Hey everyone, my name is Joe. I am 22 years old and have my first Anal fissure :(
I had a hemorrhoid a few years ago and thought that the pain on the toilet again was another one. After a month it became so bad that there was blood in the toilet, on the stool and when I wiped. At that time, I went to the emergency room (still thinking it was a hemorrhoid) and they told me it was an anal fissure. When I had a hemorrhoid they just gave me some medicine that healed it pretty fast. This time they gave me some stool softeners and hydrocortisone suppositories. I did that for a week or so and it helped but at this time I didn't really do much research so I wasn't really being as strict with my diet as I should have been.
During these times the anal fissure would really itch and it felt like it was going away until one or two BMs that just opened it up. After that, I saw a doctor who gave me more suppositories and told me to keep on the softeners (the ones I got from the ER gave me diarrhea, so I got Colace). I saw the doctor on the 5th of Nov. I started to buy lots of fruits, fiber cereals, chicken and whole grain pasta to eat. That friday (the 11) I may have messed it up by eating sausage, McDonald's and I guess not enough water. That was the day I bought the softeners and started using them as well. The next day, I had to work 8am-4:30pm which meant I had to go to bathroom at work and that is when I was on the toilet for like 20 minutes and it was very bloody and painful. That day I got home later, because I went out and fell asleep so I missed the suppository and the stool softener. The next day wasn't bad but still painful.
So for this week I have been steady with the softeners and with fiber and water intake and no nasty foods, oh and the sitz bath (I bought one from CVS where you just sit on the toilet with a little bath tub thing). Everything has been OK (still painful) but today I think it opened up and I am sore. I wasn't on the toilet that long but it hurt coming out pretty bad. I did look at the stool and there was no blood on it but there was some on the toilet paper. I might have strained at the end because I felt there was more but there wasn't. I did a sitz right after and took suppository. I have also been trying to apply coconut oil to avoid it from being too dry. I do admit that, although today seemed bad, it hasn't been as bad as last Saturday. I guess one slip up in the diet really messes it up. I am gonna see a colon doctor but I really want to avoid surgery
I have been reading up here and it seems my few month suffering is nothing compared to some people's months and years of suffering. Am I doing things right now? How do I keep the consistency in the diet and are there more things I can do? How do you know it is getting better? My stools today were soft and normal but still opened the wound a little. :( OHH I wanna add that for the first month or so I was still doing weight lifting. Could that have contributed to it reoccuring? I stopped that as my doctor said to do nothing that would strain the pelvic area. I can still do light treadmill walking and stretching right?
THANKS!! Sorry about the long story

Hey there,
It sucks but it does only take one slip up with the diet and you can be back to square one with a fissure. It's really important to stick with a good diet and avoid any red meats, dairy, sharp foods, anything that can make the bm's harder or scratchy such as nuts, popcorn- things that don't digest well or cause harder bm's.
Many of us found that exercise wasn't possible with our fissures and could make things worse...
I'm not sure what kind of suppository you are using, but I would try and get one of the ointments that are for fissures such as Nitro, Diltiazem, Nifedipine.
The only way to really know you are healed is when you don't have pain or blood for a long period. With surgery it takes 6-8 weeks to heal so I would imagine the same without. It's still necessary to keep a good diet and the bm's softer for much longer to keep the fissure from re-tearing. Some have said a year, maybe two before that area is as if a fissure never happened...
Good luck!

hi there, u really shouldn't be doing weight lifting now. It will only increase ur anal pressure. Likewise for any other exercises that will cause you to consciously/subconsciously hold your breath.
If you like to know more about healing naturally, you may like to search for the thread "my success story". Let us know if you have any questions, and take care!

Hi and welcome! I'm sorry you have to be here, but it's good that you are because I'm sure you will find a lot of great advice and ideas. I'll second what Dawn said, and really encourage you to get the proper ointments for fissures (like Diltiazem, Nitro or Nifedipine). I'd stay away from the suppositories. I think that too many doctors don't know much about fissures prescribe them; but suppositories can make things worse. I also don't think that light exercise should be a problem, but lifting might be out for a while. Also, many folks here find Miralax (Movicol or Restoralax, depending on where you live) a very effective stool softener. It really worked for me. Sitz baths are good, but nice hot/warm baths are also really helpful - you can lie down and relax and let the warm water stimulate blood flow to the fissure. That is actually the purpose of the baths and the fissure ointments (these ointments are vasodilators, which means they stimulate blood flow to the butt). This is important because what prevents a fissure from healing is when the sphincter muscle spasms and prevents blood flow in the butt.
So I'd say definitely go back to the doc and get the proper fissure ointment and then be VERY diligent with the stool softener, proper diet, and baths. Hopefully, those strategies will work for you. But if your fissure is more than a few months old, there is a good chance you might be looking at botox or an LIS. I'm sorry to say that, but I think you should have all the information you need to be prepared and eventually beat this evil demon! :)
Good luck!

I was given hemril 30 mg of hydrocortisone acetate suppositories. How can they make it worse? I guess because your putting in the rectum which may irritate the tear? I asked about ointment and was just given this. I guess the CRS doctor would give that to me. I am def keeping a strict diet and eating that regularly during the day.
I think I need to better control myself during a BM. Like when you have to go it should just come out there shouldn't be much pushing right??

my CRS never give me suppositories. Only GTN/nitro cream and lactulose. He didn't even suggest sitz bath, but i think i read it on internet instead. Hydrocortisone, if i'm not wrong, is a steriod, you can only use it for a week maximum, else it will thin the skin. Steriods doesn't heal / promote healing at all, only like a painkiller, trying to cover the symptoms.

Well the suppositories don't really do anything. I take them in morn after BM and at night before bedtime. They don't really help with the pain like the doctor said. Plus some of it gets pooped out when I go to the bathroom or when I have gas sometimes.
With my latest BMs the pain from the actually letting them out is over after a few hours, so it doesn't last ALL DAY like some people's. I guess that's good right? Sometimes it's a little sore and it feels like there's more BM but it ends up being a lot of gas. It's kind of uncomfortable and feels like pressure, especially since I sit at a desk all day.