough the first time. Probably not much different or even better than what's going on with the clean up with your tags and being unable to keep clean.
I don't think age would help heal a fissure or why would so many peeps on here including myself get a fissure who are much older than you,Lol.
I guess a CRS could remove the skin tags without the LIS but if you keep tearing the fissure than I would imagine you would develop another tag or two since the fissure is why they form.
I had both LIS and a tag removed last year. No period like leakage for me and as far as I know it hasn't been that way for all the other boardies who have discussed it recently on here.
You have suffered way too long. Personally, I would have the LIS and the tags removed now while you are young. Much better than dealing with the fissure and tags.

hi "heyruthie" sorry to hear about your condition that prevailed for so long. what i feel from your post is that ur chronic fissure is relatively painfree ( compared to those discussed in this forum) and u have fairly managed it for such a long time .
LIS is a surgery that have chances of incontinence (the inability to control one's bowels) but that does not mean that it's bound to happen. Really depends upon luck and the kind of expertise your surgeon has.
YOUR POST GRABBED MY ATTENTION BECUZ I AM 22 AND HAS TWO CHRONIC FISSURES(ONE IN FRONT AND ONE IN THE BACK) FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS WHICH ARE RELATIVELY PAINLESS AND ONLY CAUSES LITTLE PRICKING AND CUT FEELING DOWN THERE WITH VERY MINOR PAIN. EARLIER THEY USED TO BLEED FREQUENTLY WHILE BM BUT NOW THEY OPEN'S WITHOUT BLEEDING.
LET'S HOPE LIKE YOU I WOULD ALSO BE ABLE TO MANAGE THOSE AF'S , SINCE I DON'T WANT TO HAVE A SURGERY AT SUCH EARLY AGE .