I elected not to have a fissurectomy 2 years ago. The Colo-rectal guy said he would cut the fissure location then cut the ring the same length. Well, the tear finally healed and just can't think of cutting it open again. Like everybody says a cut to heal a cut. Anyway, my ring gets tight for no reason and I use lotion before going. I can't keep doing this. I'm getting the feeling everybody likes the ring cut only(is that LIS?). Let me know if this is correct. Also, what does botox help? I've had a hip replaced, broken fingers but I'm scared about the ole bumm.. The pain I had when the fissure was open was terrible. I wouldn't take a pain meds, in fear of constipation..
Please advise on what my best option would be.. I have some itching now rare pain (I can deal with) but the tight ring is cramping my life..
I trust you guys more than the Dr's..Help
For the last few years I have had a constant battle with hemorrhoids and anal fissures. I didn't know it was fissures and thought I just had hemorrhoids. The sphincter muscle around my anus had tightened up and wasn’t relaxing when I had a bowel movement. I had never heard of anything like this and thought I was just having constipation, all the time. For a couple of years my life was consumed with laxatives, stool softeners and other types of drugs. I lived in fear of having a BM. I missed a lot of work because of it and wasted my vacation time on two day recoveries. It was horrible. Regular doctors were useless. They would say to eat more fiber. What a joke. Fiber just made a bigger BM and caused more pain. I have to say that there were periods of relief where I would go a month or two without symptoms. I would begin to believe that the agony was over. It would always come back. It had gotten worse to the point where I had the problem much more than not and I thought I was going crazy. Life was becoming unbearable. I finally went to a rectal surgeon. He said I had a huge fissure and scheduled me to have a fissurectomy and sphincterotomy. I had to be there at 6:45am last Thursday, August 27th. The surgeon partially cut my anal sphincter muscle to relax it and cauterized the fissure. He sent me home with some anti biotics, some anti nausea medicine and some pain pills. I had instructions to eat lots of fiber and take mineral oil three times a day. I didn’t have a BM until Saturday and it was pretty bad, but the Darvocet helped. I noticed that even though it hurt like crazy because I was so sore down there, the BM was much easier than it had been in years. Every day since it has hurt less and I’m going back to work today, Wednesday, September 2nd. I’ll add more later.
Here it is 10 days after the surgery and I can have a BM without having to take a pain pill afterward. I'm still taking the mineral oil a couple of times a day so I can't tell exactly how much I've improved but I feel like I'm making a lot of progress.
Thanks a lot for the reply and please keep me posted. The colo-doc I went to said he cuts around the fissure to heal itself, nothing about cauterizing. I was in sooo much pain when it was open..Do you how he cauterized it? I know what you mean being fustrated.. I'll go a month then have problems from nowhere. I can't keep going like this, thanks a let me know the progress..
Hi my fellow members i just joined this group to try to find out what to do for my husband. He is so much pain from a anal fissure he has seen a Dr and they recommend to either cauteriz it or have surgery.A friend recommend sylum husk from the vitamin shoppe it worked good for a couple weeks taking it in the morning with apple juice or ice tea fissure went away for the most part got small and didn't bother him. Well guess what its back and with vengeance the poor man. Has anyone had this done before and i was wondering the out come. Any advice would help I also want to post my own post but couldnt figure out how.
Now it's been 16 days since my surgery. I feel great. It's awesome to be living without pain. I go back to see the surgeon for a follow up in about 2 weeks. If you or a loved one is tired of living with pain then I would recomend this procedure. I'm still on the mineral oil, though. I guess I wont know for sure until I'm completely off of that.
