Hi- Please add the following to your fissure website. Feel free to include my e-mail address. THANK YOU! Wendy
Thank you for this very valuable website. I wanted to share my experience in the hopes that it might help pregnant/nursing moms like myself. I had horrid hemorrhoids and a VERY painful fissure after the birth of my second child. I tried Colace, Tucks, fiber, lots of water and all the rest but I couldn't seem to get the constipation and pain under control. I finally found a surgeon who recommended Botox for the fissure and removal of a few external hemorrhoids. He said he usually doesn't like the procedure of cutting the anal muscle of women since women have less muscle there than men so are more likely experience incontinence later in life. He also made the Botox option sound easy-discomfort for 3-5 days following the surgery but nothing like the pain I was experiencing. Desperate for relief, I scheduled surgery for the next week.
Recovery from the surgery was NOT pleasant and, ultimately, the surgery did not help. I had IV sedation and local anesthesia (no problem with nursing), then Percaset (sp?) for pain relief, and directions to take mineral oil 2 X's a day. I was VERY constipated for a few days following the surgery due to the meds, and I had excruciatingly painful muscle spasms on the opposite side of the botoxed area. While the Botox helped one side, my body seemed to compensate by moving the tension to the other side and creating a new fissure. Into the second week after surgery, I would spend 5 hours or so after a movement in intense pain from both the movement and the spasms (Thank God the grandparents helped with the kids!). It took me 4+ days before I was able to combat the constipation and 9 days before I was able to leave the house shortly after a movement. Six weeks after the surgery, I still had pain following a movement, but got a handle on the constipation and the muscle spasms somewhat. At my 6 week follow-up appt., the dr. noted that I had yet ANOTHER fissure and recommended surgery to cut the muscle.
Fortunately, I didn't jump into surgery again. I found another doctor who recommended NIFEDIPINE ointment which worked and, according to my OB, is safe for pregnant and nursing moms. Three times a day I would do a warm sitz bath to relax the muscle and then insert the ointment. After a few weeks I felt much better and now, 3 months later, I feel I can FINALLY say I've healed.
Here are my recommendations for nursing moms:
While I think my fissure came about from hormones and not drinking enough water, I don't feel as if I did enough to combat the constipation early on. I thought that even taking Colace would affect nursing. I probably could have avoided a lot of pain if I had been even more aggressive early on in treating myself. If any suffering moms out there need more information, please feel free to contact me at wlabronrcn.com.