Acupuncture for Anal Fissure

I thought I would write with my experience of having had an anal fissure and how I seem to have now overcome it, in the hope that this might be of interest to fellow sufferers and might at least give hope to those of you suffering the agony of a condition which literally took over my life - twice! I remember how desperately i looked for ideas on this forum and valued other people relating their experiences and successes.

I am in my late 40s and I first developed an anal fissure just under 2 years ago. I had been away on a very hectic business trip and had been suffering from a really heavy cold. These two factors made my diet unhealthier than usual, with irregular eating habits and limited intake of drinks and high fibre foods. One hard to pass stool which literally got stuck and I experienced that razor sharp glass-like pain and on-going agonising discomfort for hours afterwards, although sometimes the after pains didn't kick in for one to two hours after a BM.

I tried to perservere but 2 weeks later I resorted to a GP visit where I was given a cream containing a small amount of lidocaine to help with the pain and a laxative medicine called Lactulose. There was no pain relief from the cream but the laxative helped to make the BM fast and slippery and therefore more bearable. Ibuprofen gave me the best pain relief. After a couple of weeks the symptoms subsided but then there was a relapse and I was back to square one. This episode was generally \"cured\" though, after about a month. I felt on top of the world.

Unfortunately about one year later, I suffered a further heavy cold and was feeling generally under the weather when a bout of general sluggish digestion and mild constipation led to exactly the same condition returning. Straight to the GP that time as I knew things would not improve on their own, no matter how careful I was about my high fibre diet. This time I was given Rectogesic ointment which did nothing for the pain or discomfort although I hoped it was helping to heal the tear. I took ibuprofen and paracetamol regularly for the pain. Two tubes later ie 2 months of agony and I was at my wits end with no hope of a solution in sight. At this point I resolved that enough was enough. One bout which i seemed to have overcome was bad enough but I was not prepared to put up with the prospect of this recurring and I sought out alternative help, finally settling, after much on-line reasearch, on TCM - Traditional Chinese Medicine. This involved a weekly acupunture session with a practicioner who had studied for a 4 year degree in TCM at a UK university. A session lasted one hour and cost £35. Between sessions I take ceasy to swallow chinese herb pills (costing £7 per week). After 2 sessions I could go to the toilet without the agony and over the coming weeks I had only occasional but certainly diminishing discomfort during and after bowel movements. Within 4 weeks I felt 80% better.

6 months on I am pain free and have been for about 5 months now. I attend once every three weeks and the aim is to cut down to monthly or less frequent treatments as my body takes over the role of balancing itself and coping with normal life, eating habits and general ups and downs of health.

The treatment is not pleasant but not too uncomfortable and i feel completely different. Not unrelatedly, other health issues have also resolved themselves such as menopausal flushes, night time waking and fewer aches and pains. I no longer have dry, hard to pass stools and my haemorrhoids (with which I have suffered for at least 20 years) have been completely trouble free.

I can't explain or really understand what the treatment does and how it works but I suspect my anal fissure was a symptom of a more general imbalance. I was heartened, when I first told the practitioner of my problem, that she knew exactly how my problem presented itself and it was quite clear to her what deficiences or imblanaces i must therefore have.

I hope this gives you some food for thought. If you fancy giving it a go, do find a qualified, registered, experienced TCM practitioner not just someone who does a bit of acupunture along with other types of treatment. You need an expert in their field.

Good luck!

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