faf6.arc.nasa.gov
Date: Fri, 5 Nov 2004 14:50:01 -0800
Hello, I wanted to share my story of how my fissure was healed...
I got a fissure from being constipated by morphine after a C-section in 2009. I have had the fissure since then, so for 2.5 years. Long story short, after my GP gave me steroid suppositories and they didn't work, I was afraid to get surgery so I lived with the pain. Not until a recent exam did I tell her I still had it. She referred me to the hospital surgery department. The doc there studied under a colon specialist and gave me Niphedipine (sp?) compounded with Lidocane in an ointment form. I had to apply it to the perianal area 3 times a day. Of course, I didnt follow the rules but within three days, the fissure had closed up and I havent had pain since. The skin tags are disappearing and I hope that it will all be a far memory soon! The Niphedipine relaxed the anus muscle enough to allow blood flow to the area so it could heal. She said it would not go systemic like Nitroglycerin would. I am a new woman!!
Hi I had chronic fissures for 7 years I have been totally free of them now for 2 years, I believe what causes AF is the anal sphincter is permanently contracted to some degree the more it is contracted the worse they get, the hard part is to find out the root cause of this happening then it will heal. The root cause of mine was a high calcium/magnesium ratio calcium way to high, I did a hair mineral test which confirmed this. The dr that performed the test said with this ratio you are most likely having muscular contraction problems like cramping and even permanently contracted muscles, he prescribed magnesium supplements and to stop all dairy intake.
Suddenly the realization hit me that the calcium was causing the sphincter muscle to stay permanently contracted without enough magnesium it could not relax. So I started taking magnesium [amino acid chelate easily absorbed] at the amount the fda recommend 350 mg a day, four three weeks nothing happened. Then I read up and realized I could take much than 350 mg a day so I increased it to 600 mg I started to notice little bit of difference after a few days, so I up it to 1000 mg that when things started really change. I then also started using magnesium oil rubbing it all over my body every day it is absorbed transdermally through the skin, it is by far the best way to get magnesium in. Everything was changing sore muscles and joints and cramping around my body began to stop. I could feel the sphincter muscle starting to relax more and soften up. The tearing stopped happening. I continued these doses for months the sphincter muscle improved all the time. After four months, I knew I had fixed the problem as the sphincter was really soft pliable and relax as well as the rest of my body.
I then got keen to research and understand diet I was vegetarian with high dairy intake. I changed to no dairy low carbohydrate high protein, fat diet, that is the best this I ever did always high energy all day every day. I don't really want to get into the diet side of it in case it offends people.
It has been 2 years now and I have no hint of fissures at all. Doctors did not help me with any of this they made me heaps worse. The only doctor that helped me was the man who did the hair mineral analysis. So it is my hypothesis that a high calcium low fat low protein high carb diet that caused my anal fissures.
I hope this helps anyone ask me a question if you like.
Interesting post. I tried to ask the guy if he still uses the magnesium and if he was still anal fissure free, but his email bounced. Jack
Hello,
Thank you for your wonderful website. Here is my story, please keep it anonymous.
I developed an anal fissure in childbirth. It got really bad, and I tried nearly everything on this site to improve it. At the end of the day, two things really helped me to heal:
I also drank a ton of water and tried to eat a much healthier, more natural diet, and I know this also helped. But I could not have fully healed without the squatting and Sha-lem. Good luck to everyone else suffering. I hope you all heal soon!
Hi, I just wanted to let you know what worked for my fissures, hopefully it may help others! I had surgery for haemhhroids as my Doc thought that was the source of my itching! Much to my dissapointment two days post the painful surgery the itching was more intense than ever before!! I was truly going out of my mind! I assumed that it was all part of the healing process, until my Doc told me about anal fissures! After nearly a week in hospital, I came home and conducted some research...I found a site that discussed the natural healing properties of organic wheatgrass! There were many sucessful testimonies, so I gave it a shot! Well so far it has only been a week, however after just two days the itching halved and just yesterday my BM did not hurt at all!!! In addition to the wheatgrass cream I have been taking a powder form of organic green barley. It is difficult to take but I was desperate!! I didn't want to use steroid creams that were prescribed, and while they may be a little slower the natural remedies do work well. I am so grateful to no longer be itching out of my mind. Last night I slept through the night-the first time in months!! My Doc told me I mustn't scratch, just put it out of my mind, sorry impossible!! However now I still have a little itching from time to time and I can actually refrain from scratching! Before the itch was so intense I would literally bleed after scratching! Please pass this on as it may help someone who wants to try the natural way! I was scepticl but it does work and boy I am sooooo grateful to be on the road to healing these fissures!
Sincerely,
Hi Jack,
Your page was very useful for me. I would like to contribute my experience in the hope that someone may benefit.
My problem started while using antibiotics. I tried various things on this site (mineral oil, kondremul, etc). They worked somewhat, but not fully. Finally I found what worked for me: 2 cups of warm water.
I always have my daily BM in the morning. I found drinking 2 full cups of warm water about 1 hour before the BM really softens the stool better than anything else. Have been doing this for last 8 days with no problems. Rememeber to wait an hour or more for the water to reach the bowels.
I drink the water first thing in the morning on empty stomach. Don't know if this technique will work in the middle of the day.
Here's something interesting. If I drink a glass of water in the middle of the day, I have to hit the loo for a pee in about 10-15 minutes. But water drunk first thing in the morning takes a looong time to reach the bladder (more than an hour). It seems to be absorbed less by the urinary system and more used to wash out the colon.
Good luck! Fellow sufferer.
I have an acute anal fissur problem-for a period of some eight years-been to specialist who wanted to operate or try nitro cream first. I have resisted both suggestions and have suffered greatly these past few years with pain and bleeding. About 6 months ago my brilliant chinese acupuncturist suggested that I buy linseeds and soak two tablespoons of them in hot water for half an hour or longer so that they become mucousy and slippery and then drink the mixture. I add a teaspoon of honey to make them more palatable. You should have this twice a day if possible. However, you must be sure to drink a great deal of water during the day otherwise you may get blocked up and the fissure may suffer. Although you lose the nutritional benefit of ground linseeds ( omega 3 and 6) your bowel movements become smooth and surrounded by mucousy seeds and they just slip past the fissure giving it a chance to heal. You must have the seeds every single day. Although I know that the fissure is not yet fully healed, my constant pain and bleeding have ceased and I feel a thousand times better. I have also adjusted my diet by cutting out bread and cake and biscuits etc and have started to eat spelt crackers which you can buy in any supermarket. I have also installed in my bathroom a special douche spray which I use after a bowel movement. The powerful spray when aimed carefully helps clean the area and massages it at the same time. I hope this information is of help to you. It has certainly saved me from the threat of surgery and the risks attached to it.
I am going through messages that people sent me over the last week and two different people suggested including magnesium with calcium to help with soft stools.
Jack
I had a chronic recurring fissure for several months. I tried so many remedies, but after reading the many postings here I devised a method incorporating several things which I will list for you. I started a little over two weeks ago and the severe pains gradually got better over the course of the first 7 or so days. The next 3 or 4 days were not too bad. And for the past 5 or 6 days I almost feel normal again. I am indebted to share what worked for me.
Hi,
I just wanted to express a accidental cure I came across for my fissure. In November of 2005 I discovered my now ex-boyfriend gave me genital herpes. Anyhow when the doctor gave me Acyclovir and I noticed how it helped my fissure. I have been pain & blood free for over a year and a half now! Any time my fissure acts up, I just take a few of those and it heals right up.
Best Regards,
Hi!
