Anal Fissure

[LisaMJ]

Hi Everyone,

I would appreciate any help with this. I had been constipated the last 2 weeks or so due to a medication I was on. I took some Senokot on Tuesday and when I had a bowel movement on Wednesday there was blood on my stool and on the toilet paper. I went to the doctor the same day and she told me I had an anal fissure. She prescribed Hydrocortisone suppositories. Also that day I drank some prune juice and it gave me the diarrhea which aggravted the fissure. I started a high fiber diet. I also started soaking in the tub four times per day. I had to stop using the suppositories because it was too painful to put them in. Ever since Thursday I have been having very bad pain. I cannot even sit up, I have to lay on my side. And I still have pain with that. The bleeding has stopped though. When I applied some cream I also noticed something is hanging from my anal region. I don't know if it's skin or a hemorrhoid, it looks like skin to me. Yesterday I started having itching and a buring feeling also. If anyone has ever had a fissure I would appreciate any feedback you could give me. How long does the pain take to subside? I haven't been able to work since I cannot sit up. How long does the fissure take to heal after the pain goes away? I'm not sure if I should give this more time or see my doctor again, since I started itching and burning & noticed that skin in my anal region. Which the doctor did not even mention to me. Any reply would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Samuelemouse]

I am not an expert on anal fissures although I had a bad case once. Whatever you do, don't go to extremes. For example, having prune juice is OK but increase the amounts gradually so that your system can adapt. Also you should take probiotics to get your system to the optimum level if you have had diarrhea. Avoid constipation if you can but avoid laxatives which only lead to more problems. My solution is to put rock melon through a blender and then add some wheat bran. Like I said, go easy on the amounts at first. Also keep up your fluids. You have to give your fissures time to heal while not aggravating them. I have found plain white rice very easy on the bowels. You can supplement that with the blended rock melon and wheat bran. And boiled potatoes are fine too I've found. Keep it simple if your system is having problems.

[Knewbie]

There is available a new medicine for fissures (I am on it now) which is 0.3% nifedipine. If your doctor is not familiar with the use of nifedipine for AFs refer him or her to November 2002 Diseases of the Colon & Rectum at page 1468 (95% cure rate with this medicine). Once an AF becomes chronic it is much more difficult to heal and then surgery becomes an option so you should do whatever you can to get it healed as soon as possible. Check out the analfissure group on yahoo and the anal fissure self help page at [url="http://***********.com/jack/af/#ModHistory"]http://***********.com/jack/af/#ModHistory[/url] for all the details on fissures. However, your symptoms don't sound like the typical symptoms of fissure. Fissures cause pain (and/or bleeding) during and/or after a BM. Also, the first of the many doctors I saw gave me hydrocortisone but I have since learned that is not a good cure and can be harmful in some cases. I suggest you go to a colon/rectal specialist.