Hi! I'm a 35 year old mom and have been dealing with a fissure for about 2 months now. I thought I was improving just with using Miralax and fiber supplements, but then had a "re-tear" :-( And now it seems I am having a hemerrhoid problem too...So back to the severe post-BM pain (for hours), bleeding, fear, random shooting pains, etc. My doc did prescribe the Diltiazem topical ointment as a next step treatment, so I started using that today. Hoping for good results so I can avoid surgery!! It is nice to have a group of people willing to share with and support others going through the same problems, especially since this is such a hush-hush area of the body to talk about! My husband is sick of me complaining, so I will bring it to you guys now!
Momma AJ

Hi MommaAJ-
Welcome, unfortunately. I am 34 and had my first baby back in November of 2011. My fissure issues started about a month after that so I know exactly what you are going through and so do many of the other fissure/mommies on the board.
My story, I got the fissure around Christmas, tried many supplements, diet tricks, colace, etc. for a couple months with no luck. Finally got referred to a surgeon although I already knew what it was. Started diltazem, was starting to work, also finally added Miralax after my sister (who also got a fissure after her first baby) said it worked for her. Had some healing on top but not underneath so in April had surgery (fissurectomy) to open the wound back up so it could heal. Bad pain for a month after that, got better but still not healing so had botox about 3 weeks ago, again little better but still not healing.
This whole time my doctor saying no miralax. Well, 4 days ago I went with my gut and started the miralax, I'm starting to feel like my BM's are getting a little better and really hope that in a couple of weeks I'll see some real improvement. My hubby is also tired of me complaining (Um...in sickness and in health)! I also have some smaller hemmies that I thought was causing pain and maybe they do but my doc didn't think it was the over riding cause of pain. Amazing how this can just suck the life out of you but I'm really feeling more hopefully now so I guess just remember to also listen to your gut along with your docs advise.

Hey you two, I too had a fissure a month after having my boy. Struggled with it for 3 months, finally managed to heal it just to get a new fissure in a different spot 3 weeks later. It only hurt for 2 days because by then I knew what to do..and now I've been 3 weeks good again :D
I'm writing firstly to say that stool softeners were a HUGE help in the start. I don't think my fissures would've healed without them. I have now been off for 1 or 2 weeks and it's going well..I'm passing more firm stools than before but fissure has not returned. So it doesn't mean you necessarily have to be on them forever, it just means your bum needs all the help it can get in the start...also my CRS advised to eat kiwi fruit, pear, prune and prune juice when going off stool softeners so that's what I do...
Secondly, I too had hemmies after delivery and although I'm guessing a bit here I actually think they were part of the problem...they were internal normally, but would pop out when having a BM...and I just can't help but think it's logical that they make less room for the poop to come out when they too get out of the anal opening..?? What's happened to me is that I did everything I could to shrink them and now that they don't really come out when I poop, my fissure seems to not come back even though I pass 'normal' poos now...so could there be a connection there?? There are plenty of creams and pills based on herbs, i have been using a natural which hazel cream externally and a bit inside my bum too. The cream really shrunk the hemmies a lot, but it's also taken 1-2 months for them to do so...
Thirdly, I just wanted to say that this forum is AWESOME and I really paid lots of attention to what I ate and found some great info on the difference between soluble and insoluble fibre and how it's important to get enough of BOTH kinds (look in the diet/supplement part of the forum...soluble makes poop soft, insoluble makes poop bulky and makes you go regularly).
MommaAJ, I really hope you find the info you need on this forum, if not then start asking some questions to us and give us as much info as you can with diet, poop habits and other things you do, and I'm sure plenty of people here will try to help. If this fissure is one you got after birth I'd say you have a pretty good chance at healing as long as you eat the right things, use creams or suppositories that work for you, take sitz baths and take care of yourself and maybe look at starting to treat those hemmies too...?
Suckdiddly...good on you for going on the miralax!! Somtimes doctors are just stupid and if there is one thing I've learned from this, it's also to listen to myself because in the end it's my body and I know best what I feel and how it works. I'm glad you're feeling more hopefull and I really really really hope you're on the right path...
Big hugs to both of you!