Just wanted to say I like your page... I've had a fissure for a few months now, but I adjusted my lifestyle a lot, and now I'm at the point where I don't feel any pain at all and haven't for a good month or so. The fissure is still there, but hopefully it will disappear completely soon unless I have a setback!
These are the things I've done that I've found to be the most helpful:
Thanks for setting up the page, it has helped me a lot!
Regards
I'm a 57-year-old male. About a year and a half ago I developed an anal fissure when an unusually hard and large stool, which was difficult to pass, caused a tear just inside the opening. The medical doctor I saw about it was worse than useless, as he used a scope that tore the fissure further each time, and he had no treatment suggestions other than using stool softeners, which didn't work for me. The pain was terrible at times, and nothing seemed to work. After many months of suffering, I happened upon this website. I went through the firsthand accounts and chose those I thought were most promising. Based on what I read in the accounts, surgery was out of the question, so I concentrated on alternative treatments.
Because I wasn't sure what would work and what wouldn't and was desperate to end the pain as soon as possible, I ended up combining the following treatments that had been successful for others, in the hopes that at least some of them would work for me: gotu kola capsules to promote healing (2 in the morning and 2 at night, wheatgrass tablets to promote healing (7 in the morning and 7 at night), wheat germ oil (used externally on the fissure) to promote healing, pecans (eaten; one handful twice a day) to promote healing, eating a whole lemon before bed as a stool softener, taking a tablespoon of flaxseed oil in the morning and at night as a stool softener, eating a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast as a stool softener, and drinking lots of water (several liters a day).
To my delight and amazement, within 2 weeks my fissure, which had been bothering me for a year, was much better, and within another week it was 90% healed. Bowel movements were no longer painful, the bleeding had stopped, and all I had was some occasional mild and transient irritation.
In the several months since then, I've refined my regimen down to those elements that seem to really be essential, eliminating those that don't seem necessary. I eliminated the lemon, which was wearing away my tooth enamel, and substituted olive oil for flaxseed oil, which was doing bad things to my prostate. I also eliminated the daily oatmeal, as my stool has been soft enough with the other measures, and I also stopped the gotu kola and the pecans. Now all I do is drink plenty of water, squeeze the contents of a wheat germ oil capsule into the rectum after each shower or bowel movement (extremely important!), take a tablespoon of olive oil in the morning and at night as a stool softener, and take 7 wheatgrass tablets twice a day (I'm not sure whether this is necessary but suspect it promotes healing). My fissure now seems 95% healed (i.e., virtually unnoticeable) and continuing to improve.
Jack,
As for many readers, I have been reading your updates for years now. Thank you for your excellent site. Like many others, I have been experiencing fissures for several years. I am active and pretty healthy, but a combination of stress, lake of water, coffee and other bad habits led to a fissure in my early 30's. Just wanted to share what worked for me. I tried many of the remedies, but here is my winning formula:
I used some Kondremul and Miralax before, which worked fine. Just was worried about using Kondremul for a long period, and Miralax had to go through prescription. Key item is the Magnesium. I only use stool softner rarely when I travel (difficult sometime to drink or eat properly). It has been close to 2 years now with the Magnesium, still doing fine. Cost is also very low. I can feel it, relaxing my muscles and help my energy level.
Hope this can help somebody else
At the height of my problem I was in screaming pain. As I was driving to work I was beside myself and did not know what to do. On a whim I stopped by Big 5 Sporting Goods and bought a set of raquet balls. I don't know what prompted me but I was in such pain from the internal anal pressure that I figured if I put external pressure it might help, like accupressure. It did. I have since purchased additional balls. I keep one at home, work, and in each car. It doesn't heal the AF but it does help diminish the immediate pain. Hope this helps.
For some years I suffered intermittently from anal fissures, building up to 2003 when I got a chronic fissure which would not heal. I was prescribed nitro-glycerine ointment, which did not work, and then a lateral sphincterotomy operation was performed. This still made no difference, so the specialist performed a second sphincterotomy. This improved matters and made life much more bearable, but bowel movements were still difficult and often painful.
In 2005 I went on a skiing holiday, and matters improved dramatically. Within 3 days bowel movements were completely normal and pain free. We were in Austria, and the food was pretty well the opposite of that recommended - rich, high in fat and low in fibre, with lots of beer, schnapps and wine (well, I was on holiday!!) The only thing that I was doing differently was that after each days skiing I was using the health spa, particularly a 20 to 30 minute session in the sauna. My understanding of anal fissures is that the sphincter muscle goes into spasm and restricts the anal passage. A hot sauna is a great way of relaxing muscles. Could it be that it works on the sphincter muscle? We now have a FIR (far-infra-red) sauna at home and the problem has not reoccurred. (as at December 2006) You can research the benefits of FIR saunas on the net - the ambient temperatures are much lower than conventional saunas, but the heat penetrates body tissue more effectively. Maybe there are anal fissure sufferers in Scandinavia who sauna often and will dismiss this idea. But if you have never tried it, well it doesn't involve drugs, surgery or a special diet - what have you got to lose?
I suffered from what turned out to be a fissure for appx. a year and a half. It began as a slight discomfort and only gave me minor problems for the first 6 - 8 months. But it took a turn for the worse and I suffered from extreme pain when using the restroom for quite a long time. I finally approached my doctor and he checked me out. He explained what fissures were, as I had never heard of it. He put me on a 8 day hydrocortisone acetate suppository regimine. It was temporarily effective, but my fissure never fully healed. I did extensive research after this, and using this site, I was able to put together a more disciplined regimine that fully healed my fissure.
I went back in for another check up, got a second hydrocortisone acetate suppository perscription (25mg), and also asked to be given the nitroglycerin 2%. I strongly suggest that you just ask for the 2%. If the doctor isn't 'in the know' about the .2% studies, he'll have a hard time figuring out how to write the perscription for the pharmacy. Get the 2% tube, since .2% isn't actually available for perscription. The 2% must be compounded with white jelly at a 10:1 ratio. You can easily do this yourself. You'll need the white jelly (Vasiline) anyways to aid with the suppository. This was my regimine: Begin by getting the hydrocortisone acetate suppositories from your doctor, along with the nitroglycerine 2%. Begin taking a fiber supplement, along with a vitamin supplement. Twice a day you will need to take a vegetable laxative. It is very important to keep your stool soft.
All it takes is one hard stool to re-tear your fissure, and you'll be back to square one. One of the problems I encountered was I began getting diarrhea. I suspected that the large amount of dairy that I consumed along with my new supplement regimine was the cause, so I completely cut dairy out of my diet for a week, then slowly began working it back into the diet. It took some will, but I did not consume any for a week and it stopped the diarrhea. Each day, twice a day, I would begin by putting a light amount of Vasiline around the rectum, inserting a little with a clean finger tip. Then I would take the suppository and put a good coat of the Vasiline on it. On the end of the suppository I would place the dab of Nitroglycerine. Then I would carefully insert it, making sure the Nitro didn't rub off of the end of the suppository before it was inserted. I was very strict with the regimine, and often did this after showers. The warm water would dialate the blood vessels around the rectum making it easier and less painful to insert the suppository.
This regimine healed my fissure that I had been suffering from for so long. My doctor had feared that I would need further medical treatment, but this little experiment worked wonders for me. I hope your readers find this helpful. The treatment was cheap (appx. 50$ for all the perscriptions) and has given me lasting relief.
Magnesium and sitz baths were the savior for me. After two years including a surgery that gave me relief for only 34 months, I was able to get my stool soft enough with magnesium plus OTC stool softener. It is all about the magnesium. I still take it!
Thank you so much for this web page. I found it over a year ago while searching desperately for help in healing my anal fissure.
