I healed naturally (no Surgery). It’s not for all, and I felt it was the best option for me. It was tough but with help and lots of patience I’m fissure free today and life is back to pre-fissure normal.
I should have put words to paper a while back and life happened and time slipped by. I apologize for that. I hope readers take one thing from my words, and that is HOPE.
Here is my story.
At the time of my fissure occurrence I was a 52 year old physically active, healthy, average weight male enjoying life. Suddenly in the blink of an eye it all changed. The cause of my fissure was a 10 day bout with diarrhea brought on by contaminated food or water while travelling. it was exacerbated by my careless GP doctor examining me for hemorrhoids, misdiagnosing me and further tearing the initial small fissure without saying so. I know because it hurt like hell and I bled a lot during the exam. I should have sued the jerk! I also had some dental work done at this same time and was prescribed a pain killer that stops you up. Mistake when you have an un-diagnosed fissure.
I struggled for a few weeks with the intense almost daylong pain after my daily morning bowl movement and grew to dread them. The pain spasms would come on about 30 minutes after each bowel movement and build over a 5 hour period. Life turned into a living hell.
Things turned around only when I became willing to reach out for help and only then things slowly started change for the better for me. I reached out online, to people around me and finally to a CRS in the area. CRS for the newbies is a Colo-Rectal Surgeon. This was the key to a slow, methodical, surgery free recovery. Do you notice the reoccurring theme of this writing? Slow recovery? I repeat it over and over because in today’s world we have all grown accustomed to things happening quickly. Healing my fissure naturally just didn’t happen quickly. Please be patient, reach down deep inside and find some courage and a willingness to take direction, they were indispensable in my recovery.
I wish I could say that from then on it was roses, but I can't and won’t do my fellow fissure sufferers that dis-service. The truth is, it was a battle, and on some days I felt like I was losing ground, but armed now with knowledge of what to expect in the healing process, I’d put my head down and plod on. In the end, I healed and life got back to normal. Here's most of what I did.
First of all after my initial CRS exam I decided to try my best to heal naturally. It was a personal decision and may not be the best solution for all. You and your Dr. should figure that out. Some people out there do better or require surgery. Once I decided to try and heal naturally, my CRS instructed me on what to eat and drink. I followed his instructions almost to the letter.
I increased my daily water intake to at least 64 oz per day. I measured it by always using a 16 OZ water bottle and downing at least 4 of those a day. No exceptions to this rule! I massively increased my fiber intake. You can't do this and expect results if you don't do the water thing i just mentioned. The two combined soften your stool so healing can take place. Lots more fiber and too little water are bad for fissure sufferers.
Do some research online and try to get that fiber naturally. Lentils and beans, high fiber bread products, apples, pears, less from things like fiber bars and powders like Metamucil. My experience with that stuff was negative. I was 10 times gassier and the powders are not really very high in fiber. I got up to around 30-35 grams per day and that worked for me. It really wasn’t that hard.
Cut out the junk food. I also chose to cut out red meat for the time being. I was also a huge raw nut eater before I had the fissure and I had to suspend that. No raw almonds or salted peanuts or cashews, etc. Not good for your bum.
I tried different topical creams prescribed by my CRS and the one that really worked and promoted natural healing was the Nitro stuff. Yes the temporary headache sucked but for me it relieved the horrible spasms which in turn allowed me to heal naturally without surgery.
The other thing that helped soften my stool up and keep it that way until I healed (this is a really important component in the healing process) was the once daily use of Miralax. I’m not a product salesman but this stuff worked for me. Once I started taking it in conjunction with the increased water and fiber intake along with the dietary changes good things started happening and the road to recovery became less arduous for me.
I truly wish you the best in your recovery and hope you too can achieve a successful result with whatever method of healing you decide is best for you.