Fissure ruining my life, please help!!

Hello there I too have been suffering with a chronic fissure, I had Botox in January under general anaesthetic and had no pain afterwards and consequently had 3 months pain free however it ruptured again just 2 weeks ago and im in a very fortunate position to have gone private for a sphinctorectomy only yesterday ! it really wasn't too bad although I've not had a BM yet but I've taken plenty of softners in anticipation . My advice to you is get the surgery done .... Don't read too many horror stories on here ..it won't go of its own accord im sorry to say .... Good luck !!

Hi there I so sympathise with you it is the worst pain I have ever had and I've had 3 kids gall stones and broken bones so I know pain but this was the top of the list by far! I had the Botox last year after having months of terrible pain and using creams suppositories drinks and very strong painkillers I had gone to a very dark place being in pain most days of the week even prescription painkillers didn't touch it! the Botox was crap didn't touch it so I had the op having my bum muscle cut and honestly it was the best thing ever!!!!!!!! Apart from the initial pain with stitches the pain had gone! I know it's scary but it was worth it for me! The only side affects I have is I can't hold my farts in as much! But that is a small price to pay for the pain being gone!! Now 6months on I can safely say I'm still out of pain!!! 😊 Hang in there!!

Bree. I am so sorry to hear of your trouble with this.

I completely understand what you are going through. And I was EXACTLY the same. I have always been around 8st, active and relatively healthy in my diet yet for 10 years I have had haemorrhoids, skin tags which swell and become sore constantly and I had a fissure.

I had the fissure for 2 years and during that time I found the following helped for my problems:

- 250mg magnesium tablet twice a day

- vitamin e tablet once a day

- omega 369 tablet once a day

- zinc tablet once a day

- alot of water

- completely cut out red meat and pork

- cut down on dairy

- cut down alot of sugary, processed foods

- completely cut out white pasta and white bread

ALL of this done together helped alot but did not solve.

I got botox 4 months ago which has resolved my fissure. But I must stress that I did not use the stool softeners or fibre sachets they gave me. This is because I believe they make our stools far too large for our area to recover. If you drink enough water and eat enough fibre in your diet then there is no need for the stool softeners.

Always use wipes when your cleaning and how you go to the toilet is so so important. Despite the pain it is most important to relax. Let your tummy hang out, breathe deeply through your mouth and push your feet up on your toes so your bottom is angled into the toilet. Might all sound silly and very hard to do with the pain but it makes so much difference..for me it did anyway.

Avoid painkillers as much as you can as they constipate you and stay away from tomatoes and too much spice.

I have further surgery to remove my piles and external skin tags. I am dreading it of course but I need it done!

Hi Bree, we are all going through this pain together. I really don't want to have surgery either, but my advice is it can't be worse than the pain your in everyday with this thing. Life is way too short and to think there are people on this forum who have lived with this for years... I personally cannot do that. I have only had it for 3 months and can't take another day, so if surgery is what I need I'll get it. Just think there is something that can be done, can you imagine if surgery wasn't an option?? Good luck

Hi Bree,

I was once in your situation too. I had a chornic fissure, but decided to get the surgery and not the botox. As far as what you have read online on the surgery, most poeple who get the surgery and are successful do not come back to these blogs to express how lucky they are and that their surgery was successful. Most  move on to their everyday lives and don't think about their condition again. Reason to tell you this is because the ones that post about the surgery are usually the  ones for whom surgery has failed and so they come on here for advice. But for the most part, the surgery has a very low percentage of risk.

As far as the botox, I do not know exactly how it works, although I would guess that the botox lasts for a few months and then goes away. Meaning that maybe your incontinence problem will go away after the botox effects go away (not the side effects but the actual drug). 

That being said, I am attaching a post that I put on somebody else blog. In this post, I was recommending to the person to get the surgery, as well as other methods to try to try to ease your pain. I hope this helps you out and never give up. :

I would definately get it done, especially if you have dealt with it for a whole year. I had a chronic fissure and decided to have the surgery. It was the best decision of my life. I am not going to lie to you, it is a bit painful right after surgery but if you can endure the pain of a fissure, it is not that much different. I posted this before....this basicallly explains how i felt throughout the surgery and after.

