Glad to have found this forum!
i have been lurking here a bit and already learning quite a bit.
gee. i didn't think i even had a problem of any kind until...
got some hems this summer from meds that gave me diarrhea...
then i got this micro-banding from a CRS... which seemed to clear up that problem.
with reading, i think i actually had some tears from earlier (i had a traumatic fall on some steps in Feb. of 2010).
anyway got a bad tear in early Sep. of this year... wanted to end it all!~ crying all the time. Just moved into a new house and could hardly think!
the CRS said i had an AF that was hidden (when i finally figured out to go see her). have been taking lidocaine/nitro mix.
a few questions:
- my stools seem so unpredictable lately. one day hard, one day soft, it's like normality has flow out the window. weird... can't seem to manage consisitency.
- why does this happen? why don't they heal?
- do they ever heal ?
i want to have sex again!
thanks everyone, it's been really, really hard. and i can tell that i am not the only one suffering!
today was a good day. fortunately the trend has been my friend in that things are getting better but it's still like lots of pain and fluctuation.
why do these take so long to heal?
this never used to be a problem. i guess i am having a hard time understanding what is going on. is my anal canal weaker than most genetically or something?
anyway i am taking movicol (as of today) and drinking tons of water.
cheers, everyone,
thanks for entertaining my questions.
take care,
beachgirl

Hi Beachgirl,
Welcome to the forum! Good that you have decided to take the Movicol. That will probably help you out a lot with the consistency of the Bm's. Food also is a factor. Depending on what you eat, bm's can be firmer or softer. It takes a little tinkering with the diet /softeners to figure out what will give you the best bm consistency.
Fissure's can take 6-8 weeks to heal with or without surgery, but it takes much longer than that for the area to become strong enough that re-tears don't occur again. It's really important to stick with your diet/softeners, etc for months after your fissure heals.
Once a fissure occurs the internal sphincter goes (muscle) goes into spasm and gets tighter which can cause re-tears. It's hard to say if a fissure will heal... Once it becomes chronic (6-8 weeks), chances become very slim and LIS or other medical intervention may be necessary.
The anal canal isn't weaker genetically to my knowledge. There are weaker places in the anus which fissures will generally happen during a harder bm or diarrhea which are usually at 12 (front towards genitals) or 6 o'clock(back towards the spine).

thanks! gee... my tear happened around the beginning of September. So its been about 8 weeks. It has been getting better steadily though i am still in pain. But improving? Looks like I am at the borderline? eeks.
can you tell me what is the downside (risks) of LIS?

Hey Beachgirl,
I had LIS a year ago after dealing with the fissure for 8 months. I had a positive experience and really can't say there was a down side to having the surgery, except for I would have preferred not to of been forced to make the choice from getting the stupid fissure in the first place
Surgery does carry a risk of incontinence but is really unheard of with a well qualified CRS. There have been quite a few boardies, myself included who have had some issues with leakage post-op. It's not a full blown loosing control of bm's but a feeling like you didn't wipe well the first time after a bm. From my experience , it can last up to a couple of hours after a bm and then all is well. It has improved and there are days now that it doesn't happen at all. It kind of sucks but it's a small price to pay and is much better than living with a fissure and spasms!! With that being said- everyone who has this surgery doesn't always experience this side effect... I think there's a fine line between making the cut long enough to be a sufficient where it does it's job and doesn't allow re-tears and too big which would cause incontinence! So it's really important to ask a lot of questions when choosing a surgeon to do this procedure. They should have done this surgery hundreds of times and never had any cases of incontinence! A well qualified CRS probably won't even mention incontinence and have confidence in their work by experience.
I think it's a good idea to exhaust all conservative measures so that when you decide to have this surgery you will know without a doubt you have made the best choice, that your fissure just isn't going to heal without it! But I also think there's no need to suffer for months on end when you have gave it your best shot. Sometimes all we do won't change the fact that the fissure isn't going to heal and the sphincter is just too tight!
Here's a link you may find helpful that another boardie has posted- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1357726/

thanks, that's good information, Dawn.
My CRS has really positive reviews on Yelp. I am going to see her tomorrow.
It's only been 8 weeks so I doubt i am a candidate for surgery but i sure wish i knew what to do about the pain. Some days now are better and even good and even nonexistent. And then the pain comes back. But it's not nearly as horrific as it used to be. More like a burning.
Thanks for listening and responding. This is hard to live life around!

Hi beachgirl, 8 weeks is considered chronic, do u have skin tag? If u wan to try conservative means before deciding for LIS, u may search the thread for "my success story".
Let me know if u hav any questions. I wish u speedy recovery!

please supply the link, i'd love to read it.
are chronic fissures healable?

mine is chronic for i have it for 5 months before it calmed, so i would say yes it can heal, though slim.
http://anal-fissure.org/t3555-my-success-story?highlight=my+success+story

i don't think i have a skin tag. how would i know?
thanks for the link.
is yours healed now?

i have a skin tag cos my CRS saw it. Mine is healed, if not almost healed (2 months ago during my CRS review).