Has anyone researched what the Amish do for fissures and sphincter spasm . What did they do for this spasm business 100 or 200 years ago?
Will this pain ever go away on its own or does it have to have a medical intervention?

I haven't researched that but I always think about the olden days and how in the world did people survive the types of pain we are going through now. Well, I think for one thing, morphine and laudanum were handed out like candy and people probably drank for pain too. Of course that doesn't apply to everyone like the Amish so I wonder how they treated this?
Gosh, it makes me grateful to be living when I do, but I think doctors treated the pain better back then although that stuff probably harmed you in other ways and probably made for many addictions.

That's a good question: I'm sure it would involved some very difficult research to unearth it. The internet may be a dry well with that one!

The pain lasts a few weeks for some, ten years or longer for others, MB. That's why I finally decided to have the surgery...I couldn't see ten more months, let alone ten years.
Once your fissure becomes chronic, the chances for it healing on its own drops. It can be a very-long health/pain problem, which is why I asked you how long are you willing to endure it?

Not long! It has become the controlling factor of my life every day and has been since March 28.
I suspect that unless the surgeon can convince me that medical treatment has a real liklihood of resolving the pain verrry soon I will try to opt for the surgery(based upon the assumption that the surgery will relieve the pain within a matter of days and only a few of those.
I literally cannot perform my job duties with this pain nor can I function properly at home with my home chores or with my wife and children.

You last sentence speaks volumes. You also want to ask yourself how healthy you are. If you have no other major underlying medical problems then you should handle the surgery OK. It's no piece of cake, as my CRS warned me. You will be down abut a week and a half, maybe a bit longer. You won't feel normal again for a bout a month. But the spasms will end the day of the surgery!

I had laproscopic surgery to remove a gallbladder in 2004. The same day they removed a cancerous tumor from my bladder all while I was on the same table. That is the only significant health problems I have ever had. I don't exercise per se and stuff but I would consider myself pretty healthy. I typically put in 45 to 50 hours at the office and another 20 doing things around the farm. I have thought about the chance of incontinence and have about decided that I cannot work like this but I could work in a diaper if i had to.
the pain ended today about 4 . This evening my wife and I went to a store to get a crash helmet for my sons . I felt fine with the exception of the ever present dread of tomorrow. I know that tomorrow I will get up , have a BM and the whole painful cycle will start all over.
So I think I will call the surgeon's office on Monday and ask if they can go ahead and look at scheduling the surgery even prior to my scheduled appt. on Wed.
I have literally been in excruciating pain for some part of every day since March 28 and I have not been able to work more than 15 hours in the last 2 weeks and probably not more than 20 to 25 during the two weeks before that.
So I think surgery is the way to go for me .
Any thoughts?

I think you would be a good candidate for the surgery. You are healthy and active and don't have any chronic health conditions. I wouldn't worry about incontinence but you know it is bad when we think maybe it would be better to be incontinent than to suffer from this pain! I even talked to my doctor about a colostomy I was hurting so much-so I understand.
But that chance is very small. Most doctors are very conservative about how far they cut just to make sure that this isn't a complication. My doctor says she just cuts a small bit and that at times they have to repeat it to cut down a bit further but she wants to make sure to preserve function and says you can always cut more but you can't undo what has been cut. So maybe talk to your doctor about that.
I think it makes sense just to get yourself on the surgical schedule and then talk to your doctor on Wed.
Let us know how you appointment goes and what you end up doing!
Lecia