I now want to tell others what has worked for me. I'll try to make my story short. I had an anal fissure for about 3 years. It was located where I could see it when squatting over a mirror. I tried almost everything suggested on your website plus some others. Sometimes the fissure would heal up, but it wouldn't take much for it to open up again. The nitro seemed to heal it up pretty quickly, but I couldn't stand the headaches.
February of this year, 2006, I tried Nifedipine 2% Ointment, which was prescribed by a doctor and compounded by a pharmacist. It worked! In just a week or two the fissure was just a little white scar. I kept using the medicine twice a day for about 3 months, also continuing to take stool softeners, trying to eat properly, and drink plenty of water. It is now August and I'm doing great!
Now a word about constipation and BMs. I'm 47 years old, and I've had trouble with BMs as long as I can remember. I was concerned about taking the stool softeners so much, and truly all the fiber, water, stool softeners, etc., didn't really help me that much. I would take enemas to help - just a little warm water to help me get started. I was also concerned about taking enemas so often, so I went to the web. 99% of what I found about taking enemas, even daily, was positive. So now I don't worry about it anymore. I still try to eat and drink right, but I don't take the stool softeners anymore; maybe just occasionally. I take a plain warm water enema almost every day, and I've never been happier about my BMs situation. It's a great feeling to be able to go every day without a fight. My suggestion is not to use the prepackaged enemas, but to get an enema bag and just use some warm water; purified would be best.
I thought that most of people who experienced anal fissure might benefit from my experience. I have tried everything for almost a month and my two cracks on the skin were getting bigger and bigger. It was almost impossible to focus on anything else while @ work or in the company gathered for a dinner or lunch as I could not sit down without a pain. Than I have decided to try with the old "universal" remedy that my mother taught me when I was a kid. It will cost you less than $1.00 and my problems were gone in a week! Hydrogen Peroxide and Q-Tips! That's it! Every time you wash yourself or after bowel, on a dry skin apply with a Q-Tip 3% Hydrogen Peroxide for at least a week. For a couple of days you would probably experience unpleasant sensation but the pain and itchiness will disappear almost instantly. In few days after the first time you started with this treatment, you will notice that skin crack becomes smaller and smaller and finally closes completely as it heals. I just wanted to share my experience with all folks who battling with this really unpleasant and long lasting discomfort. Hopefully for all of you who try this remedy will be successful as it was for me.
Thank you
Please don't print my email address, but here's my story:
I developed a fissure after the birth of my daughter. I was severely constipated after the birth and I didn't have a bowel movement for almost a week. when I did, I tore. I tried everything- conventional healing (sitz baths, stool softeners, tons of water, metamucil), nifedipine, nitroglycerin. nothing helped. I would heal for a while, and then relapse. this went on for 11 months.
You will never believe what healed me. As a breastfeeding mother, I didn't think I would get pregnant right away, nor did I think I could deal with another pregnancy full of constipation and anal fissure agony. Well, when my daughter was 11 months old, I found out I was pregnant. I knew the prenatals would constipate me, but I also knew they were essential to the health of my growing fetus, so I started taking them. Within one week of taking them, my fissure was healed. My bowel movements were larger and harder due to the iron in the pills, but something in them (probably vitamin e?) healed the fissure that I was ready to schedule surgery for. I still take metamucil morning and night and still drink 8-10 glasses of water a day, but I have cut out the stool softeners and it is so nice to not have to worry about going to the bathroom. I wish I could tell you which vitamin in the prenatals healed me, but I have no idea.
Thanks very much for these pages - I found them most informative and encouraging during nearly a year of considerable discomfort. I then discovered that all the various ointments that my doctor had conscientiously been prescribing during that time contained zinc oxide, to which I am slightly allergic. I don't have a serious allergy - I can wear an Elastoplast for several days before getting a rash - but putting zinc oxide onto such a sensitive area was obviously the reason why the painful inflammation persisted for so long. As soon as I used nothing but Vaseline ( to stop the area getting dry and tearing again) and Savlon (which helped it heal), things straightaway began to get better. I thought it worth writing to you in case other people might also have an allergy to zinc oxide that they did not realise. I would also like to recommend a daily glass of orange juice and bunch of grapes for keeping the bowels open; plenty of fruit and fruit juice each day is much easier and pleasanter than getting things from the chemist.
An unforeseen benefit of having the fissure is that one of the creams that I was prescribed to improve blood flow considerably reduced the frequency of my headaches, which had previously occurred several times a week; since discovering this, taking a daily aspirin has made life much better. So, overall, things have not been so bad. It just seems so awful at the time when you think the fissure is never going to go away - thanks again for the support provided by your website.
What a fantastic website filled with all sorts of information! I recently suffered the intense pain of an anal fissure and went online in search of a quick fix. Yeah, right! I realized that I had basically given it to myself. I had been on a high-fiber vegetarian diet to lose weight, and then "fell off" the diet for 2 weeks. Bad idea. I wound up terribly constipated, and that's when my trouble began.
Making a long painful story short, I found that returning back to my high-fiber diet, with small amounts of meat and dairy, helped a bunch! My career is in the medical field, and thought to myself, "how is thing going to heal??" So I figured I'd give the good old tube of "triple antibiotic" a try. Three days into using the cream, I am completely pain-free. Amazing. After every trip to the bathroom, I'd wipe with a moist Kleenex Cottonelle bathroom wipe, and three times per day I'd apply a small amount of Neosporin Triple Antibiotic Ointment to the area. I really believe keeping the area clean and medicated was the key to healing the wound. The fibrous diet is truly the key to maintain a healthy and fissure-free life.
Thanks for the wonderful website and all the helpful information!
Just want you to know I loved your info. I thought I just had hemmorrhoids. Didn't know I had a fissure and did nothing about it until eventually the anal stenosis was so severe I was pooping stools not much thicker than spaghetti strands. Also suffered from irritable bowel syndrome, (chronic diahrea) which was a mixed blessing as there would have been no way to pass solid stools. I had the condition so long that I developed a rectocele, (which is a hernia-like protrusion of the bowel into the vagina). When you bear down and you're trying to poop through a pin hole something's gotta give. You don't know how something like this can take over your life until it happens to you. Could not have a bowel movement unless I inserted my thumb into my vagina to push the rectocele out of there. Believe me, this is not something you're likely to bring up in conversation. Finally talked to my GP about it.
The doctor I was referred to gave me the option of stretching it myself using my thumb while taking a warm bath, or lateral sphincterotomy. The personal stretching just sounded too painful so I opted for the surgery. Thank God for Percoset and Vikodin. The surgery itself was painless (I was unconscious) but the next couple of weeks were tough. I had gotten bronchitis right before surgery. Did you know your coughing mechanism is directly tied to you butt? I tore two stitches during a coughing fit. Ouch! If you have any illness causing coughing you would be wise to reschedule your surgery.
For several weeks after the surgery I did experience a lot of incontinence and tried to make sure I was never far from a restroom. I was afraid I might be one of those unfortunate people who have permanent incontinence, but this was not the case. I am so thankful I had the surgery. My life is back to normal after being so hard for several years. Even the IBS is gone.
Thanks so much for the helpful information on your page. I am struggling with an acute anal fissure and have found pain relief by using a heating pad in addition to hot baths. I didn't find anyone else who mentioned a heating pad, so I thought I'd pass this along.
Hello,
I recently was cured from my anal fissure disorder from reading the accounts on this webpage, so I figured I would email you my own account.
