Fissures

[AJC - Australia]

I have recently beaten an anal fissure and thought I would share with the community some things that helped.
Anyone who has had a fissure + crohns disease will be aware of how lifechanging they are. Every time you go to do a poo it hurts (a lot) because your anus basically has a tear in it...they are caused basically from having too many loose stools over a long period of time, which weakens the bowel wall near your anus...then you do a reasonably healthy poo and it tears the thing. People without crohns get fissures as well from doing giant big healthy one that is so big it cannot get through....not usually a problem for crohns sufferers who do runny loose ones all the time.
ANYWAY....i got diagnosed by seeing a GP and asking him 'can you tell me if its a hemaroid or a fissure'.....he took one look at it and said 'its a fissure' then continued 'i wonder how you will get that to heal'? then started a 2 year adventure of pain and discovery.
The best thing for anal fissures is to do healthy poos. If you can somehow get your poos to not be loose, this helps the fissure heal.
If that is not achiveable, do keep working on it....eat plenty of fibre, beans, cabbage, salad, apples etc...maybe take a fibre supplement.
You will naturally want to take plenty of baths and yes it will probably get to a point where you need to bath your anus after every motion......epsom salts do help clean the area.
As soon as you are aware you have one, get some 'recotgesic wipes'....like baby wipes, but with rectogesic medication on them...these things i swear helped me more than anything else. I had started using baby wipes instead of toilet paper because the wipes feel nicer and keep the fissure clean. The rectogesic, there are other names for it, analgesic...it comes in a cream and that cream helps the anus muscle to relax and not spasm after a poo. The anus is in pain after poo and spasms with a fissure, making the fissure even harder to heal.
So, between taking fibre and using rectogesic wipes i think this helps a fissure a lot.
Yes, i tried about 100 other weird potions and things along the way and 99% of them are disgusting to even think about doing to yourself....but i do think slippery elm powder mixed with warm water and inserted via a syringe into the anus did help. Your dignity is already gone and if you still have dignity and havent had 100 cameras shoved up you and pieces lopped off, then oh yes putting things up your bum is oh so terrible isnt it.

The anus is a very clever piece of the human body and having a happy working one is a blessing.

 

[Cookie]

Thanks for the post. I am battling this problem right now. Will definitely try the wipes. Did you have a lot of drainage (mucous, stool and blood) with your fissure? My doc says it is a fissure, but I am worried because the amount of drainage I get during the day is pretty hefty.

 

[AJC - Australia]

i couldnt say i had any more mucous and blood than normal 'Cookie'....i can say that every time i went to the loo was very very painful though and today i have no pain and am one very happy boy.

 

[MikeinBklyn]

Keeping the anus clean is paramount. Sitz baths after a BM is essential. Having a bidet or bidet seat is a blessing.

Good Luck

 

[Samboi]

I'm on board with you Mike.
Bidet toilet seat is must for anybody that gets perianal disease.
I was also surprised to discover how effective rectogesic was too.
Well worth the thumping headache it gives you.

 

[AJC - Australia]

amazing how quickly you get a headache if you apply rectogesic cream to your anus. It is like what 2 minutes and you can feel a headache coming on!

I used the wipes, like baby wipes. I didnt get a headache from them at all. rectogesic wipes, keen the bum clean but also enable the sphincter muscles to relax after a bowel motion and aid the fissure to heal.

horrible stuff those fissues.
HORRIBLE!!!!!

 

[Marielle]

I was diagnosed with Crohn's almost a month ago. Before my GI follow up I was on medication for what my doctor thought was an infection in the left bowel and the meds made me throw up. Since then the sharp pains started when I went to the bathroom. my GI started me on Pantasa until my blood results came in and i did the other enjoyable tests.... After a few days when I went to the bathroom and it felt like I was being cut and it burned, I thought it was the Pantasa and making me constipated. So after a few weeks I made an appointment with him and he put me on steroids and told me I had a fissure and its probably been there for a while( so nice of him to finally tell me) So im supposed to use a cream 2x a day for 14 days then another cream for a month and that it will take a while to heal..... yay

the pain is better but I actually feel like its getting bigger ( if possible) or just no progress yet. Ive been using the baby wipes but I feel like every time I use the cream then it starts to itch ( how pleasant) and feels a bit irritated.

any suggestions and how long does it realistically take to heal?

thanks

 

[AJC - Australia]

sorry to hear that marielle.....they are horrible things. You wont want to hear this, but mine took about 12 months to get rid of. I tried everything...the thing is, it is very hard for them to heal because the anus is being used everyday to do a poo, or ten (if you have crohns).....it would have helped if they got onto it a bit earlier, but i think once it has split it has split....it is like when you get a crack in your mouth on the side, except with the mouth you dont have to squeeze etc a poo everyday....

at least you know what you have...that is a start.

if you have a bath, you need to bath after every poo.
suggest leaving water in bath...
with epsom salts to help clean.

baby wipes are one thing, but i would suggest rectogesic wipes, they have a medication in them especially designed to heal fissures.

oh god they are do painful!
you poor thing.

