So I looked at my fissure today using a mirror (which I can only see if I’m relaxed enough, because it’s more internal) and there’s still a sentinel tag. It also still looks open (like a cut to me) and really pink. There’s no bleeding, though (I’ve never had bleeding with this). I’m just wondering if it’s actually healing or not. Pain still comes and goes at times and I had a larger BM yesterday, which irritated and stung it, so I'm having a little more pain today.
What does a healed fissure look like? Does the tag ever go away? The tag is small, but still there, and the fissure doesn’t look like it’s closed yet. I'm guessing it just fills in with new tissue like a normal wound?
I’m still taking Diltiazem (it’s my ninth week) and I will continue taking it for another 3 weeks, making it 12 weeks total. I'm just worried that this will never go away without surgery because it seems to be chronic (thus the skin tag) and I'm scared to stop the Diltiazem. I'm still not taking stool softeners... still too scared to start them, although I seem to be doing okay without them with a good diet. I just seem to have a larger BM some days and I'm not sure why.

Yeah, I have some skin tag too. It does seem like it has shrunk in size.. is that skin tag part of Fissure or it can be removed?
I am the point that when I go BM, I have no pain. It really doesn't bother me at all during daily life but I need it completely healed for anal sex. I am tired of it coming back and back.
I need it healed completely this time. I am taking at least 8 weeks break.

Luka my fissure is been healing for several months now, I can tell you that when it was fresh the area looked swollen, pinkish red and the sentinel tag was soo big that extended from the side of the fissure all the way to the outside like an ugly disfigurement compare to the other side of my anal area.
Now the sentinel tag is not longer pinkish red and neither swollen, it also have receded back inside making the area look almost normal, Is been a long time since I have seen my bum looking this good and I am not joking. :D

Hi Luka,
I also have a "success" story to share re my fissure and to provide you with some reassurance that we all need here!
Like you, it started off as painful as hell and I was put on Diltiazem too for about 7 weeks. This was a miracle for me and I was REALLY scared of coming off it and stressed the fissure would be still there and as painful as it was initially. BUT it wasn't! I was aware the fissure was there but the pain was completely diminished and manageable and things have got better and better since to the point now, at one year and 3 months on, I don't even know it's there. Very occasionally, I get a twinge from the area - I see it as a little check just to make sure my diet and fluid intake is OK but in staying on top of that and encouraging soft nice stools (sometimes also large) it hasn't changed and I think about it less and less. I do believe however that once you get a chronic fissure, it takes at least 2 years to fully heal, so I still consider mine to be healing rather than "gone".
Unlike you I do take a stool softener (Lactulose) - Just a small dose in the evenings and my morning BM is always great, so as it's safe to continuing using, I will do so until I feel completely confident that I no longer need it. I think it's actually more an emotional prop rather than a necessity as my BM's are always pretty good too now....
Mine is more internal too and I'm not even sure I have a skin tab or at least if I do, I haven't really noticed anything and there's nothing that causes me any pain there....
I think you are showing good signs of recovering and please don't forget this can take months to heal properly! You will probably continue to twinge and feel irritated for a weeks more and measure your progress in terms of months rather than weeks or days. It is a slow process if it's become chronic. Hang in there and have faith you are healing and keep up all the other good things you have to do in the meantime!!
Like you, I never bled once with my fissure either and count myself lucky I didn't have to deal with that as well!
All the best Luka....Some of us DO naturally heal. :)

Oh man.. at least 1-2 years to heal completely? Bummer... that takes so long!
If you have skin tag, it is considered chronic?

Luka, I'm fairly sure I can see mine and the freshly healed fissure looks like a light coloured line of skin. Almost like a white line.
I have no discomfort during a BM now unless I push, which I am close to eliminating. If I push I irritate the area and have a flare up (on the tag) which then takes a few days to settle down. Been through this cycle twice in the last 3 weeks and hopefully won't go there again.
Basically even when healed the area isn't going to settle down easily if you have to push at all. I think Ive done the damage myself with years of pushing, especially with the shy bowel syndrome you talk about as this affects me too.
I've been through 8 weeks of pain and suffering to arrive at the conclusion that I have caused this fissure myself through years of poor potty training! :oops:

buttquestion wrote:If you have skin tag, it is considered chronic?

