Hi All,
About a month ago I had a very solid, painful BM where, as I described it, I didn't necessarily feel like I "tore the o-ring" but maybe "over-stretched it a bit". At first the residual pain wasn't that bad - just sore it seemed. Then after my next few BMs it became clear that there was more than just soreness involved. At first I thought it was hemorrhoids (never had them either - age 34 btw), then, after visiting WebMD, I came to the conclusion that it was actually a fissure because of the one specific, traumatic BM.
I have good days and bad days. Usually the good days are the ones that I don't have a BM, but not necessarily. Sometimes I can have a BM in the morning and, while the act itself is definitely painful, there may not be the follow-up twinges of severe pain that usually follow - sometimes those pains will last for days even without a BM. There is generally some blood on the TP and some on the "front-end" of the BM, but never drips. And the blood doesn't really seem to indicate any other symptoms.
I have tried several things to help ease the pain and self-medicate. Lots of water; high-fiber diet; stool softeners; long, hot, baths (these seem to be the most effective way of relieving the pain, but not always practical); hemorrhoid cream; tucks pads; hydrocortisone cream; etc. Other than the bath, I can't really point to any of these things as having any real effect.
My diet and stool softener efforts have been pretty successful in that my BMs have all been pretty soft (yet still extremely painful). I've never had much problem with being constipated. The problem is that while the softer stools are definitely less painful, it's still not seeming to heal or have any effect on the extreme twinges that I experience during the day.
Some times I feel like I'm getting better, then BAM! three bad days in a row.
I made a doctor's appointment for this coming Friday because I just feel like I can't take it anymore.
Any advice other than "Go to the doctor."?