Re: Success in managing an anal fissure

Fissure Care

I’ve been suffering from an anal fissure for about 20 years. I wish I knew then what I know now. I could have avoided years of pain, but I didn’t know what to do. As it got worse, including hemorrhoids and unfathomable anal nerve pain, I had surgery. My pain went away for a while, but within a few weeks of surgery, the cut they made opened. It took about a year to heal and now I’m back at square one with a painful anal fissure that goes away until I have a hard bowel movement again. Then I have to start over from square one. I have found that it takes daily management to keep it from becoming too painful. I have also found that Panicura and other magic remedies don’t work. The reason is because when you have an anal fissure, and you are on the toilet screaming bloody murder during a bowel movement, you don’t have time to wait three months until something works. You need immediate relief. Here is how I get immediate relief through a daily pain and anal health maintenance program. This is from reading, experimenting, and input from my doctor.
When fissures are open and bleeding:
1. Eat 2 prunes with every meal. Eat 2 prunes at bedtime with water. Try to eat as much fiber as you can throughout the day. Fiber helps keeps stools soft and fluffy so that they are not hard and scraping your tender areas on their exit.
2. I find that Metamucil can be helpful, but it can also produce large stools that can be painful when the fissure is open and bleeding so if this happens to you, don’t use it. I try to avoid it when fissure is healing.
3. Take a stool softener at bed time every night no matter if it’s healing or healed. This has become a daily routine. It keeps my movements regular and soft.
4. Drink plenty of water throughout the day (6-8 glasses).
5. Take a good pre-biotic and pro-biotic.
6. Try not to sit too much during the day. Walk 20 minutes a day. It keeps everything moving as it should and it’s good for you anyway.
7. Sometimes sitting on ice packs can help with pain and inflamation.
8. Take sit baths when possible, morning and night and after bowel movement if possible. You can read about this anywhere you look for relief from fissures.
9. This is probably the second most important besides fiber: Keep the anal area clean. It cannot heal if you don’t keep it clean.
10. Purchase organic coconut oil. Coconut oil has natural healing properties. Apply to anus after cleaning after bowel movements and at bed time. It is soothing and can also help you pass stools more easily. I have read to avoid petroleum like Vaseline, but I have also found that using Prep. H multi-symptom gel in the anus before a movement helps protect my fissure and ease the movement of the stool upon exiting.
11. After a bowel movement, keep flushable wipes free of fragrance by you. Wipes with Aloe are nice. Use until the wipes show clean. If possible, shower and clean area so that anal fissure is always clean and apply some organic coconut oil to the area.
12. I have also read that tea tree oil is good for healing of hemorrhoids. I used one drop with my coconut oil application a few times and it burned a little….this is still under investigation. You can Google Tea Tree Oil and you will find some good information about it and decide if this is right for you.
13. For pain and itching, I find that Prep H green label with multi-symptom relief helps with the pain and itching.

These steps help me manage my anal fissure and the pain associated with it. I wish I had known this earlier and I could have better managed it. I have this under control now…I still have some bad days, but they are definitely not as bad as they were when I was NOT doing these things. Hard stools create too much pain so the more I manage keeping them soft the better. And healing quickly is important too so keeping it clean is important. Good luck.
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