Hey everyone!
20 year old male here (whether I like it or not) :D. I'm hoping to get some good advice from all of you who are suffering or who have suffered in the past.
My first fissure happened back in high school and it was extremely painful but healed up fairly quickly with the use of stool softeners. Note that I've never seen a doctor about this. However, about a month ago it started back up and I feel as if I haven't made any progress. The fissure seems fairly large and sometimes after a BM there will be just a little bit of blood on the TP or there will be enough to where it tinges the water red. I'm now eating 1-2 fiber bars a day, drinking about 3-5 24oz bottles of water a day and taking anywhere from 3-5 stool softeners (docusate sodium) each day, generally 2 in the morning when I wake up and 3 at night. I have also completely eliminated caffeine from my diet and I'm lactose intolerant so I avoid dairy or at least straight milk. I have regular BMs normally within an hour of when I wake up and again later in the evening. The pain usually starts during the BM and goes away within a few minutes after and remains slightly sore for a while.
I'm just wondering what else I can do to possibly speed this up and aid the healing process. Every time I have a BM I feel as if I'm back to square one. The stool softeners and fiber bars don't seem to be working all that well as my stools are still fairly formed and at least feel hard.
Is there another type of stool softener or med that's over the counter that I could try?
Any help would be greatly appreciated, and thank you all in advance.

Since ur doing the water regime n softeners - are u avoiding constipating foods sweetie? Very important to keep this in mind. It does take time for our bodies to adjust :( but we have to persevere. God bless u and all here n He heal us all

Hi Zdaman,
Well your overall fiber intake should be at least 25g/day. This needs to be soluble as well as insoluble. I do metamucil (psyllium) which has both, twice a day and about 6oz of prune juice in the evening.
I never found ducosate did much for me. Quite a few people here do miralax. But be cautious trying it as there are a few who found it worked WAY too well, shall we say...
More vegetables is a good way to go, smaller portions in general, but especially of meat. I still eat meat, but I keep it to the health canada guidelines.
Beans are great if you can take them without getting too gassy.
It's really more of a game change thing than just adding a couple fiber bars and more water. You might need to look at the rest of the food you are eating. Is the rice, brown rice? Is the bread 1-2g fiber/ slice. Catelli makes a 'smart pasta' that has added fiber in it without tasting gross like whole wheat pasta.
Other than that, you probably should see a doctor, a CRS (colorectal surgeon) if you can. They can give you a topical cream that will help speed up healing. The longer you wait, the more chance of things becoming chronic.
In the meantime, lubrication before a BM is really helpful. A little pretoleum jelly. Some people here have found virgin pressed coconut oil and/or lanolin and/or aloe vera gel (without alcohol) helpful to healing. All are available at your local grocery store.
IMO give the miralax a try, but maybe just 1/2 dose to start at least.
Also remember that the skin will take months to recovery it's original strength even after it heals, and it will always be a weak area. So overall diet changes may need to be a life long commitment.
Hope you heal fast,
Tanya