there are differing opinions, inside, outside, try to get some up there, even a little bit. I know its tough, my arse is so tight I cant get any up there so it just goes on the outside.

3 years now...i am in the same boat, started applying this yesterday but cant apply this inside, so i just slathered it outside, but its not going to work...3 years for me now too, was doing really good until a couple months back and now i think i have like 4 more fissure........sooooooooo tired of it all....few more months and i will have to think about surgery, but i am scared.

splinterboy2013 wrote:3 years now...i am in the same boat, started applying this yesterday but cant apply this inside, so i just slathered it outside, but its not going to work...3 years for me now too, was doing really good until a couple months back and now i think i have like 4 more fissure........sooooooooo tired of it all....few more months and i will have to think about surgery, but i am scared.

Surgery goes very smoothly for the majority of people. I can't believe you waited 3 years! You're braver than I am. If mine doesn't go away after 8 weeks, I'll probably be doing LIS a second time. No way am I going to put up with this for that long again.

hey crime, i had many good days in those 3 years but i always neglected this and now its coming back to bite me. I still beleive i can beat it but scar tissue from my old fissures has made things worst for me. Anyway i left you a message on another board about talking olive oil to help with weight loss. try taking like 3 table spoons a day and that should help lubricate also. extra virgin only.

how did your first LIS go? and what state are you in? I am in NY.

3 years now wrote:there are differing opinions, inside, outside, try to get some up there, even a little bit. I know its tough, my arse is so tight I cant get any up there so it just goes on the outside.

Hey 3yearsnow, Have you thought a about surgery, ive been thinking about it more and more since i am tired of healing and then getting new ones becuase i am a tightass i guess.

Hi crimeofpassion,
I definitely sympathize with your situation.  It's awful to have to insert your finger when you're already in so much pain.  It does get easier over time.
My CRS told me to apply my ointment past the first finger joint as well.  It wasn't easy to do that at first (it was painful) but if you can do it, it is supposed to be more effective.  There was a post maybe last week about applying nitro and someone (I think jr2) wrote in about a study where external application of nitro was compared to internal. Internal was more effective but some people healed just with external.  I'm not sure how to set up a link to that post here but if you search for nitro you'll probably come across it.
Before I apply the medication, I take a 20 minute warm bath.  That seems to help.   I use a dime sized amount of medication.  I use my pinky finger.  Some people here use a q-tip.  I considered that and I considered the little applicator tip my medication came with but they both seemed too pokey for me.  I'd recommend trying to insert your finger just a tiny bit and trying a little more each day.  Once the medication starts working, it gets a lot easier.  For me that was after 10 days.  I also recommend lubricating your finger.
Why don't they make this medication into a suppository?!  Those are easier to insert. 
I hope that you start feeling better!

splinterboy2013 wrote:how did your first LIS go? and what state are you in? I am in NY.

It went badly. I couldn't pee after the surgery - joy - so they put a catheter in. Then they gave me a stimulant laxative because they said I had to go to the bathroom within a certain number of days after surgery. The laxative caused terrible stomach cramps and my stool was NOT soft, so I tore my sutures a bit according to the doctor.
Healing was very slow, and the little painless muscle twitches I experienced (which appear to be my version of the painful spasms people describe) didn't stop. When I told this to my CRS, he basically said there was nothing more he could do for me, and that was that. I eventually went to see a second CRS who put me out so she could take a look and see if I had a fistula. She said my fissure had indeed healed, and all that was left was some granulation tissue from the incision site, I believe. The incision site bothered me for awhile. Burning when going to the bathroom, burning after sitting too long, etc. And the second CRS said my muscle tone hadn't seemed to improve a great deal (hence why I'm worried I'l need a second surgery). But my story is pretty unusual. I've heard people say they had a reduction in pain after only a few days or a week.
I'm on day 23 of my fissure now, so it's almost week 4. Given that acute fissures are supposed to heal within 4-6 weeks, I'm getting a little nervous, truth be told.

Well, just applied some more Rectiv, and I THINK I'm getting at least some of it on the inside. It's hard to tell. I use my pinky, which is a bit clumsy, and it's just impossible to know exactly how successful it is and how much cream is getting inside. It seems like the majority to me, but.... It would be so much easier with a suppository! The box says to use one inch of cream, so that's what I'm doing. They have a little measuring line on the box too.
Anyway, I don't feel much pain when inserting the cream, but afterward I feel more sore. This morning was the first time I really tried to apply it internally, and I felt more little nips of pain today compared to yesterday, when I felt quite good. Makes me worry that all I'm succeeding in doing is irritating the fissure.
What did you lubricate your finger with? Vaseline?