Hi all,

My story, briefly: I had a bad case of food poisoning and the resulting diarrhoea caused an anal fissure. That was painful, but I decided this was the time to get healthy and lose weight, which I did. The fissure cleared, despite the pain.

Fast forward to a few months and the fissure reappeared (a particularly dry stool). And now it's become agonising, not just painful. I don't have to describe that to you further, you know what I mean.

I've been unable to have a bowel motion for the pain, for about three days... and eating very little as a result. So I went to the doctor, almost in tears, and she gave me a 'soov it', an anti-inflammatory and anaesthetic ointment for haemorrhoids.

Since my fissure is internal, I had to use the applicator. I don't want to get terribly detailed, but for those who might be reading this for the first time, put some of the cream on the tip of the applicator and it will be easier to get deeper in.

Anyway it numbed the fissure sufficiently for me to have a bowel motion, which... was... bliss. Still a little pain, but nothing like the mind-boggling agony which literally made me claw the air beforehand. Yeah

Now this obviously isn't a long term solution. However my diet will be soft steamed vegetables, wheatbix (not too much), and noodles with fibre (is this ok?). Maybe some wholemeal bread if I'm feeling up to bread.

But yeah. The ointment really helped.

Hello Fred in pain, you are right to say is a temporary solution. If you continue to having dry and hard stools the fissure is not going to get better no matter how much you numb it. You need to make your BM softer. Drink tons of water ( at least 2 liters per day), get more fiber in your diet and if this is not enough. Get a stool softener. Once you get a fissure you have to be very careful with your BMs. Meaning not get constipated. because every time you have a hard stool the fissure is going to re-open. Good luck.

Bettyblue is correct from my experience. I use Miralax as a stool softener, have done so for nearly a year, and don't intend to quit. I also do the 8 glasses of water a day and fiber.

Like some others on this website, I find that a tablespoon full of ground flax seed on my oatmeal/cereal at breakfast just makes those stools slicker and much easier to pass. I don't know why, but I tried not using the flax seed and that was a bad experiment.

You are right now66. I too use the ground flax seed. It is very good. Miralax I am not using any more. But I haven't needed at all. I guess everybody have their own " I can't not have a nice BM without this" for me is prunes and 3 kiwis a day.

I have Coloxyl, and I'm definitely drinking a lot of water. I'll have to link into the flax seed, that sounds good.

Even with the ointment, it's still pretty painful... but at least I can have a bowel motion, which lessens the chance of complications arising from stools being present in my body for too long.

Actually one of my problems is not so much dry and hard stools as large, paste-like stools--too much wheatbix?

Sorry for double posting. I thought I might as well use this thread to chronicle this experience, if it benefits others :)

So Day 3 of the Soov it treatment... The pain was less today (still present a bit), but that may be because I applied the ointment in a more effective way. When it wears out, I'll be able to judge from the pain or lack thereof. I feel more able to function today--finally intend to clean my apartment, when all I've been doing the last few days is sitting on a soft seat distracting myself with bad TV and sleeping.

I'm now eating noodle (with fibre) soup, steamed vegetables and last night I had two slices of wholemeal bread. I'm not sure about wholemeal bread, or any bread--my stools still seem a bit paste-like, which I need to avoid I think. I've given the wheatbix a rest until I figure out how much is ok. I need to get ground flax seed, too.

I'm sort of concerned about work, and what to have for lunch... I usually have a six-inch chicken strips sub from Subway, wholemeal bread with tomato and olives (this was the weight loss food), but I'm not sure about the bread or the chicken. I may have a salad or something. Actually yeah... salad.

Also concerned about an upcoming work function I have to attend... I can't not eat there, but it's probably not healthy food. And there's alcohol involved, which I understand is a definite no. Before all this I was planning a night out with friends afterwards, but I think cancelling that is a foregone conclusion I have to admit, this experience is stressing me out, with a lot of anxiety and some depression. I'm also wondering if I can eat my favourite foods again... whether this will be a diet I'll have to stick to for a long time to come, perhaps forever.

Got to keep positive, I guess.

Thanks for all your help, it means a lot :)

Many things can be okay in moderation. Just this week I've took a week out from work and treated myself to a bottle of good red wine, drank over a three days and each glass of wine followed by at least the same in water and all has been fine despite still trying to get a fissure under control - it did not make matters worse. So you should be fine going out for a few drinks but don't do an all nighter wihout having any other liquids other than alcohol :).

The bread lunch at work should be fine as long as you don't have bread for breakfast, bread for dinner in the evening. If you have an issue then try cutting it out, it can all be a bit trial and error I'm afraid. I tend to buy vegetable pots quite often for lunch - 3 of your 5 a day in one meal, can't be bad.
Personally I find I'm okay with chicken, but again, not too much.
You haven't mentioned fruit? As a start an apple a day can be good. Apples are high in soluable fibre. Alternatively (or in addition) apple juice.

Vegetables and many fruits and juices are good for fissure sufferers :). If I have something that concerns me a bit, I usually OD on fruit and veg to offset it .

This is great news Fredinpain! If your pain is decreasing and you have started to function again it means your fissure is healing. The pain is not going to go from one day to another, but every day is going to be a little better, it will take time do. For me the tooth paste consistence was more than o.k. But everybody is different. Just avoid hard stools or running stools and I think you will be fine.
For lunch at work try to find healthy choices, you can have this chicken strips, but instead of 6, how about 4? Don't forget to eat your salad with that. And for dessert how about some fruit? Pears are very good as well as apples, berries and kiwis are super good too. ( my CRS recommended me to have 3 kiwis a day).
I have a stressful job where alcohol plays a important part. I received a tip from now66 that I am going to put in practice "A glass of seltzer water in hand generally deflects all attention". Also the advise of supper fissure sound great!. About food, when I have an event where I know the food is not going to be healthy at all. What I do is eat supper healthy before that. Meaning I will have a good healthy breakfast all bran with prunes, ground flax seed and yogurt And a very healthy lunch, so at night I don't have to worry about. I eat only the less unhealthy food I can and also in small quantities and I usually do fine with that.
You do have to stick with a healthy diet ( this is what we suppose to do any way) I can not give yo any advise in that aspect, since I only cured my fissure 4 months ago and I am pretty much sticking with a very healthy diet ( I am terrified to have a relapse). But I think after you get a fissure You have to be careful with what you eat in order to avoid to re- open it.

Thanks for your replies! They do give me some hope.

I hit a small stumbling block--business lunch which I nearly forgot about. I ordered the healthiest thing on the menu, which was a vegetarian sandwich (did have cheese though). I had an apple for breakfast, along with apple juice, both of which made my stomach grumble a lot for some reason... I'm anxious about my BM, which I'm going to try without the ointment (can't rely on that stuff forever).

I can't wait for my holidays. A few weeks of healthy eating... these upcoming two weeks are going to be tricky, there's at least three occasions where unhealthy food may happen. I'll eat healthy beforehand as recommended, and stick to the stool softeners as well.

I'm having trouble finding ground flax seeds--where do you get them?

Fred, don't be so hard on yourself yet! I think is too soon to abandon your ointment. You are just in the way to recovery. The least you need now is get anxious about your BMs. Just use your ointment until you are sure you are not feeling pain, or at least give it another few days. I find the flax in healthy stores or in the healthy section of the supermarkets. I buy the seeds and ground them at home. If you buy them already grounded don't forget to put it in the refrigerator. Because the the oil in the ground flax get rancid very easy at room temperature.