It's a long post but with it if you're in pain, read on. After a couple of years of on and off misery, I thought I'd share my success story. After moving to Sydney from East Asia where I'd been living for 8 years, the Aussie diet, culture shock, upheaval etc. all had an affect on my bowels and I became constipated. I'd had trouble with piles in the past and for several weeks I had blood in my stool. About two months into my new move, I broke my shoulder and was taking painkillers like they were m&ms. This exacerbated the problem and the condition became unbearable. Painful stools were one thing, but the slow build up of pain than intensified 2 or three hours later was the worst. Ironically, the only thing that eased the pain was ibuprofen which kept the circle of pain going on with no end in sight.
To cut a long story short, I was in so much pain I opted for the Botox. To say that it changed my life is not an understatement. My mood completely changed, I became less stressed, my relationship improved. In other words, I got my life back instead of constantly thinking about how painful my next crap was going to be. I recommend the treatment if your condition is bad, it's only an hour or two in the hospital and you will feel the effect immediately. I was back to work within a day. However, the Botox lasts only a few months and you need to be careful. About 4 months ago my fissure came back, and although not as bad as the first time, I became really depressed thinking that I might have to put up with this for life. I'd read coconut oil was good so I took baths with a few scoops and it definitely had some benefit. I tried this for a few weeks but the fissure was still there. Every now and again it would flare up to become the stereotypical 'pain in the ass' where the coconut wasn't really having an effect. Coloxyl is a godsend if you don't already use it. It's a great stool softener and I was taking 2 every day for over a month, but still the fissure persisted. Rectogesic is another essential and you need to try about a week of applying that twice a day for a week or two. The headaches become less intense as you get used to it. Keep taking the Coloxyl while you do it. However, I wouldn't recommend this for more than a week or two as you start to rely on the stool softener too much.
While the above helped to heal me, it didn't take care of the root of the problem which was hard stools and a spasming a-hole. So while reading this forum I saw that magnesium helps. All I can say is that I wish I had known this about 10 years ago. Stop reading and buy a bottle of magnesium tablets right now. You can get them at any chemist. I felt the benefit of taking magnesium straight away. Almost to the point of thinking that I may have had a magnesium deficiency all my life. Not only did it relax my muscles, causing the anus to loosen up, but it now almost feels like crapping cotton wool. In other words, painless and regular. It's been nearly a month that I use the stuff and it's even better than the Botox. I could have saved myself a lot of pain and hardship earlier had I known. Another major recommendation is do not let the fissure rule your life. I began to work out whenever the pain started and found that the harder I worked out, the quicker the pain disappeared. The magnesium also helps with post-workout muscle pain. All in all, magnesium rocks. Get some and get your life back.