For the last day the skin near my anus on my left butt cheek has been a tender, feels like chaffing. I suspect it's because I haven't been keeping it dry. Taking so many baths and being so hairy makes it kinda damp most of the time, plus I haven't really tried very hard to keep it dry. Getting some kind of infection sounds terrifying at this point, and otherwise I seem to be slowly improving. Is trimming to be a good practice for those with fissures?

Edit: also I've been putting my ointments on right after my baths. I wonder if they may be helping to seal in moisture. I suppose I could wait a few hours... Anyone have experience with this?

Actually after googling some and poking around down there some more, I'm really thinking this is likely an abcess. I'll have to make an appointment with the CRS tomorrow. Wish me luck... Guess I'll be in this world longer than I hoped, but thank goodness for medical science.

Good luck BB. Don;t think about the worst, even if you stay longer around here.
I am a member since 2014 and pain free already since 2015 :)

Keep us posted and go there with your head up and confident in your ability to heal.

Thanks Abu. She was able to squeeze me in today, which I really appreciated. The good news is that I haven't been diagnosed with an abcess. The bad news is she didn't know what it was. There's a little nodule under the skin which is tender, but she said it doesn't really seem like an abcess, though she didn't rule it out. So it's the wait and see game for now. She also said my fissure is definitely " a big ugly chronic thing."

So I'm trying to keep things in perspective and not freak, but honestly it's difficult. Health problems tend to throw me into a panic. Last night think I had a minor panic attack, got light-headed and everything. But the truth is I'm not in much pain lately so I should really try to live my life normally.

That's it, this is the best way. Try to live and enjoy life and let the body heal itself, it knows best how to do it. Be grateful when experiencing no pain.