So basically, this is how it went down with my surgery. I had to fast the day before the surgery because they had to put me under anesthesia. I went in, waited, and then they put me under and the surgery was done. I woke from the surgery with morphine in my system, although once I woke up it had worn off for the most part. They basically told me I could get another dose of morphine, which would basically knock me out again, or I could stay up and move to the other room to wait until I was ready to leave. So, i skipped the next dose of morphine and went to the other room. As I was laying on the bed, the pain bagan to set in. The next part may scare you a bit and discourage you, but getting through this part is just part of the process of gettting better. So when the pain started to settle in, the paiin almost flt worse then the fissure pain itself. I was not only dealing with the pain from the fissure, but from the incision and cuts that were done form the surgery itself. This being said, you have to take into consideratino that the surgery is cutting into your sphincter muscle, so pain will come, but this is with any surgery. Unfortunately, with this surgery, it is in a very sensitivie area so the pain will be a little more intense. Some things I did in the hospital to deal with the pain was put ice on my butt, I bit down on a washcloth to decrease the tension that I would put into my butt area and to transfer the tension to my jaw biting into the cloth. They did give me percoset, but honestly it didn't help me a bit. I still felt the pain until I was able to fall asleep. The lady next to me said that the percoset made her feel that the ceiling was the floor and the floor was the ceiling, so I guess it affects some people differently than others. I also will recommend listening to music right after or watching a movie to distract yourself from the pain. SO that was basically it from the hospital. I couldn't leave the hospital until I could pee though,  which was not easy since I had so many drugs in my system and could  not really push to hard as it was painful and I did not want to upset the area.

Eventually I peed and was able to leave. Then, I took some percoset that night and slept. The next day I felt no pain, as I did not poop at all, and as with before the surgery,  the pain  only comes when  you poop. 

So the day after that I had to go to the bathroom. The first time you go to the bathroom will be very painful, almost more painful than pooping with just the fissure because you are trying to poop through a fissure and a surgery, but that comes with  the territory. I will not hide that I felt like I was going to puke the pain was so bad WHILE pooping. I also recommend listening to music while pooping as this distracts the pain  and gives some motivation  not to be afraid. The reason on put emphasis on the WHILE is beause after the pain is very dull and nothing compared to the throbbing unimaginable  pain of an anal fissure. Within  the next two weeks, I progressively felt myself getting better, and by the 2nd week I went back to the doctor and he gave me the ok that I was all healed up.

I never had any incontinence, although the only thing I still have is that its a bit harder to hold in my farts sometimes, but that is it....As far as the gauze, I only changed it because I would leak sometimes..I ended up just buying adult diapers at the store and used those until I stopped leaking. 

As far as numbing injectino you asked about, the only  thing I was aware of was the anastesia I was on.

As far as food after surgery, I just kept to a well balanced diet. I take metamucil fiber supplement every day since, and I squat on the toilet all the time now. Make sure not to take too much fiber as this can irritate the area.

Hope this was enough information for you, and I really wish you the best of luck with  your surgery next week.....Noone should  have to go thorugh anything like this, but thank god we have means to take care of it with surgery....

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Also, this is another post i put that explains some things that you might want to try in addition to the surgery....

Here are some suggestions I have for you to help you through:

1. Try somee zinc oxide in the form of calmoseptine which has menthol to soothe the area down there as well. Calmoseptine can be bought at almost any local drugstore and can be bought online too.

2. Try squatting when going on the toilet instead of sitting. This is a much  helathier position and the poop sometimes will just slide out,  no pushing or straining involved.

3. I would definately take a fiber supplement, specifically metamucil  is what I take evveryday,  in ordr to allow your stools to be soft and to allow them to pass thorugh easily. THis being said, with any fiber supplemetn, you must drink lots of water when using them, or they will not work veffectively. Also, do not take too much as too much fiber can irritate your bowels on the way  out and diarreah actually does worse down there.

5. I would recommend getting a sphicteronomy surgery if htings dont get better. I waited it out, gave up, had the surgery, and was able to heal within about two weeks. I had a chronic fissure, so I knew where you are ocming from with v all the pain and discomfort.

Try listening to music to distract your mind a bit, especially when going to the bathroom. If you are in writing pain, distract yourself with a movie or TV show right after. Also, to prevent myself from screaming and from putting more stress in the area down  there, i bit down on a washcloth in order to make the tensions with my teeth instead of my sphicter muscle.

Good Luck!!!

Sincerely,

Myles