Anal fissure and haemorrhoids - pretty much healed. Please read.

OK, when things work, I think it's important to share them because so many of us are suffering and it's hard to feel optimistic.

Quick recap of my story: 6 years, on and off haemorrhoid problem, bloated tummy, gas. Ugh. More recently (last three years) anal fissure. Painful, bleeding. Last year, those two problems, consistently, together. I legit have been in pain and also disgusted with the state of my anus. Need I mention how unattractive we all feel when this is going on.

OK! So. For the last month or so, the haemorrhoids have occasionally resurfaced and every now and then, so has the tearing (the fissure) but they have been SO much better and less of a problem. I am feeling like I've been given a whole new lease of life man. Below is what I've found to work for me.

1. Identify if you have a more serious condition like Crohn's. Simple blood test at the GP will determine this. Other than that though, GPs are useless at identifying what you may or may not be intolerant to.

2. Commit to working out, for yourself, what may be causing you problems. For me, it's anything with soya in it (I know this because my throat displays an itchy allergic reaction when I ingest soy and my haemorhoids are sure quick to react and swell up). Gross. In addition, be mindful of things like Soya Lecithin which is in basically everything.

Other things I've found, for sure, are: gluten, anything chilli sadly. 

3. If like me you've had both a fissure and problems with haemorrhoids, decide what you're going to focus on first. For my healing, I decided to focus on the fissure first. I figured I have to deal with the tear and therefore my stool before I could focus on the rest. 

4. Change your diet. I cannot stress enough how imperative it has been to change my diet and actually stick with it. It's been incredible. Luckily for me, I enjoy healthy food and really care about taking care of my body. What I've found to be effective is - no stodgy foods like rice or pasta. It's cool, because there's things like (in smaller quantities than you would with rice) bulgur wheat and quinoa. Reducing the amount of high-fibre food (despite what 'best practice advises) has actually been mega helpful because if your stool is massive and stodgy, your fissure is never going to heal. Gad dayumn, does it hurt. You know the drill. So cut those things out, as well as high quantities of meat (I'm cool with hardly any but I know it may be difficult for some), alcohol (dehydrates your poop and makes it hard i.e. pain).

5. Probiotics - get yourself some saurkraut or kimchi. Organic, water-filtered, in a packet, not jar. Trust me on the latter. Get yourself some probiotic supplements, eat yoghurt (Yeo Valley is the bomb) and Icelandic Skyr is also fantastic. Of course, if you have a dairy intolerance, call it according to your own body.

6. Aloe vera juice and Kombucha - Kombucha is in any health food store and in Waitrose too. Can also order it online. As for the aloe vera stuff -https://www.luckyvitamin.com/p-14993-george-s-aloe-100-aloe-vera-liquid-64-oz this stuff is good. They've removed any dirty taste. All of the things mentioned in points 5 and 6 have live bacteria that heals your gut. It's not psuedo science - it's real stuff that big pharma aren't fond of promoting. 

7. Hydrate - drink water, all the time. Get a Brita filter of Brita bottle because filtered water is obviously much better.

8. I've had to retrain how I go to the toilet. For years I've been straining assuming that's the norm. I honestly had no idea that the way you are actually designed and supposed to defecate is by just sitting there and letting it pass. So now, when I go to the toilet, I leave myself time to do it. I may give it a little push but not much more than that. If nothing happens, I get up and get on with my life. This will help will the haemorrhoids.

9. Eat early in the evening. I literally have my dinner at 18.30 latest. Overloading your poor gut when it's trying to rest at night isn't going to promote it's recovery and your poo cycle will be thrown out of whack.

10. If you go out on weekends for a drink or two (obviously high levels of booze aren't advisable), make sure you hydrate a lotttt after. Otherwise your next poop, particularly if you have a fissure going on, will feel like a dried-up razor blade.

11. SUDACREM! I have tried so many creams (and I honestly hate putting medicine that isn't herbal into myself) but all the effects have been short-term. Please be mindful, also, that these two problems are predominantly to do with your food intake and digestion and creams heal the symptoms and not the causes. But Sudacrem, although it says 'not for internal use' (but I was in such agony I tried everything and disregarded this advice) has healed my fissure. I repeat, it has healed my fissure. Yes it's a problem if my stool is hard but it is NOTHING like it was before.

12. Have baths with epsom salts/himalayan salts. Keeps the area clean, relaxes muscles plus chills you tf out. Leading onto my next point!

13. Believe that you will heal. A diagnosis is not a sentence. I knew that going in and now I'm walking around pain-free and feeling incredible because of my persistence and determination to heal my own problems. It's worked - I feel immeasurably happy. Believe. Do the things above, and whatever else you find useful, and do it well and consistently. No surgeries man, none of this forever going to the GP and not taking it into your own hands. Trust me - it can be done.

14. A last note on food - vegetables like broccoli, brussel sprouts and cauliflower are golden. Sweet potatoes are really good. Spinach and lettuce, cucumbers and carrots (might wanna boil these if they prove problematic for the hardness of your stool). These are all lovely, high-fibre and super healthy foods that firm up your stool but don't kill you when you have to pass it.

15. Sleep - if you struggle with sleep, make that a massive priority too. Nothing heals well when we don't have good sleep hygiene.

16. If you have anxiety issues (who doesn't aye?), work on those too. I've found yoga incredible for my focus levels and general wellbeing. In addition, if you are experiencing issues with your digestion etc, avoid strenuous exercise for a little bit because you're tensing up and propagating tearings/swellings etc. I've had to give up boxing for a while for this reason.

I hope this has helped. I've basically listed everything I can think of. If you need any further clarifications, holla.

Keep going, take charge. You got this. 

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