i got hooked on painkillers from having a fissure.
i would suggest codeine and paracetamol or whatever your can stomach.
the pain can take over your whole day/life.

the best thing for a fissure is healthy poo. if you can somehow make your poo bulk up and be healthy, it will speed up recovery....what has happened is that you have had consistent D for weeks or months or years....the D weakend the bowel wall near the anus, it gets brittle and weak from all that D....imagine your hand has been in a bath for 4 hours and is all wrinkled and prune like...the hand is stronger and can handle stress better when dry....so your bowel wall near anus has been bombarded with D....then you miraculously did a reasonbly health poo and it ripped the brittle bowel wall near your anus.

now, if you do runny poos not only will it sting and hurt, but it wont help the healing.

rectogesic will...and so will healthy poos. so try and eat (assuming you dont have a stricture or a history of bowel obstructions) try and eat fibre to bind up your poo......cabbage, apples, salad, psyillium etc...and try and do healthy poos.

If you keep the anus clean with rectogesic wipes and do healthy poos for a week, it will go away. but that is very hard when you have active crohns disease....

there is an option to rest the anus by putting in a temporary bag, but you dont want to think about that you poor thing, newly diagnosed....

you got to get well, get on some drugs that slow the disease down this will help you do healthy poos. . . i would also suggest finding out if the fissure is a 'garden variety' fissure or a fully blown crohns fissure.....you doctor needs to look inside your bum to determine....horrible isnt it.

i would also suggest working out the extent of the disease...have a look at your blood test results and inflammatory markers and write it all down, what the numbers are....then in a month get another blood test and see if they are improving....if not, then change medication....the sooner you can get it under control the more likely you are to succeed.

happy to help.....good luck....and remember, you can and will get better and this is just a hurdle on the path of your life.

 

[Marielle]

Thanks for the suggestions! I had a few laughs and learned a bunch! Ive had issues for at least 5 years before being diagnosed so there was bound to be more issues involved. Hopefully this ****** situation heals soon orrrr more people will have to hear about it ha! and my poor doctor will have to do another check....with the receptionist in the room. woo audience.


Marielle

 

[igrik1986]

I would like just to remind that fissure/ulcer or non healing wounds in this area might appear to anyone, even without Crohns, and to heal this place is extremely difficult. The gold standard is LIS surgery, however if fissure is due to Crohns there should be different approach selecting healing. I was suspecting my problems as Crohns, but not sure how can I confirm if I have the one.

 

[AJC - Australia]

anyone can get an anal fissure.

 

[Lisaj]

I gave up on all of that. I went in for fissure surgery today. There was a lot of other things that needed to be removed. I waited about two years too. It actually healed and then I got the squirts for ten days and it opened back up. But other people just stuck to some creams from the doc and did the baths and it healed for them...

 

[AJC - Australia]

sorry to hear that Lisa.
especially after taking the big leap to have the surgery.
I was VERY lucky that i wasnt 'squirting'.
I think anyone with long term squirts will get a fissure…..and they are HORRIBLE.
How are you going with your diet to try and minimise the quirts?

 

[Lisaj]

Sorry I don't know how that posted. CTD= the new one zegerid... is not making friends with my intestines right now.

I swear it's constant.... :ybatty:

 

[hollistic_Joe]

I was diagnosed with an anal fissure before I was diagnosed with crohns proctitis last year and now I'm in remission BUT for the occasional I would say every two weeks bm with either very light almost unnoticeable blood streaked on one side of the stool or similar on the Toilet paper. This is with no other symptoms, I think in these instances I am straining but I am not sure. Two questions, can an anal fissure develop into proctitis if not treated properly? Second question, could I be back to a fissure in those instances or is it a hemmroid? Or perhaps the disease showing some activity but otherwise symptom free? what do all of you think?

 

[AJC - Australia]

hopefully not the disease…
are you wiping with baby wipes & or rectogesic wipes?
keeping it clean is number one priority.
fissure pain is sharp, like someone sticking a knife into you……hemaroid pain is more a pain with pressure….fissure is more like a stinging open wound…
the best thing for a fissure is to do healthy poos.
good luck man

 

[hollistic_Joe]

Thank you, from your description it sounds like a fissure and No, I am not using any of those wipes, I will definitely get some of those today. Any specific brand better than others?

 

[AJC - Australia]

rectogesic wipes are the best that i found…..

 

[hollistic_Joe]

I went to the pharmacy yesterday and they looked at me like I was nuts when I asked them about these, I have found them online and will get them from there. Also I definitely after your interpretation of what the difference is between hemorrhoids or fissures or disease must say it is most likely a fissure, feels like a stinging tattoo like sensation only after bm but not before and gas doesn't give the same the feeling.

Thanks you happy poo poo for the help!!! I will use your advice wisely!!

 

[AJC - Australia]

good luck amigo - the best thing to fix a fissue is big fluffy healthy poo's…..i know, almost impossible to do - you know that feeling when you could each a beach towel and it comes out as a runny one, - yep been there. good luck getting the fissure fixed, it took me over a year to fix mine, but i avoided surgery so that was good.