In June/July of 2005, I began to experience a slight itch around my rectal area. Sometimes it would usually go away and then at other times it became very intense. Initially i dismissed it as something that would pass, and began using medicated wipes. The wipes began to help at first but after a couple more weeks, the itching would persist and become very uncomfortable. I then chose to seek medical help, after telling my doctor about the symptoms I was experiencing she immediately diagnosed it as "hemmorrhoids" (WRONG!). Like a lot of people on this site, I was diagnosed with hydrocortisone suppositories that I thought was helping, but in the end were just thinning the layer of skin around my rectal area and actually making it worse. Soon the fissure became worse and I dreaded even moving my bowels be cause of the pain I would endure and how long it would take me. So, once I realized that my doctor had no idea about what was going on, I chose to search on the internet and I came across this site. After dealing with the suppositories, I had come to the conclusion that I wanted to try some more organic/holistic methods. I saw the posts by a woman and man who said that they used Wheat Germ Oil, Gotu Kula, and Wheat Grass. You can only buy these things from a Whole Foods market or natural health food store. My fissure was cured by using a combination of these three things. The Wheat Germ Oil I applied directly to the fissure, and the Wheat Grass (pills) and Gotu Kula (liquid drops) I took orally. The fissure only healed after using all three. The Wheat Germ Oil only healed the fissure to a certain degree, when I used that only. Hope this post can help anyone who has been misdiagnosed by a "doctor." Good Luck
A very effective, safe, and rapid consitpation remedy is castor oil packs and heat applied to the lower abdomen. Information on how to make and use these can be found online using a Google search. It loosens the stool enough to make it easy to pass with minimal pain/bleeding. This worked for me almost immediately and I was feeling much better in 36 hours. It was essential for me in keeping my AF from re-opening.
I am telling you because I didn't see any mention of castor oil packs anywhere on your site and I think they can really help people, especially those who are sensitive to wheat and psyllium and don't respond well to standard stool softeners. This was recommended by my doctor so I feel comfortable recommending it to others.
If you have any questions or want more information on my regimen (castor oil packs, vegan diet, lots of water, ground flax seed for extra fiber, gentle exercise, nitroglycerine ointment) please feel free to contact me at this email address. You are welcome to share the suggestion but please do not identify my name or email address. Thanks.
Thank you so very much for your website. It gave me the information so my body could heal.
I have had anal fissures in the past. Usually after I eat too much cheese!! Doctors always eager to do surgery. I say no. But this time I didn't see any way out as I was having alot of bleeding and pain for two weeks. So I found your website. Within 3 days the bleeding and pain stopped!! Amazing!! Here is what I did:
After a bowel movement took a soaking bath for at least 20 minutes and took 3 per day for 3 days. Stopped eating everything but yogurt and liquids for two days. Used small amount of Zinc Oxide ointment 3 times per day around the anus. Drank alot of water.
Bingo! Within 3 days bleeding and pain totally stopped. I am now eating more oatmeal and shredded wheat.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
Dear Jack
A million thanks for your wonderful web page. It was an incredible support during a very difficult time. I would like to share what led to my recovery.
Earlier this year, I had an excruciatingly painful fissure which lasted several months. The very expensive cream (a calcium channel blocker) which my consultant prescribed did nothing to heal the fissure or ease the pain. In addition to using the cream, I was eating a high-fiber diet, drinking lots of water, taking psyllium husks capsules and and having sitzbads. Nothing seemed to help. But I was determined to avoid surgery, so I read as much as I could about fissures in books and on the internet. My life-saving remedy, or what I deem to be the most important component, turned out to be a low-residue diet, which I followed in conjunction with taking stool softeners (lactulose or docusate sodium). Within a few days I was much better and well on the road to recovery. (I am now back to following a normal high-fibre diet.)
By the way, I have always eaten a diet rich in fibre and so I was surprised when I developed a fissure. I think it was attributable to the fact that I was drinking far too much diet cola and hardly any water. I now try and drink 2 litres of water a day.
Thanks for your great pages; from them I was able to get enough information to get well on my own. First a little background: I'm a 53 year old male, 5'8", 165 pounds. Four years ago I was 210 pounds. I started running to lose weight (and have since run two marathons). I got an extremely painful AF about 3 years ago. I tried every topical remedy mentioned in your pages. Nothing much worked. Things got to the point where a doctor recommended surgery.
At that point, two years ago, I did the following which I'm convinced cured the fissure and has kept me completely pain-free (these are ranked in the order that I believe are most important, at least for me): (1) Limit drastically (at first eliminate entirely) caffeine. (2) A swig of Kondremul every night. (3) A couple of teaspoons of Metamucil each day. (4) For any discomfort or pain, apply Aloe Vara. (5) Of course, exercise, plenty of fruits and vegetables, almonds and other nuts, proper hydration, moderate alcohol and saturated fats like candy. I really think the keys for me were the caffeine and Kondremul and fiber.
Please do not use my email but I was able to get rid of a painful anal fissure with frequent warm baths of Epsom salts followed by a rinse of betadine.
Thank you for your website. I'm not sure if it's still active, but it's certainly still helpful.
I had surgery for my fissure 8 days ago and am still experiencing pain, but it has not interfered in my daily activities. My story is pretty much the same as everyone else's, but I do have some friendly advice for those who are considering the surgery.
Before going into surgery, nurses like to hand you an enema with a smile as if it's a walk in the park. They aren't - they can be uncomforable and for many, painful. I, however, had a much easier time because I chose to take an herbal colon cleanse suppliment a couple days before surgery. I specifically used Arbonne's Herbal Colon Cleanse - I took 1 suppliment a night for 3 nights. This washed out my colon, which made the enema experience much quicker and less painful. The first time through, I was almost perfectly clear. The second time through was only to be sure everything was out.
I'm not 100% yet, but I'm on the way. I really appreciated reading about everyone's experience.
Thanks again!
Dear Jack,
Thank you so much for your wonderful website. I learned a ton of information from other contributors and AF sufferers just like me. I hope I can add a few more details.
I was diagnosed with anal fissures in December, 2004. I could not sit comfortably, and standing wasn't any easier. I was referred by my primary physician (who made the initial diagnosis, and recommended stool softeners and Citruce) to a proctologist when the softeners and fiber had no effect. Fearing the uncomfortable surguries I read about on your website, I postponed making an appointment with the proctologist, instead trying to solving my problem with a last-ditch holistic approach I had just heard about, the iceburg lettuce diet. As explained to me, it was simply eating a half-head of iceburg lettuce each day until the symptoms subside, usually in 5-7 days. After months of agony, I was pain-free in only 10 days. I did nothing else. I have since gone off the diet, and remained pain-free for about two months. Then, I had a slight recurrence, and immediately went back on the lettuce. The symptoms were relieved in only 4 days this time. I may become an iceburg eater for life, but for now I plan to just eat it at the first signs of discomfort.
I came up with a good way to cure anal fissures. I think the nitroglycerin is unnecessary. Petroleum jelly is amazing for protecting the wound.
Here is what works for me:
Anal fissure cure
Length of treatment: 1 week to 2 months depending on severity.
I was having a lot of trouble with an anal fissure and I had unnecessary medical procedures done. Also the doctor prescribed hemorrhoid cream with pain medicationin it, and he said if the bleeding is less than a womans period don't worry about it. I knew it wouldn't work on it because it just reduces inflammation. Then I looked on the internet and I red that sometimes babies (1 out of 5) get them and they all heal, so I thought why not me. My doctor didn't ask the right questions either. My stool was sharp and hard at times. I was taking ibuprofen for head aches. Also my stool was hot and acidic at times. So I started taking metamucil daily, stopped taking ibuprofen which reduces inflamation by (I think) dehidrating your system. The biggest most important action I took was to go to my pharmacist and asked, What do I use on a cut that won't heal. He said to use POLYSPORAN. I did and found it worked, and with in 1 day 90% of the pain and the bleeding was gone. and in 1 week I was cured.