I had fissures for about a month. I had the lateral sphincterotomy. It worked for 2 weeks until I had a hard stool. That caused another fissure which lasted for 2 more months. During that time I was in EXCRUCTIATING pain after bowel movements for periods ranging from 3-8 hours. After ending up in the ER and requiring 2 morphine shots for pain one night, I went to see the best colo-rectal surgeon I could find. He gave me Diltiazem and suggested I try Citrucel in addtion to the stool softeners I was taking. If that didn't work then next step was a colonoscopy to see exactly what was going on. Well that has been 3 weeks ago. Once I started the Citrucel and the Diltiazem, the pain went away within 3 days. My stools were much softer than they had been on just good diet alone. I am still using the Diltiazem although i'm not sure I need it anymore. The only side effect it seems to have is that it dries out the skin around the anus sometimes. That can be treated with Eucerin cream. I eat fiber cereal and light sandwiches but I am slowly starting to introduce other foods back into my diet in small amounts to see what happens. So far so good. I know the fissure area is still weak but at least the pain has stopped both during and after bowel movements. I HIGHLY recommend the Citrucel and the Diltiazem combination. You must get your stools to just one notch higher than liquid to get this problem healed.
It doesn't sound like your doctor gave you a good post surgery to do list. Part of my after surgery instructions was to take two teaspoons of Metamucil per day and 3 or 4 tablespoons of mineral oil three times a day. I only took that nasy stuff (mixed with orange juice) twice a day but it made all the difference. The mineral oil has kept my fissure from reopening and has allowed me to heal. It's been 28 days now and I'm doing great.
Thanks for the update improved. Did you have a skin tag? Did the doctor use stiches to close the fissure or did you get the LIS only? I'm soaking loosing the muscle but I think the skin tag is tearing sometimes.. Does the muscle feel alot looser? Sometimes I use lube just in case, I don't want to keep doing that.. Thanks for posting!
Hi my fellow members i just joined this group to try to find out what to do for my husband. He is so much pain from a anal fissure he has seen a Dr and they recommend to either cauteriz it or have surgery.A friend recommend sylum husk from the vitamin shoppe it worked good for a couple weeks taking it in the morning with apple juice or ice tea fissure went away for the most part got small and didn't bother him. Well guess what its back and with vengeance the poor man. Has anyone had this done before and i was wondering the out come. Any advice would help I also want to post my own post but couldnt figure out how.
I wish my wife cared enough about my pain-in-the-butt to post in a forum!
I've had fissures for about three years. Not continuously, but the first one was quite bad and hung around for about six weeks. A few months later, I had a slight discomfort, but I immediately started treating the fissure with some Dr. Wheatgrass Skin Recovery Cream, and it only lasted about a week. I've had one now for about the past seven weeks. The second week in, while using the Dr. Wheatgrass Cream, I ordered some oil off the internet. It's called H-fissures, and I swear it works. The fissure is up inside about a half inch, so I had to put the oil on a Qtip, and insert it in my rectum. I did this three times daily, along with the Recovery Cream. I was also taking about a tablespoon of psyllium husks in the morning, and another tablespoon at night, along with some acidophiles capsules (psyllium can wash the good bacteria right out of your intestines). Oh, I forgot to mention that I also have IBS. That only exacerbates the fissure problem.
Within about four weeks, the pain was gone. Completely. I was able to take a trip to Colombia, and had the time of my life; however, I ran out of the oil on the first day back home, and here it is about a week and a half later, and the pain is creeping back in. I've ordered some more -- I suspect that I ran out before the healing was complete. I have also started using some diltiazem ointment, but I don't have much to report yet, since I just started today.
I hear many people ask, "when can I go back to eating whatever I want?" Stop and think for just a minute -- that very diet may be what got you that little fissure in the first place. With my first two fissure encounters, as soon as it cleared up, I went right back to eating like a human garbage dump. I am not surprised at all that the fissure came back with a vengeance. In my opinion, if you suffer from fissures, particularly recurring fissures, it may be time to face the probability that you will just have to closely watch your diet from here on out. I'll tell you what, I would rather watch what I eat and never have the pain of a fissure, then eat like a pig and suffer for two months every year.
