Hi.
My fissure made itself known back in April. In all my research this forum seems to pop up the most so I decided to join. At this point my questions are few but I really need support from others who suffer the same fate. It's just nice to know the people reading this are most likely well aware of my ailment and that brings me comfort.
I began working out and eating better back in Dec 2011. I simply decided to change my life for the better and that is exactly what the exercise did. It made my life worth living again as I suffer depression and no drug seemed to help me in that dept.
Long story short, I dropped 50lbs in about a year and a half and all but eradicated my depression. Exercise is good. I began to work out harder and faster, taking supplements and massive amounts of protien. I stacked some nice muscle weight and suddenly my life changed... Again.
I assumed I had aggrivated some hemmhoroids I had been diagnosed with years earlier but to that point had never caused me pain. By the time I found out it was a fissure from my Colo/Rectal Surgeon, the pain was near unbearable.
I fell into a regimen of treatment. Miralax every night, high fiber diet, three sitz baths per day @ twenty minutes each, 0.4% Nitroglycerine ointment twice per day with A&D ointment in between. I was determined to heal because I had a pre-booked vacation/wedding in Mexico in late May. I did well. The Surgeon said I showed great improvement and to continue the treatments. The trip went well, though I did continue treatments thereon.
I fell off the treatment a bit when the pain began to subside and that was a bad idea. I drank alcohol, ate fried foods with less fiber, took fewer sitz baths etc. The pain came back.
So here I am, typing this at work, just coming down from a usual, post-defecation, four-hour stint of incredible pain. I sit all day in a cubicle which does not help. But I have to get paid and took way too many sick days in the beginning of this fiasco.
Judging by the research i've done I'm only at the beginning of this nightmare. I NEED to work out to stave off my depression and just recently began easy resistance/cardio workouts last week even though it does seem to aggrivate the condition to some degree. I'm at the point where I'd rather the physical pain in the arse than the mental anguish in my mind brought on by the depression.
So I suppose my question - if you can call it that - involves exercise with fissures. Does anyone here do it? If so to what degree? Does it hurt your fissure or help it? Really, I'm looking for anything you can tell me that you might consider notable on the subject so feel free to go outside of the specific questions I've posed.
As most of you already know, this lifestyle isn't easy. And what's worse is trying to explain yourself to others without really "explaining" yourself too much. So I'm grateful to have this community to share.
Thanks

hi daniel...this problem sucks doesnt it? I am 47 and have been a runner and work out enthusiast all my life.When things got bad for me dec/2012 i noticed that working out did aggravate it. especially the more mileage I put in. I had fissurectomy/LIS 9 weeks ago and I have at most walked my dog each day. I lost 25 lbs since this all started. At any rate..I think if it hurts to work out then you are probably causing more damage. Maybe lighten workout...just walk maybe? I know its been hard for me to not workout, but honestly, the pain was so great i could hardly get through the day. Good luck, i hope you feel better...If you are considering surgery, I can say I am glad I had it. it sucks big time.(the recovery)...but it is worth it. 9 weeks ago i did not think i would ever want to get out of bed..really at 7 weeks I felt good. Mostly it is trying to get the digestive system situated after surgery. Sorry to blabber on...hope you figure somethin out!

Don't give up exercising, just keep modifying what you do until you find something that works for you. I have had an af for 12 years now (but am booked for surgery for this Friday! Fingers crossed it works.) I have always done a lot of exercise including running and weight training but in the last year as my af got worse and then I found out I had a second af, I gave up on the heavier weights and then more recently gave away the running as it seemed to make my af worse. I now focus on low impact exercise, with the x-trainer being my favourite as it's a nice smooth action that doesn't put any strain on the affected area but still gets my heart rate up nice and high and lots of walking. I now do lighter weights with higher repititions and no longer do any squats or leg presses as they seemed to put the pressure on too much.
I know what you mean about not really wanting to explain yourself too much but also wanting people to understand that you've got something going on which is causing you to be distracted. As my af was originally caused by childbirth i just describe it as having "childbirth related injury/damage" and most people leave that alone. Guess that doesn't help if you're male. Good luck and hope you feel better soon.

Neen, Kat, thanks for the support.
Wow, Kat, 12 years? Is this your first surgery coming up? Either way, good luck!
Yeah, I'm constantly looking for alternate methods of exercise. Running is a big no-no for me as that was the pretty much the last thing I did before the initial tear. My surgeon says otherwise but I'm convinced it was the trigger. Now I use the eliptical for cardio, which is good, but I already miss running.
I lift pretty heavily but have not done any lower body resistance since the incident. It just seems too close for comfort. Which sucks because the leg muscles are the largest in the body... Building them up is great for overall fat burning.
*sigh* On the bright side I'm eating better than I ever have before. That is something that never would have happened unless the AF came along.
Thanks again for the support!

Hi all and good luck to you all with your healing.....
Unlike yourselves, I'm not particularly sporty! don't work out but love to walk miles, when I find the time... but does anyone know if you are OK to swim with an AF??? I can swim miles and love it but have held off recently since all this stuff started because I wasn't sure what, if any effects it can have on a fissure or maybe a risk of infection??

Ever the Optimist wrote:Hi all and good luck to you all with your healing.....
Unlike yourselves, I'm not particularly sporty! don't work out but love to walk miles, when I find the time... but does anyone know if you are OK to swim with an AF??? I can swim miles and love it but have held off recently since all this stuff started because I wasn't sure what, if any effects it can have on a fissure or maybe a risk of infection??

I would assume that swimming is the best method of exercise in the case of an AF. It's low impact, which is key. But I can't say as to how chlorine might affect the area. That would be my main concern.
I was recently at a resort in Mexico and I went swimming both in pools and the ocean and had no discomfort as a result. I beleive the pools used a salt-based filtration system rather than chlorine based.