Thank you for your helpful website! I notice that one often mentioned help is Metamucil or something similar. I think it may be helpful for others to know that if you are taking prescription medication by mouth, the psyllium product should be taken 2 hours before or 2 hours after the prescription meds. I learned this on the Yale New Haven Health site. (It is because the psyllium forms a gel in the stomach and if taken together, the medicine will get involved in the gel rather than going where it is supposed to be going!)
faf6.arc.nasa.gov
Hi Jack,
I've been perusing your web site for the first time today and haven't seen any mention of Magnesium, so I'm writing to get the word out!
After suffering from an undiagnosed fissure for almost a year (brought on after the delivery of my 1st child) I finally went to a colorectal specialist yesterday who has prescribed surgery. Philosophically I am not a big fan of surgery so I've been doing some research to check out my options before making any decisions. THANK YOU for you web site!!
I just want to let other "sufferers" know about Magnesium. It is as an amazingly effective and natural means to soften stool. It is about a thousand times better than stool softeners (in my opinion) which have irritating ingredients which can cause more harm than good. Magnesium can be bought at any drug store (generic or Nature Made) in 250mg tablets. I take 2-3 per day depending on need and believe me, without it I was almost incapable of tolerating a bowel movement. According to my colorectal Dr., the ONLY side effect of it is diarrhea, which of course could be uncomfortable too. But I've taken as many as 4 250 mg tablets when my pain has been at its worst and I really didn't think I could tolerate a bowel movement with any "substance" and it has worked wonders!!!!! Mr Dr. also says Magnesium is totally safe for pregnant and nursing mothers, but very few OBGYN's know about the stool softening effects so they won't know to prescribe it.
faf6.arc.nasa.gov
I think there is a link between food allergies and anal fissures/hemorroids. I've noticed this in both myself and my child. We each have different foods that set us off, and if we avoid them we are pain free. For me it is soy. After the first accidental ingestion of soy, I get itchy. If I continue to eat soy, I get a hemmorroid flair-up, and with even more soy comes an anal fissure. This reaction starts within hours, and lasts for only a few days after. The more soy I eat, the more painful the reaction becomes. If I eat no soy at all, I clear right up!
For my child the food is egg. This food causes him to become constipated, and is followed by painful stools. When he eats no egg, his stools are fine. This started with the introduction of egg into his diet. I've been monitering our food sensitivities/intolerences since my son was born. We found he has Celiac disease--an inability to digest gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, barley (www.celiac.com). I've noticed many different bodily reactions to different food allergies. I believe anal fissures and hemorroids are another symptom of food allergies.
I hope this bit of information is useful to someone. :-)
faf6.arc.nasa.gov
faf6.arc.nasa.gov
I am writing because this site helped me recover from an agonising anal fissure which totally destroyed my enjoyment of life. After running a half marathon, I suffered terrible diarrhoea and this led to an anal fissure. I presumed it was piles initially (as I had suffered from these after childbirth) but when the pain and bleeding continued for several weeks, I researched and found this site. A visit to the doctor proved futile, as I was giving suppositories and creams which had no effect. I seemed to be living in the bath, constantly in pain, unable to run any distance and was totally exhausted. Working full time as a teacher meant I was limited to when I could actually visit the toilet and I was become very miserable, bad tempered and felt as if I was stuck with this problem for life.
To recover I embarked on a radical diet. I had never suffered from constipation as I was already eating a high fibre diet which was practically vegan, so I basically became a fruit bat - I ate about 12 portions of fruit a day and drank gallons of water. I also drastically reduced my diet so I was eating only small quantities of carbohydrates and very little protein. I stopped exercising and drank one cup of coffee each morning to encourage a bowel movement before I went to work. I did not lapse at all from this regime and within two weeks, the bleeding and pain had gone and I could feel myself healing. Unfortunately, during a very late training course (without toilet breaks) I was unable to drink as much water as possible one day and I lapsed back into agony but not quite as bad as it had been. I then became very strict to the point of total obsession and within a week I was better - completely - no pain at all and I felt alive and free.
Five months on I am preparing for a half marathon fall race and feeling very fit, well and energised. I have also lost 10 lb in weight as my diet has returned back to normal but with smaller portions and less 'treats'. There is life after a fissure so be tough on yourself and get yourself better!
Dear "Jack,"
I wanted to write and thank you for your site, it has been very helpful in many ways.
I would like to tell you what I found that has cured my fissure: Chinese medicine. I had been to protologists and was doing the baths and Metamucil, etc. Nothing was working. So a friend recommended her doctor of Chinese medicine. I was put on a seriously restricted diet, no dairy, meat (except fish and shellfish), sugar, fruit juice, dried fruit, alcohol, caffeine, hot spices (curry, peppers, cinnamon) or preservatives and only two eggs per week. In addition, I was given herbs from the traditional Chinese pharmacopia which I brewed into tea and drank three times a day.
For the first month I noticed no difference. The herbs regulated my bowel movements well but I still had pain and bleeding. Finally, after about six weeks, a large boil raised about a inch from my anus. After a few days it burst and continued to drain for over a month. Both the Chinese and the Western doctors concluded that my fissure had become abcessed. After the boil burst I started feeling immediate relief. Less pain and bleeding, until about three weeks ago the pain and bleeding stopped all together. I am on a regimen of antibiotics to clear up an infection that developed in the boil but am almost well after nearly a year of serious pain.
This has been nothing short of miraculous for me and I wanted to share my good news with others who are suffering with the same problem. Thanks for helping out and please don't use my real name on the site if you post. I will answer any questions that are sent to you if that would be helpful. Thank you again for your site.
faf6.arc.nasa.gov
At the ACS spring meeting , test results from a study from 902 paitents from 1993 to 2003 were given. It was found that nitro ointment was the least productive of methods.It was also found in the study that Nifedipine ointment was superior to nitro and was equivalent to Bitox. Sounds like Nifedipine would be a good thing to try first. I`ll let you know. I had the surgery 3 yrs ago and now the problem is back. the nitro hasn`t worked but it was only at 2% I go back to the doc tomarrow. so I`m going to try the nifedipine and the diet suggestions I found here. Wish me luck.
Hi
Your website was a wealth of knowledge for me when I was dealing with a very painful anal fissure. I was dealing with this for over a year. I tried the nitro cream for 6 weeks, this helped a bit. I was scheduled for surgery and then my surgeon recommended botox. One month after the botox injection I am pain free. I was expecting immediate relief from the botox but it did take a month for the pain to dissapear, I guess it took a while for the healing to occur. I have had NO side effects from the botox. My other recommendation for others is metamucil. I take one dose daily and this has greatly softned my stools.
Thanks for a great website and I wholeheartedly recomment botox.
I know you must get a ton of these a day, but I could not help but send you one myself. Thank you, Thank you so much. Like so many others you Fissure Help Page has been a God-send. The doctors told me I just had hemmoroids, and the prescriptions never were enough.
I am a women, 28 years old, and have been suffering for four years. I too did not want to have surgery, it was not even a option. I want to get pregnant soon and knew that the fissures would only get worse once I did. Then I found your page, by the very next day I was feeling better, and now it only comes back in times of stress or when I slip on my diet, but thanks to your page I can fix it quickly.
I just thought I would let you know what worked for me:
Not only have the Fissures stopped, I have also lost weight and my body is more prepared now to get pregnant.
Words are not enough,
Thank you.
