So I have had a bad few months with spasm or burning, each day is different from the next but it's with me daily. For the last while I've had sore spots outside my opening like on the inside of the butt cheek. Today I notice I have a hard sore spot like a small lump just beside my opening

When I was first diagnosed the emergency doc said I had a fissure he could see it. Later on I saw a crs and he said no fissure but I had a tight ass, hmmm. Gave me a bland diet and recommended Metamucil.

So here I am years later still battling and not sure what my next step is.

I wonder if the sore spots are caused by creams and ointments you use? Not sure what regimen you are on, but if you are experimenting with a few different products you may want to back off and see if your skin settles down.

The hard sore spot could be a hemorrhoid. Is it redder than the surrounding skin? I had one as big as a grape. Ugh. It eventually went down, leaving a little bit of loose skin. It was painful while it lasted.

Are you pushing at all on the toilet? I know you take Mg citrate, so probably you are not pushing. I just thought I'd ask.

If you have a tight ass, have you tried nitroglycerine or nifedipine or diltiazem? One of those could really help you. You need to ask the doc for a prescription. Even if you've no fissure, one of those muscle relaxants could help avoid future problems. Also, as I'm always telling people, sitting on a not-too-hot hot water bottle will not only soothe pain, but relax muscles and increase your blood flow, helping healing.

I hope you find answers soon, hurtinend.

I only use coconut oil down there. A couple months ago I went to the doctor -he prescribed nitro cream and diltiazem/lidocaine cream, which I have on hand. I tried not to take it but maybe I should now... That doc only took a peak down there and said he didnt see much but it looked "irritated"

I cant see that sore spot as I live on my own, could be a hem, not sure. As far as pushing on the toilet, not really, I do take the mag citrate and am on a mainly fruit/leafy green diet, with flax seed and flax oil - some meals I eat whatever I want but try to mainly stick to my diet. This routine makes me go every morning without fail, it usually does not hurt when I go - it hurts after, and stays with me all day.

Last few days ive been using gentle heat, it helps some, but pain returns.

Some days i am at my wits end. I dont think I am managing the stress in my life well at all, and that is the main cause of this affliction - in my opinion anyways.

Thank you for the response Scientist! What do you think.....should I try Nitro, or Diltiazem?

Well, I would recommend either nitro or dilt, if you have a "tight ass". Those creams are supposed to relax your muscles.

For looking at your anus, get a shaving mirror or similar, put it on the bathroom floor and squat over it. If necessary, shine a light up towards your bottom, to get a better look. My mirror is one that magnifies, which was useful.

I written elsewhere about stress. Stress affects the skin, the GI tract, causes you to hold tension in your body. I found that anxiety made my anus start to twinge and hurt, and after one stressful experience, I was in pain for nearly a week (after a few months pain free). I started consciously relaxing my bottom whenever I felt stress, and I think that helped. If nothing else, it really increased my awareness of how stress and anxiety was affecting me. You could try meditation, yoga, warm baths, music, whatever helps you - even Valium, if that's what it takes. For me the awareness was helpful. It used to be I didn't even know I was tense until my bottom started to hurt.

So anyway just know that it takes time to heal, try not to get too frustrated. Definitely try the cream.
I hope you get better soon.

I used to be on this page a year ago, I had a chronic fissure, so bad Id cry everytime I went to the toilet. I dreaded it, held it in for 5 days if I could. I've never felt so much pain in my life. I used nitro all the time but it always gave me a chronic headache, I drank disgusting drinks to soften the stool. I recently at the end of 2014 did a 10 week transform fitness challenge where I changed my entire diet from the carbs I was eating everyday to protein and veggies. It did so much for me and can finally say I go to the toilet normally every day with hardly any pain at all. I can really feel the difference now with things I eat and how they affect my
Insides. Goodluck with everything :)

thanks for the support folks!

I am eating a similar diet to you, beeanc1. I am starting to think I may have pelvic floor issues. I think my muscles clench during bm, really no pain for me when I go - it starts after. Today I have a hot burning spot between my tailbone and opening, yikes drives me crazy and nothing helps.

Think I will find a pelvic floor physiotherapist in my area and see what they say...

Well went into a local medical clinic today cuz the irritation was really bad and didn't want to wait to see my gp

So doc took a look and said I had a huge hemmroid down there. Here I think I've got a fissure, hmmm, confused and bewildered. He wrote a prescription for annusol hc ointment. Said if I don't improve soon it's referral to a specialist.

So here I sit with hemmy ointment and nitro and diltiazem for fissure, how about that.

Well, you can have a hemmie and a fissure - I did. Life just isn't fair sometimes, is it?
Treat them both, I guess. The hemmie will probably subside quicker than the fissure.

Well it turns out I have a sentinel tag, not a hemmerhoid. Apparently hemmerhoid diagnosis can often be made by doctors without good knowledge of fissures. I didn't trust the recent doctors diagnosis so another doctor told me about the tag, which is caused by the underlying fissure.

I can feel the fissure against the bottom of my tailbone. I am woefully discouraged. I have all the creams but not sure which one to try.

Today I went to a natural food store and asked for witch hazel without alcohol. The lady asked me politely if this was for a hemmerhoid and or fissure.....she knew, hmmm. So she told me to try the following:

So I got the natural witch hazel with aloevera, marshmallow root, slippery elm, and Rutin. $80 Canadian dollars for that but I will give it a whirl along with sitz baths and coconut oil.