Hi,
I have a very important question for the sake of my sanity. I have been walking now for over two weeks, and in the last 5 days I've had BMs with no pain!!!, waoo. But I still feel that my sphincter is not working properly, like I have this constant pressure that doesn't go away, the only thing that relieves it a bit believe it or not is a bit of coffee that I drink every day after lunch. I apply Nifedipine 3 times a day. I have read in different posts, that this feeling might be part of the healing, but how much time should I wait for it to go away? 1 week, 1 month, never?
Honestly this feeling is so difficult to cope with, I can barely concentrate in other things. Am I getting crazy? Please give me some advice about it. Thanks

I want to know the answer to this too...where are the spasms in this healing/re-tearing process?? i feel that spasms are causing the fissure to be aggrivated. someone else posted that any muscle which flexes alot will build up strength just like any other muscle in your body. to me, this makes sense why some only heal with surgery(probably the only option i am left with)..the spasms are unbearable!! For me this is by far my biggest problem. Ive dealt with this fissure for about a year and a half now but its only been really bad for half that time.... Nothing works.... The nefipedine stopped working, switched to nitroglycerine ointment which stopped working, and now im on diltizam which seems to be not working as good now. My spasm kept me on the couch all weekend laying in a heating pad.... Quality of life really sucks right now..i was absolutely miserable all weekend--could barely walk. Then today i felt great after going into work a couple hours late.. Then had a BM and starting to tense up again....ughh...... But we all will find a way to heal...

hi hendrick,
Sorry to hear that you are in the same boat as me. I really resist to the idea that my only cure is through surgery, there has to be another way, I haven't inquire a lot about this with my family doctor, and I fear to hear that my only option is surgery. I will keep walking to see if this feeling goes away.
Do you have painful spasms or just the annoying pressure ones? I know spasms are different for everyone, but in my case there are two types, the painful ones and the pressure/pushing feeling ones.

Is your fissure still there? If yes, then you need to go for a fissurectomy. Find a good surgeon and get it done. Even though fissure-healing period takes 3-7 days, that cut still exists and keeps opening up due to hard or sometimes even softer BMs if our muscles are not relaxed (our hormones are the culprit and not the food that we eat). As far as spasms are concerned try taking magnesium supplements .. well, first check your magnesium in blood. Also take vitamin E supplement to heal your fissure. Take sitz bath 20 minutes. (10 minutes if you are adding Epsum salt, Magnesium in the salt helps to relax the muscle and therefore heal the fissure). Apply A&D ointment before and after. This also helps to relax your muscle without damaging your anal skin. Your calcium intake should be reduced because it looks like you are able to hold your muscles tight. Take food that has lot of vitamin C. The best vitamins for fissure are A, C, E, and D. Have olive oil (cold compressed and organic), 2 tbspn with lunch and dinner. When you are having your BM, touch/press under your tailbone to avoid spasm. Remember to do deep short breathing while you eliminate. Start counting 1-10 if you can't take your mind off. But the tailbone trick works 100% to avoid contraction. The painful spasm is your fissure spasm. But your BMs are excellent and hence you have that pushing spasm because you are not letting it go. This in turn actually worsens the fissure. So you need to take care of your fissure by fissurectomy.

