Anal fissures

I developed an Anal fistula shortly after starting to use my J-Pouch.

The level of pain was unbelievable. Usually peaking after a visit to the bathroom. Sometimes coming out of the bathroom with tears in my eyes. Felt like I was burning from the inside.

I still have the Anal fistula and the level of pain has dropped over time (from a "9" to a "3"). I learned to live with it.

There are ways of dealing with an Anal fistula, but they come with risk so I decided to stay with the devil you know. 

It takes time for the pain to "normalize". More then a year in my case. 

I have a fissure as well. The serious pain went away after resting for 3-4 weeks but it does cause irritation very commonly if I try to go jogging, do abs, and lift weights (or really any physical activity). I do my best to eat low residue foods (usually more processed foods) to avoid irritating it. 

i have been dealing wih several anal fissuers on and off for over two years.

 What helps me is mnimizing my stress, extra water, fibre to thicken stool to avoid consant diarrhea, lomotil to slow down output and frequency and exercise (sorry J moons).  Somehow spinning and cardio help me as I believe these exercises increase blood flow to the area. Also, very warm sitz bath soaks several times a day in the bath and prescription lidacaine numbing cream before bowel movements. You can also ask for a script for nidefipine cream which will increase blood flow to the anal area to help faster healing.  

Finally when I am in tortorous agony I use a heating pad strapped to my back end  (and often times in between my legs so it leans right on the affected area) when lying in bed over my underclothes. This really helps the pain as I know how debilitating fissures can be.   Hope this helps. 

Hello, jBear. After my reversal I had fissures that felt like razor blades coming out. Brought tears to my eyes. What helped heal the internal cuts was buying a sitz basin from Amazon (drugstores sell them too). For me, it was easier than filling the bathtub with hot water, even halfway, and sitting in it. It was more comfortable for me to place the little basin on the toilet and sit on it - because even climbing into the tub made the fissures very angry. The warm water (the hotter the better) will soothe and increase blood circulation to the area and heal it. My surgeon told me that the small perianal area can hurt like heck, but it heals very quickly with fissure cream and sitz tub. I hope you feel better. I remember that pain.

Some doctors are now using Botox.... yes BOTOX to treat anal fissures... the injections are given every 3 months until they go away. What Botox does is paralyze the muscles in the rectum so you don't strain. I have no idea if this treatment is covered. I don't have fissures but I do receive Botox for wrinkles and MIGRAINES and I haven't had a wrinkle or migraine in about 14 years. 

Good Luck! 

Janie

I've been getting anal fissure on and off for about 5 years. My jpouch surgery was over 13 years ago. I also have a strictured anus now that needs to be dilated from having so many fissures, but I can't get a dilation done because I had a rectal fistula that went from the left side of my anus through my left but cheek and a dilation risks opening it back up. My fissures tend to heal quickly because I use a perennial irrigation bottle to squirt warm water on my anus each time I use the bathroom, then dry lightly with toilet paper. I would recommend this for anyone with chronic fissures, or even if you have more than a few bowel movements every day. I used to wipe every time with toilet paper and halfway through the day my anus would be bleeding and hurt really bad. I'm scared to eat a lot of different foods these days because of the pain certain foods can cause me and I'm really skinny right now.

I had a fissure two years ago, it was absolute hell. The only thing that helped me in the end was a short course of Cipro. I absolutely hate cipro and it has caused me much grief in the rest of my body specifically my joints and tendons, but in that specific fissure hell scenario it really did help. 

Other things that helped me was warm water and papaya ointment.

I feel your pain I have an anal fissure that is very active right now after my take down surgery which was July 9th I had ulcerative colitis for 40 years have my j-pouch created in February of 2024 but I also had developed a n anal fissure 2011 the anal fissure came about from so many years with the colitis and I knew that it was going to give me problems after the takedown surgery but boy did I underestimate the problem excruciating pain I do the sitz bath I have the special ointment n i d e p h i n e prior to having had this surgery the anal fissure was mostly under control as long as I didn't eat nuts or high fiber foods I am certainly hoping that it soon gets back under control I also use the heating pad for relief as it brings more blood flow to the area which promotes healing absolutely worst pain I have experienced

@drone3 posted:

I had a fissure two years ago, it was absolute hell. The only thing that helped me in the end was a short course of Cipro. I absolutely hate cipro and it has caused me much grief in the rest of my body specifically my joints and tendons, but in that specific fissure hell scenario it really did help.

Other things that helped me was warm water and papaya ointment.

Papaya ointment!  Where did you get that?  What brand do you like?  What does it do?

Calmospetine really helped me. Before  used that, I felt like I was shitting broken glass