Hi
I developed a very painful fissure after I had surgery on my ankle. The anesthesia slowed down my colon and five days after my surgery I finally needed to have a bowl movement. Well it had been so long since I had gone that I became severely impacted and nothing would come out. I decided to do an enema and all that did was cause me to have to push so hard that I ripped my anal canal. I had never heard of a fissure I thought I had hemorrhoids. I sympathize with any one who has ever had one of these. I dreaded having to go to the bathroom.This went on for four months. I tried everything and the only thing that worked was Philips Magnesia (cherry flavor). I started out with 2 1/2 Tbls. at night before I went to bed. It made my stools so soft that it gave me time to heal. The secret is keeping your stools small and soft so your fissure doesn't tear or push against it. Believe me I tried all of the other things, the Tinactin, Metamucil, Exlax. Nothing worked except Phillips Magnesia. You have to use the 21/2 Tbls.right before bed for about 9 days then cut back to 1-2 Tbls. for at least 3 weeks. You want to make sure the fissure is healed completely before you stop. Do not let yourself get constipated! Good luck it is nice to be out of pain.
faf6.arc.nasa.gov
This may be of interest to you. My wife had breast fibroid cyst problems----I told her to start taking B6---600 mg per day---4 days later the cyst receeded, 6 days later it was gone. I was having a fissure problem (again) at the time, so I thought about the B6---started the same regimen---5 days later it was gone. Maybe a coincidence---but I strongly believe it was a major help.
faf6.arc.nasa.gov
Dear Jack,
Your site is wonderful. If you want to use my story, please feel free:
On the road to recovery thanks to dietary change
I used to be a strict health foodie, but I had sort of fallen off the healthy diet wagon. A year ago I married a guy with more 'mainstream' eating habits than I had, and it caught up with me--yup, an anal fissure. I realized what was happening on very early on, thank heavens, because I got on Google and found this site. I read with great interest the stories by folks who had cured themselves by non-surgical means. Particularly helpful were the stories by Patient 6, Patient 31, and Patient 40.
Here is what I did:
--Began drinking LOTS more water--a couple of liters a day, at least.
--Began taking Metamucil--1 tablespoon first thing in the morning, and 1 tablespoon before dinner. This also curbs my appetite!
--Began taking flaxseed oil. This can be found in health food stores. I use it in lieu of mineral oil, because I am really afraid of laxatives and getting addicted to them. As well as lubicating the colon, flaxseed oil also contains essential fatty acids and is a very good addition to one's diet. I take 1 tablespoon in the morning and 1 before bed. It has a sort of nutty taste to it, and has to be refrigerated, so if you travel, you would probably need to use a different type of oil unless you have a refrigerator in your room. I just got back from a trip, so I did bring some mineral oil with me, but I went back to the flaxseed oil as soon as I got home.
--Became extremely vigilant about eating enough fiber. For breakfast I eat oatmeal with raisins and blueberries, and I sprinkle oat bran on top; in the mid-morning I eat a few prunes for a snack; for lunch I eat fresh green salads with lots of veggies; I switched to brown rice, whole wheat pasta and whole grain bread, and have greatly increased my vegetable and fruit consumption. I have cut out red meat, cheese (except a sprinkle of parmesan on pasta) and processed food. I limit my coffee intake to 1 cup in the morning. This might sound really awful, boring, whatever, but it works ... also, I just got back from New Orleans and had a wonderful time and ate very well; I just was judicious in my meal selections, kept up my water/Metamucil/oil regimen, and had absolutely ZERO ill effects.
I am under no illusions that my fissure is 'cured'--it will be several months to a year before it is--but with these dietary changes, there is no more pain and bleeding. I intend to continue to eat this way until it IS cured, and afterwards. I'm very grateful to everyone who contributed their stories to the site, and I wish everyone all the best.
faf6.arc.nasa.gov
I have an excellent tip for all your fans who email you . I found out through a friend that taking at least 100 mgs. of vitamin B6 helps your rectal problems come to a halt. You don't need to change your diet or stop eating your favorite foods or drinking your favorite drinks. I had a bad case of fissures 5 in total at one time with tags, I started taking vitamin B6 and three weeks later all was healed. Needless to say I called and canceled my surgery . Which by the way I would be going under the knife this thursday. But Thank God I don't need it. I might also add you must keep taking your vitamin probably forever. But it's worth not having the pain and surgery and special diets and soaks etc..... I 'm glad that there are sights on the internet for such problems as this. thanx .......I hope this helps all who read this.
Dear "Jack,"
I'm going thru a round of fissure pain, and I thought I should pass along something I discovered: I can press a spot in my crotch (somewhere between my testicles and my anus) that relieves the pain. I suspect there is some nerve bundle in the area that can block pain -- or block the impulses that trigger sphincter spasms. At any rate, the spot (or spots, there seem to be a few) is forward from the anus. Just poke around and you'll find it. It's a tender spot, but if something can relieve the disabling pain of a fissure, who cares? It only seems to last for 30 seconds or so, and then you need to give it a short break.
I'm not sure this will work on women, since their plumbing is different, but it's worth a try. Just another possible way to cut the pain...
--Scott
Your website is very helpful. I have made a VERY interesting observation linked to the recurrence of my fissure, and want to share this with as many sufferers as I can.
I used Claritin-D occasionally as needed for allergies. I have begun to notice that my fissure recurs or does not heal quickly when I take Claritin-D. I used to think it was because of dehydration resulting in harder stools. But after resolving this aspect by eating even more fiber and drinking more water, I noticed that there is another factor. I ALWAYS get increased anal sphincter spasms, and I think that is the mechanism for the recurrence. This association became very clear when I used Claritin-D one day last week and had to pull out my donut to sit on that day ONLY! Yet I still had not made the connection. Then again this morning I took one Claritin-D tablet, and within hours I started having spasms again. I am convinced that is a major factor in my recurrences, and may be for others. I suspect it is the pseudephedrine in the Claritin-D that is the culprit.
Thanks for all your work on this website.
I am so pleased to have found your pages. There are a lot of people out there who are suffering much worse symptoms than myself. If they can finally rid themselves of this condition then I'm sure I can. This is probably written elsewhere on your pages, but I have found avoiding coffee and alcohol in any substantial quantities helps, and I use Lactulose solution three times a day - this helps immensely. My GP told me (after another painful recurrence!) that I should up the dosage a lot - I get through 500ml per week now. It really makes a difference. If I have a recurrence the pain associated goes within days if I use large doses. I am continuing the large dosage for some time now in the hope that it will clear up entirely. I'll keep you posted!
Thanks for providing a quality platform for the worlds fissure sufferers, it's really appreciated.
I attempted medical care for my anal fissure for almost 15 months...I researched the internet for help when I became frustrated with the medical help I received. Most medical providers can not assist with this problem...I appreciated the information I received on your site....there was only two important facts that I learned during my pain and misery....first of all the nitroglycerin ointment and procto foam...will help you survive...through this ordeal....although still painful...you can have a bowel movement ....a friend sent an email to me almost two weeks ago talking about the dangers of (aspartame) used instead of sugar in diet drinks...there are several documented symtoms concerning aspartame...but, I noticed that muscle spasms was one result of the use of aspartame...during my months of pain...I had noticed that the fissure was the result of the exterior anal spincter muscle being extremely tight....so after reading my friend's email...I decided that I would stop drinking the 3 or 4 diet cokes that I consumed each day...in just 4 days I had noticed that the exterior spincter muscle had relaxed...and I am glad to say... I am pain free....this may not work for everyone...but, it certainly worked for me....aspartame is in most diet drinks....please give it a try....I know the pain and disgust of this medical problem....and it has worked for me....and thank you for your site...it helps many people...