Yes, but it doesn't mean it won't heal with Nitro.
Nitro is for treatment of chronic fissures. Those words are actually printed on the box. Some people seem to worry / believe if there is a tag you'll require surgery... I have a fair size skin tag and I 'healed' (the cut is closed) with Nitro in just 5 weeks. 8 weeks in I still have a bit of trouble / discomfort with the tag, but this is now shrinking.
Once your fissure has healed over you don't feel normal right away, it's still a slow process returning to a painless backside as the area is still very raw. This shocked me at first as I expected to be fine immediately.

Just got to agree with Crackin Up!....Everything said is spot on. Unfortunately, a chronic fissure is not a great healer and once it has healed, you don't just go back to normal straight away. Reality is, it takes a long time but I think by this stage, you are just so relieved that you are so much more "pain-free" and nothing is as bad as when the fissure is first acute and the lingering horrible pain that it brings...! that it is so much more manageable and life does pretty much get back to normal.
I can't stress the importance of straining either. I can see why my poor old bum has got to stage it has because I probably spent my life straining to go (to varying degrees)but infact this angers me because how would you know NOT to push? It's not something anyone ever teaches you or you learn at school, yet it's an essential lesson to learn at an early stage!!! Learning never to strain from an early age would reduce so many of these anal issues people develop.
I too recognise immediately that even a bit of straining creates an effect on the area for a day or so (I get affected by a couple of internal piles that flare up) after and like Crackin Up know the necessity to eliminate this action and am nearly there too, but old habits die hard and for me it's almost a natural thing to do to push a little! RESIST!!
A chronic fissure is an annoying thing to have developed but with good soft BM's and good toilet habits, it can be dealt with to the extent, that life does return pretty much back to normal. You just have to be aware and more respectful towards your bottom (which really we should all be doing anyway) It's a bit of a wake-up call to look after yourself more IMO :)

Thanks for the comments, everyone. I really appreciate it. : ) Some days I feel fine and other days I’m not. That’s when I start to feel depressed and hopeless that this will never go away. Coming to this forum and seeing how supportive everyone is really lifts my spirits.
I just need to keep telling myself that this will heal and realize that it may take a long time, probably months. I am getting there, though. I was pain-free for several days last week, but then had a large BM, which I think really irritated it (I had some pain during BM, which I don’t usually have, which was odd because mainly the pain occurs afterwards). I’ve been having more pain since then, but I need to tell myself it will go away, just like it did before. It seems like setbacks are very common when healing fissures, no matter how hard a person tries to keep a healthy diet, drink lots of water, and use medication (the creams and stool softeners) regularly.
Ever the Optimist – Thank you for sharing your success story. It gives me hope that I will get better soon, too. : ) Two years is such a long time, but I’ve heard it does take that long for the tissue to regain full strength. I just get really discouraged some days when I have more pain, like it isn’t healing or somehow re-tore. But hearing your story gives me hope, as well as hearing other success stories on here that don’t involve surgery. Surgery REALLY scares me and I can’t afford it right now, anyway, so I really want to try to beat this naturally, if I can.
I do think I strain a bit on the toilet sometimes. Does straining just mean pushing really hard? I do need to push somewhat to go; it's not like it just falls out (TMI, sorry!), although sometimes it does. Does this mean I really need to be taking a stool softener like Colace or Miralax? I'm afraid any pushing at all will re-open it and give me more setbacks. : (
CrackinUp – Is your fissure external or internal? Since the tissue is different inside, would an internal fissure heal differently? Mine still looks really pink and kind of deep, like a big crack. It’s definitely not closed and this worries me a lot. : ( The tag is really small and doesn’t extend externally, but the fissure itself looks kind of large inside and really pink. I don't know how far it extends (my CRS couldn't even look at it because I was so nervous and tight in the office, although I can see it just fine at home).

Also, does it irritate the fissure trying to look at it in the mirror (I have to pull the anal skin back to see it inside)? It probably does and I should probably stop checking it. I get kind of obsessive-compulsive about all this. -_- I really wish my CRS could have seen it, but he just made the diagnosis based on my symptoms.