For a while now I've seeking help for my fissure which started April 1st. Was on the Atkins diet for 3 years and constipated badly, but hey lost 120lbs. Went to see a GI and gave me some creams. Month later nothing changing and went to see a rectal surgeon. He's the only rectal surgeon I can see in my area with United Community Plan insurance that I have. Since then I've gotten better, but no where near 100%. It seems like every time I see a doctor it makes the situation worse, cause they stick their fingers up my rear and causes damage.

It started with constant pain and infection in the area, though no doctor gave me antibiotics. Pain between the groin and back left leg, which has gotten a lot better lately. Deification always hurts unless it's watery diarrhea. When I wake up it almost never hurts but as the day progresses it hurts more. If I move around it hurts. Sitting hurts a lot. I stated to put the cream prescribed by my doctors with my finger but now I only do that after deification cause my muscle is relaxed and open. I've actually ripped my anus open trying to apply the cream, so now I use cotton swabs to apply the cream when I don't defecate. I even put Bio-Oil on the Q-tips to help with the healing and even Isopropyl Alcohol. Yes it hurts a lot. I also consume mostly soups and fluids to keep my movements as smooth as possible.

My rectal surgeon insists that nothing else needs to be done and that I should just continue doing what I'm doing. No need for surgery and no mention of botox. He did say that I should get a second opinion. I'm switching my insurance to amerigroup which will open up more options for doctors, but I find that nothing but creams is my only solution. I do nothing all day except lay on my side, cause it's the only way to avoid pain and damaging my fissure. Even seeing my rectal surgeon felt like he set me back 1 weeks worth of healing. Yes it's getting better, but it's been 4 months and still doesn't seem healed and it's easy to break it open. Feels like It'll take till December to heal it.

Hi Duke,
welcome to the forum, and sorry for your pain!

I'm sorry to tell you that healing this thing may take a long time. Hopefully, if you do the right things, you can heal without surgery. It's not too late, and even after 4 months there is still hope that you can do this.

Here's what you need to do:
1) soft stools all the time. Keep a diary and record what you eat and how soft your stools are. Search this forum. There are lots of suggestions for things to eat that will keep your stools soft. Drink plenty of water, as hydration is key to soft stools. Never, never, push on the toilet. Let the poo drop out.

2) maintain a good blood supply to your anus. Two great ways to do this are with certain creams (nitroglycerine, diltiazem, nifedipine - don't use steroids), and with heat. For some, sitz baths are good. For me, a not-too-hot- hot water bottle was key. I sat on it for hours and went to bed with it tucked under my bottom. Creams and the heat both do the same thing. Relax the sphincter muscle and allow blood to heal the area.

3) rest. You don't want to aggravate the area. Pain causes the terrible spasms you are no doubt getting. You end up in a vicious cycle of pain causing more pain, and these spasms are most likely hindering healing.

4) give it time. It took me many months. I'm at more than one year now, healed, and I can truly say that the whole process took from May to November, with actual healing starting at about August, which is when I found a cream that worked. So you need to be patient and don't get discouraged. It can be a long road, but many of us have travelled it!

Good luck! Let us know how you get on! Ask as many questions as you like!

Thanks Scientist2516, I'll try to get heat pads to see if that increases healing. I'm already been using the creams you listed for 4 months now. You wouldn't happen to have a link of food that keeps my stools soft as possible? You don't think something like botox wouldn't be a bad idea by now for my situation?

I don't have a link, but search around - there are some threads about fissure-friendly foods.
I found that red lentils do it for me. Also, oatmeal and baked sweet potatoes are really good.
For some people it's more about avoiding certain foods, especially red meat and cheese. But in my case, as long as I get my lentils, oatmeal and sweet potatoes, I can eat anything else.

After four months you should definitely consider botox or surgery. Everybody is different but I was at my breaking point at four months (even though the pain was considerably better, I couldn't tolerate the lifestyle change and the seemingly never ending nature of this condition). Had surgery and was cured. So grateful I took that leap, though I know for everyone it is different. Best of luck to you and I'm sorry you are suffering!

They say the surgery is permanent. Is that bad?

botox injection helped heal my fissers. pain for 8 months i had no life it was horrible. botox stops the muscle from spasuming after deificating therefore allowing time for them to heal. movicol was also nesscercary. i used vitamine e capsuls and warm salty water to help heal after deificating.im doing so much better. have to avoid constipation like the plague though. coffee helps. and plenty of water. ots of veg. try some smoothies as a meal. blue berry, bannan, chia seed almond milk, dates softened in boiling water to sweeten. great breaky. avoid bread. eat rice.

research on movicol. awesome at soften stools. not like other laxitives. amazing a must try.

Dukenukemx wrote:They say the surgery is permanent. Is that bad?

It's not bad if it heals you. There can be side effects of incontinence, but that doesn't seem to be that prevalent from the people who had the surgery. Incontinence can be anything from passing wind by accident, to having a BM slip out. Talk to your CRS. i agree that you need to do something, if you are uncomfortable with surgery you can start with Botox. I had botox and think I'm about healed. Good luck

Went with the suggestion from Scientist2516 about the water bottle idea and so far it seems to be working. Not even 4 days of microwaving a water bottle and putting it against my butt. I microwave it at least every hour and sit on it or lay on my side. It's tricky to do constantly but it's healed a lot since doing this. I ordered a herbal pack that I can microwave and keep it against my butt. I'll report back if things are truly getting better or it's my imagination.