Hi All,
Thank you so much for this site.
I believe I have an anal fissure although not diagnosed by a GP yet.
I am a healthy 50 year old with a 25 yr history of mild haemorrhoids.
The past 5 weeks have been painful as I am sure you would all know.
I have been experiencing burning rectal pain with BM and pelvic floor spasms usually but not always after BM lasting for hours and unrelieved by OTC analgesics. There is no bleeding. I faced my fear of GPs and saw her last week. On examinination she found a sentinal tag and extreme tenderness at the rear of my rectum and a sphincter clamped tight. She had no idea what it could be so has referred me to a Colorectal surgeon. Earliest appt I could get was in another weeks. My first fear was the big C so I did a google search on sentinal tag and low and behold I found all the symptoms fit an anal fissure. I am trying desperately to resolve the pain medicaly before I see the surgeon and would appreciate any advice. I have increased my water intake dramatically and added fibre and stool softeners to my diet to avoid constipation. Warm baths help sometimes and not others and only for the time I am in the bath. At its worse I am unable to sit or lay down without a lot of pain. I must say I have learned to appreciate the bliss when I am pain free. I am using witch hazel soaked baby wipes for hygiene and today I have tried Vicks topically for an attempt at pain relief. I realise now that I experienced this once before about 5yrs ago and I now believe that is when the sentinal tag was formed. What a relief to be able to talk to people who are in a similar place. All advice gratefully appreciated. Many thanks PIA