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Hello, sorry you're dealing with this...sounds familiar though. I just had a lateral sphincterectomy for 2 fissures 5 days ago for chronic fissures. Unfortunately, when these fissures become chronic and deep, they tend to need surgery to be fixed. I decided I didn't want to live with it anymore or for the rest of my life, and it sounds like you're at that place also. I found a good FEMALE rectal surgeon and had the surgery. The surgery was a piece of cake, you're totally out of it, and numb when they wheel you into recovery....it's when the numbness wears off that you realize, ouch!!!! Of course now, I am second guessing myself, as the pain after surgery is not fun. But let me tell you....absolutely take the pain meds. I know they constipate everyone, but you have to take stool softeners AND Miralax twice a day to combat that. It works. When I take my pain meds, I take them with a glass of miralax, not bad at all. 2 stool softeners in the morning, 2 at night. Fiber, Fiber, Fiber. That way....the constipation will not be an issue after surgery. I am on my fifth day, and still taking meds every 4 - 6 hours, including an anti-inflammatory which helps a lot also. I wish you luck in your decision making and totally understand your concerns and being scared! I am hopeful that when I heal, I will not have to worry about fissures every again. Hugs to you.
Hello, sorry you're dealing with this...sounds familiar though. I just had a lateral sphincterectomy for 2 fissures 5 days ago for chronic fissures. Unfortunately, when these fissures become chronic and deep, they tend to need surgery to be fixed. I decided I didn't want to live with it anymore or for the rest of my life, and it sounds like you're at that place also. I found a good FEMALE rectal surgeon and had the surgery. The surgery was a piece of cake, you're totally out of it, and numb when they wheel you into recovery....it's when the numbness wears off that you realize, ouch!!!! Of course now, I am second guessing myself, as the pain after surgery is not fun. But let me tell you....absolutely take the pain meds. I know they constipate everyone, but you have to take stool softeners AND Miralax twice a day to combat that. It works. When I take my pain meds, I take them with a glass of miralax, not bad at all. 2 stool softeners in the morning, 2 at night. Fiber, Fiber, Fiber. That way....the constipation will not be an issue after surgery. I am on my fifth day, and still taking meds every 4 - 6 hours, including an anti-inflammatory which helps a lot also. I wish you luck in your decision making and totally understand your concerns and being scared! I am hopeful that when I heal, I will not have to worry about fissures every again. Hugs to you.
Ajy,
I sure hope you're feeling better now -- fissures are truly evil. I was able to get in for a colonoscopy today, and it was performed by a doctor of Osteopathic medicine. I was very impressed by this doctor (he is a general surgeon), and he gave my entire colon a clean bill of health EXCEPT for a huge, angry fissure in my anus (no surprise there). I have tried all of the conservative measures that I care to -- I feel that after almost three years of recurring fissures, I am ready to take it to the next level, surgery. This D.O. belongs to a group of surgeons here in southern Utah, and they have a very impressive record, and it is quite a prestigious group. This D.O said to come back on Tuesday for a visit with him to go over more of the details of what the colonoscope found, and to discuss the next steps that I might take. He said that if I opt for the surgery, he would gladly perform it the next day, Wednesday.
I really believe that an LIS will help me, but I am just a little nervous that the D.O. is not a colorectal surgeon. The nurse that helped prep me (the D.O. works in a large hospital, and he works with a LOT of nurses) said that the D.O. has performed numerous LIS surgeries and has an awesome track record.
We don't have any colorectal specialists in my area -- I would have to travel a couple of hundred miles to find the closest one. I guess what I would like advice on is this -- does it really matter if a surgeon is not a colorectal surgeon if he has performed plenty of successful LIS surgeries, and knows what he is doing? Has anyone who reads this had successful LIS surgery performed by a board certified general surgeon?
Last edited by mattmecham; 03-25-2011 at 08:17 PM.