Hi Galamat,
Yes, I believe that as the healing process continues, the spasms do finally reduce in intensity and that pressure feeling will go at some point. I don't agree however, that a fissurectomy is necessarily an immediate solution and it is always best that your CRS makes this diagnosis.
For me personally, after the initial couple of very painful, knife-pain months and then using Diltiazem, I went through a different stage of fissure recovery, one in which, I went through the very pressure sensations you describe - the annoying intense pressure feeling that constantly made me feel I needed to go to the toilet or expel wind, but there was nothing there to come out! This did pass after a couple of months and I didn't do anything majorly different prior to what I was doing before, so can't explain exactly why this happened. I know that as the intensity of pain reduced, I did start to physically & mentally relax a lot more, so perhaps this played a role? - I was far more relaxed when having a BM with total focus on the "moment" and shallow breathing through the process. My BM's were better generally and stool evacuations soft and complete (Introducing squatting also helped me a lot) I have always taken additional Vitamin C and Olive Oil but find Zinc & B Complex very helpful too. As Mabs says, Magnesium is also an important vitamin in Fissure healing as it not only helps produce softer stools but assists in both the contraction & relaxation of the muscles and interestingly, at this stage, I actually started to consume more chocolate (dark chocolate particularly is a good source of magnesium)
I don't know the biology behind this pressure sensation, only that it is spasms, but in my experience, this did not worsen my fissure and in retrospect, appeared to be just another stage I went through (and lasted a couple of months) until I reached complete healing.
It would be an interesting question to ask your CRS and something I'd be interested in hearing an answer to also :)

Hi Guys,
Thank you guys for your advice, Today I'm having a better day. The spasm is not that bad. I think that the horrible spasms that I was having was because of my menstrual period. Bad news is that I have noticed that when my period comes I have a setback, good news is that my period has ended and I didn't re-tear, yesterday I had a little pain with my BM and during the day I had mostly like itching/ tickling sensation.
Today I'm back to no pain, and my period ended yesterday. So far this is my first month without re-tearing with my period, so I think is a very positive sign. I will continue with my morning walks, the sweet potato diet (lots of soluble fiber) and nifedipine.
Ever the optimist you are my inspiration, when I'm having a difficult moment I remember your case and I repeat to myself "I can beat this!"
mabs, thank you for the tailbone tip.

Hi Galamat,
Sadly, our periods do NOT help!
BUT great news that things have ended differently for you this month - While you are healing, the effects your periods have on your fissure should tend to bother you a little less each time. Itching/ tickling is not a bad thing and can be signs of healing for some, so see it that way. I also had a bit of that going on too in my healing stages. The fact you are now getting days without pain is fantastic! How long exactly have you now been dealing with this?
Definitely continue do whatever you are doing and don't be tempted to strain ever!!! That's key - Also remember if you do get a few bad days again, it's not necessarily a retear or a return to all the bad stuff again - Healing can be still a bit up & down right to the very end. The main thing is that the "good" days are starting to outweigh the "bad" ones......
You WILL beat this !!!!!!

There is some good information here in terms of helping the healing along. Thanks mabs and ever the optimist.

Hello!
Thank you Ever the Optimist!!!
I have been with this fissure since February, but my fissure started after my hemorrhoids were removed. Honestly I don't know when the blood stopped because of the hemorrhoids were removed and when the blood started because of the fissure, all I know is that after the hemorrhoids were removed I was in a lot of pain, then the pain was transformed into intense itching. Then I realized I had a fissure, because I started to have pain only in one side, doctor confirmed it. Now I don't have pain, but my sphincter is so tight. I'm still waiting for my pressure free day. I will post here again when I have a pressure free day, hopefully I'll keep healing. Bad thing I can't make a party that day with all of you guys!
Just and update today I had my BM again with no pain, I haven't have painful spasms but still the pressure is there big time, I think today I'm more anxious because tomorrow we are going on a trip. Let's see how it goes.

Hi!!
Just an update, that the pressure is a bit better today, I survived my weekend trip, although I had horrible pressure moments. I missed my sitz baths.
With my today BM, I had a bit of pain, but not enough to cause a lingering pain. I have been feeling almost normal today, only feels itchy sometimes, I will drink a lot of water and eat soft food, cause I don't want to re-tear, hopefully my wound is healing!!!
I have broke my record of not re-tearing since February, my morning walks and diet are working!!
Guys a tip, smoothies are a great snack!!! I found one in dairy queen that I love is called piсa colada, tastes delicious!!! found one that you like, is a good way to survive shopping malls and coffee with friends.