Thanks so much for your page! I am a physician who developed a small anal fissure postpartum 2 yrs ago: misdiagnosed as hemmorhioids at first: so for a year I just lived with A LOT of itching, a little bleeding and only mild pain: the itching was the most unbearable part, especially at bedtime. My first primary doc and a GI specialist (who wanted to jump right to surgery!) were not much help.
I tried without help: fiber, water, metamucil, (constipation was not ever really a symptom for me, I think it was more the childbirth that caused it). steroid suppositories helped for a few days but symptoms returned once I sdtopped them, antifungals from over the counter all stung/burned so horribly that I could never use them more than once or twice. Aloe wipes burned , with hazel wipes were a little better (Tucks or knockoffs) but still burned pretty bad until finally got an Rx from a new primary Doc for "Clotrimazole and Betamethasone Dipropionate Cream", a combined antifungal and topical steroid: it has worked wonders for the itching. I'd highly recommend it to others who have itching as a main symptom. My primary M.D. also cauterized the fissure locally using, I think, silver nitrate: just applying a bit on the area of the small fissure: it burned really bad for a minute, but then was much better. I am about 90% cured within days of this combo (the cream and the procedure) which transpired a month ago!!!! Just wanted to share with other what had helped me.
Thank you for maintaining the site. It was a blessing to me.
I have always had minor problems but a year ago I was put on antibiotics for the flu. This caused diarrhea for the term of the drug. Afterwards I had a rebound affect with constipation which really tore things up.
I felt that I had a "paper cut" with itching and burning
With a tour of the doctors office I was told to mind my diet and it would heal, over simplification at best.
I'm a 58 year old male and we don't heal a fast as we use to. With 2 weeks of constant pain and trying every tube in the hemorrhoid isle of Walgreens I asked the pharmacist what he thought. He said the itching and burning sounded like "Yeast infection" if I was a female he would recommend "Lotramin AF". Well I'd tried everything else SOO - IT WORKED, well the itching and burning went away after about 15 min. and stayed gone after 3 - 4 application. But the rip was still there, next day it tore again BAD.
That day I found your site, Bless you again. While reading all of everything I formulated this PLAN:
Hope this starts someone else towards recovery.
Thanks again
Thanks a lot for the helpful advice on your page; I definitely benefited from it. I originally had surgery 3 years ago to correct my anal fissure. I was fine until a month ago I had a stomach virus and the fissure reoccurred. It was horrible; the pain was almost more than I could bear. I started using zinc oxide and took 2 long baths each day, but it wasn't until I took a stool softener that I really got better. This was a lifesaver; I would recommend buying Colace or something like it. I made the mistake of buying a softener/laxative and this made the problem worse. Just wanted to share my story & say thanks.
I have been dealing with an anal fissure for the past two months. I almost went to surgery, but I began to get better. How did this happen? Well, I started eating foods that made my stool soft and easy to pass. I eat 1 tablespoon of Mother's oat bran after my first meal of the day and I eat a romaine salad after the second meal. As a snack I eat dried apricots and pitted prunes which have a semi-laxative effect. I apply Aloe Vera gel three times a day to the affected area and I apply goldenseal before bedtime. I use the goldenseal capsules. I break open the capsule, mix it with a little olive oil, and apply it to the affected area. Goldenseal has anti-inflammatory/anti-spasmodic properties. This has done wonders. I am so grateful to God for the healing agents that He has put in natural foods and I appreciate this opportunity to share with others the things that have helped me to heal.
Hello. I had an anal fissure for three years, and never quite knew what to do about it. It really hurt only during bowel movements (with blood loss), and was tolerable, but then a week ago it got significantly more painful and I was uncomfortable sitting and sometimes standing. I did an internet search and found your site.
I had thought that fasting for a few days would cure it (nothing to abrade the cut so it could heal), but then I would inevitably have a large stool again and this would reinjure the area. From the stories on your site, I realized that ointment was a good idea, so I ordered BF&C, and started drinking more water. Then I noticed that the aloe vera plant next to my bed was dropping a leaf, and thought about how good aloe is on cuts and burns. Maybe it would help while my ointment was in the mail. I took the leaf off, cut the tip, and squeezed out some of the pulp, inserting it rectally. It's a bit tricky doing this, but manageable. I repeated this at night, cutting more aloe, slicing out some pulp, and inserting it. Amazingly, the next day I had no pain, and no bleeding. I thought it was a fluke, but I would continue the process for five more days, twice a day, and so far I have had no pain, and no bleeding. It's like I just immediately healed. The BF&C arrived today, but I'll keep doing the aloe until I've used the leaf up. I wonder that I didn't think of this before. I might have saved myself several years of discomfort. Some of your other readers may want to try it.
I don't know if there's anything special about this aloe species--it's just one I bought at the plant shop. I would cut a section of the plant and use a knife to remove a chunk of the clear sticky pulp. Insertion takes a little practice, as the anal sphincter muscles tend to work against you, but one gets the hang of it, and at least in my case it has been well worth the effort.
Hey Jack,
Your website ( together with a visit to a specialist) has helped me manage an af for the past 6-7 months. I now have it narrowed down to GARLIC contained or applied onto foods as being a culprit in my case. I have done a couple of tests on this hypothesis and I can confirm that in my case, garlic is not good.
The specialist I visited recommended a probe called "Annurex" which is basically a plastic probe that you keep in the freezer. Insert it, after coating with an aloe based gel, for about 6-8 mins. I did this for about 3-4 weeks and it seems to have helped. I am basically off it now. In addition, I was told to avoid caffiene, spicy foods, garlic, and beer.....not quite sure why beer??
In any case, controlling the diet plays a huge role in the management phase at this time.
Great site for the AF sufferer, keep up the good work,
I found this web sight very helpful when I was trying to figure out if I had an anal fissure or just hemorrhoids gone crazy. I was in pain for 2 months. After reading about fissures I figured that's what I had but a trip the doctor confirmed it.
He informed me of the usual treatments (surgery & nitro), he also said a high fiber diet helped. He said he wasn't too excited about the results he had seen with nitro & I was afraid of getting headaches. That left surgery, but he doctor also said there was no huge hurry & that some people have anal fissures for 20 years. I am a female, 46 years old. I have always been interested in nutrition & managed a health food store when I was 21. I was already eating a lot of fiber in the form of fruits, veggies & legumes. I also make my own bread from wheat I grind fresh. I eat no beef & very little if any chicken, fish 3 times a month. No processed food at all. I though I was healthy & couldn't understand why this "sore" wouldn't heal.
Unlike some people I told everybody about my problem. A friend said she had a friend that had them so bad she stopped eating but was better now. To make a long story short PRUNE JUICE is what she said. She said she drank a big glass before bed every night. I started drinking it, I just left it in the refrigerator & every time I opened it I drank some. I don't really like it. Anyway, I am symptom free. It took about 2 weeks of the juice. I waited to be sure they stayed gone before I wrote this. Add this as another possible treatment, I sure worked for me. I hope it can work for someone else.
Laura
Hello "Jack",
I just found your site and was pleasantly overwhelmed by the amount of information you have posted.
I'm a female in my early 20's with multiple anal fissures. I've had them about four years now, and they keep healing and re-opening. I'm tired of thinking "oh, not again!" so I will definitely try the non-surgical suggestions on your site.
The reason I'm writing is to share a tip with your visitors. One night, in desperation, I tried applying Blistex lip ointment to my fissures to get rid of the pain. I use Blistex on my acne and find that it heals irritated skin very quickly. To my surprise it quickly replaced the fissure pain with a cooling sensation and caused some fast preliminary healing. I hope this tip can help someone.
Here's the medicinal ingredients in the Blistex I used: Allantoin 1.0%, Camphor 0.5%, Phenol 0.5%. I think it's just the regular type (liquid in a tube, not the stick kind).