Great question!!! First congrats on your colonoscopy, that's awesome. So now you just have to deal with another inconvenient surgery....which I'm sure you'll do, no problem. I would have the same question about a specialist other than a colorectal doctor doing this surgery, the same concerns you do. I would talk to him about his particularly and ask how many he has done....success rates....any issues with any that he has performed....all the questions you can think of. I would wonder where he got his colorectal training if he is an osteopath?! Hmmmmm. I guess after interviewing him, if I felt confident in him.....I would trust him. It's so odd that there aren't more colorectal doctors in your area!! Good luck, let me know what happens!!
It's a lot of people's experience, that if fissures keep semi-healing, then coming back, that they become chronic, and at that point the creams usual don't help to cure the problem. That is the point, after about a year, that I decided to have the LIS surgery with a board certified, experienced, colorectal doctor. I had 2 fissures, one deep. I am 2 weeks post surgery. The first week was painful, and you do have to take meds and fiber and stool softeners and basically take a week off work. Hopefully you'll heal enough in that time to resume your regular routine, but of course, each individual is different. The surgery is a very quick, outpatient surgery....they put me right out, I was numb down there in the recovery room and for a lot of the rest of the day. Then, as the numbness wore off I started to have pain. Keep on your meds/fiber...and take 20-30 minute baths after bm's. Only wipe with baby wipes. The baths help to clean the area, and help with pain, and muscle relaxation. Wish you well.
The Following User Says Thank You to ajy For This Useful Post: mattmecham (03-25-2011)
Re: Anal fissure removal and Botox injection surgery Agony Post OP
Yesterday had a fissurectomy and botox injections about a week after having a Thrombosis on my anus removed. I have had IBS for years and developed fissures, hemmroids and tags after that. I was in pain when the hemmroid turned into a Thrombosis and the pain got worse after the Thrombosis was removed, and now after the fissurectomy and botox treatment, I am in complete agony. It is now impossible to move my bowels and Percocet and Valuim only dull the pain , but if I try to move my bowels, it's like being tortured. I get thobbing, burning, stabbing pain that is unimaginable. Last night it was relentless for hours and hours, non stop rithing agony. I was rolled up in a ball, shaking and praying for God to please take me if I have to live like this. I was ready to call and ambulance to take me to the ER and pray for them knock me out or give me the Morphine drip until this heals so I could get out of pain and have a bowel movement without screaming bloody murder. I would not wish it on anyone, even my worst enemy. I am taking mineral oil and MOM. Nothing helps. I can't take this anymore! Last night was truly the most horrific pain I have ever had in my entire 51 years of life, and I have been through a lot of pain! I think I would rather give birth, that's a walk in the park compared to this! I don't think there is anything that can top this, except having your fingernails pulled off one by one. I don't like to take drugs that constipate, but I cannot stand this and I don't know what the hell to do! "They shoot horses don't they?" If anyone has any advice, it would be greatly appreciated. Please help!!!!
Re: Anal fissure removal and Botox injection surgery Agony Post OP
Definitely, call your doctor...I cannot imagine the pain you are describing! I have heard of a morphine pain pump being sent home with a patient to use for a few days post operative surgery. Maybe the ER wouldn't be a bad choice with the pain you're having. So sorry you're dealing with this.
Re: Anal fissure removal and Botox injection surgery Agony Post OP
I was there last week. Had internal gems removed just over a week ago. I did go to the ER because the percoset couldn't keep up. They gave me hydromorphone for four days. Hold on for day six. The pain begins to lessen at that point. Hopefully. It did for me and other. Also go to you tube and search anal stenosis. There is a video that talks about constipation. It goes into positions on how to defecate that really helps. You want to make the pressure as minimal as possible, constipated or not. First things first, go to your doc or ER. The stress, pain, and elevated blood pressure does not help at all. And remember to get plenty of soluble and insoluble fibers too. I also take magnesium supplements as it can help with my anal spasms as well as defecating.
Last edited by scaredguyinsac; 06-16-2011 at 03:48 PM.
Re: Anal fissure Blues.. 
Re: Anal fissure removal and Botox injection surgery Agony Post OP 