A fellow sufferer,
Dear Jack,
My encredibly painful condition has been cured, not through surgery or gunpowder (?!) but through elimination of all forms of SUGAR!!
I had an anal fissure for two years, my sugar intake was rocketing (blood sugar levels haywire after stopping smoking) and consequently I now assume that I was also suffering from severe systemic thrush (candida albicans). Since cutting out all sugar, and that includes honey, fructose, glucose (but not complex carbohydrates) for a couple of months, and eating lots of garlic (i.e. no friends) my bowel is behaving normally - no longer constipated, bloated and no fissures! I hope this works for others, in any case, you lose weight slowly and your blood sugar levels are much better!
Good luck everyone, and thanks for setting up your site, Jack
Stiff Upper Lip in England
Hey Jack!
Just wanted to share my experiences. Keep up the good work!
Almost two years after surgery to fix my fissure, I was suffering from another one.
I saw Dr. Gorfine who had performed the surgery on me. He gave me Botox shot, it helped but didn't heal me. Three months later, I got another one. At that office visit, we discussed trying Nifedipine, since I suffer from high blood pressure anyway, why not try it. Armed with info from this website regarding oral nifedipine, my primary doctor gave me a prescription for it. I had read some info about it here on the website and shared it with him. He warned me that this class of high blood pressure medicines can constipate. I thought I would try it anyway. It seemed to constipate me right away, but I took it for a few weeks, hoping it might go away. Also, at the same time I was using Tinactin, several times a day. Reading the mostly positive outcomes here, made me give it a try. I was feeling better doing these two things. I had used the NTG ointment on and off for quite some time, with no success and a lot of headaches.
Another visit to my primary doctor (who is also a great doctor), here in NH, yielded a presciption for 0.2% Nifedipine ointment. Luckily, there is a pharmacy close by that could compound the Nifedipine for me. I would apply after a BM, and at the same time, apply some Tinactin. No headaches!! I found finger cots to work nicely when applying this stuff. Two months later, I have been feeling good. I thought I might be healed, just wanted Dr. Gorfine to confirm.
I go to NYC frequently, so I feel very lucky that I am able to see him easily. Great news! He told me that the fissure is once again gone. Almost a year after rearing, (no pun intended!) its ugly head. I'll continue applying the ointment for now, and see how I feel in couple months when I see him again.
Thanks for having this great website. It is a great source of valuable information.
(29 yr old female)
Hello- I've had an anal fissure for about 5 years. At first, it started very gradually. Every month, usually right before my period for some reason (maybe water retention?), I would get a little bit of bleeding after passing a hard stool.. Every year, my doctor would tell me to drink more water and take Metamucil. But every year it got worse. In the past year, I would have bloody streaks on my stool everytime. Then it got to the point where I was really alarmed and would get small droplets of blood that would color the toilet water pink. I was really concerned. It wasn't painful, but my anal fissure was located in the back/bottom side of my anus. So I found the self help site - thanks to "jack" and all who posted. It was great to hear how everyone has been treating their anal fissures.
So my solution:
1. I finally resolved to drink lots of water. I carry around a 1L water bottle with me all the time. Every day, my goal is to drink at least 3L. 2. I cut out red meat, apples, and made sure that I had a yogurt a day and plenty of vegetables and fruit in my diet. My stools became softer, but I still had some bleeding. 3. I stopped straining so hard to get stools out. Maybe, yoga classes have helped, but I realized that I could go to the bathroom just by being patient and relaxing the anal sphincter area in the back instead of trying to "push" it out as if I was giving birth. I let gravity and the pressure in my colon let the stool come out on its own. Since my stools have been significantly softer - it didn't irritate the fissure as much. 4. Didn't go to the doctor - and had faith that I was doing the right thing for myself, thanks to the website! 5. No creams or ointments.
I think that understanding the mechanics of how you personally have a bowel movement can help in treating anal fissures. I haven't seen any other people mentioning this aspect. I would love to see if others have figured out what works for them physically.
After one month- no more bleeding. I'm still continuing to drink a lot of water and to maintain a healthy diet. I feel great! Now I realize that my anal fissure started from not being hydrated enough. I hope this will help others.
Dear Jack,
I've had my fissure since December and feel that it has improved alot...a couple of things that have helped and a question...first, baby orajel before first BM of day helps to numb the pain. Does anyone else get scar tissue afterward that feels like a hard little mass and still is sensitive when moving bowels? lastly....it is a proven scientific fact that NSAID"S of which ibuprofen is one, impair angiogenesis...the production of new blood vessels...in fact, I sell a wound care product for chronic leg ulcers, and we always advice patients to discontinue ibupropen...it can dramatically impair healing of chronic wounds. Thanks. I really appreciate all the good info....and the vitamin e suppositories helped me alot.
Jack,
Colace stool softener worked for me. I tried BF&C and that didn't do a thing. I tried Metamucil, and that only made stool bulkier [as it's supposed to] which increased the pain. After reading a few medical websites that fissures are supposed to heal in 1-2 months, don't believe them. I didn't heal after 2 months and so I went in to my doctor's office, and he said with stool softener and with laxative suppositories [when laxatives are needed] I should heal in 3 months from when I visited, which would mean it would take 5-6 months for my fissure to heal.
Good thing about stool softeners are they are not habit forming like laxatives, so the doc had me on Colace for 30 days. And the ease of going to the bathroom on stool softeners is a world of painful difference. I don't take Metamucil but drink lots of water [takes a couple of days to get used to drinking 8-10 glasses a day, but you get used to it..], and take stool softener whenever I eat a lot of red meat on the weekends. I asked the doctor if I should alter my diet while on stool softeners for those 30 days, and he said "nah, let the stool softener do all the work". Just make sure you drink about 2 glasses of water after you take the Colace, otherwise can make stool hard again. So for me I just:
1. Drink lots of water [8-12 glasses/day] 2. Eat about 4 dried prunes after each meal, when possible 3. Take stool softener after eating a lot of red meat 4. Try to eat oatmeal with a bran muffin for breakfast 5. Try to eat less red meat - chicken is great! Thanks for hearing me man!!
I had originally gotten my fissure(s) when we were remodeling our kitchen and bathroom at the same time. 6 months of microwave food and limited bathroom access was the culpruit. That healed up on its own until I got pregnant the following year. During my inital ob/gyn visit, an aggressive exam re-opened the tears. It was manageable during my pregnancy, bleeding but not much pain. Then my daughter's delivery totally did a number on me. I nursed her exclusively for 14 months, so I was unable to do anything "medical" for fear it would transfer into the milk. I read everything on your site and tried it all. Here is what I found to work for me: Aloe vera juice (not too bad once you get used to it. The organic health food store stuff tastes way better,it is clear, not yellow, the bottle says the bitter parts are filtered out, but it is also alot more expensive), lots of water, vaseline before movements, sitz baths. That regimine made it tolerable, albeit still extremely painful with lots of bleeding. All the laxative products had the opposite effect on me - making me go around 4-5 times a day, each time horrible. (Regarding the laxatives, news to me was that the reason they were prescribing them was to give me large, bulky stools, in the hopes that the stools would stretch the sphincter muscle and allow for healing. If the laxatives aren't having that affect on your system, they are pretty useless, except for softening and in that case the stool softeners or better yet the aloe juice work way better)
After weaning my daughter, I went to my 3rd colon and rectal surgeon. (Noone would touch me previously because of nursing and I was committed to doing in at least a year) I finally found a dream doctor. We explored all the possibilities, including surgery. I went there thinking I wanted to do botox. She told me 1) is expensive and it isn't covered by insurance, 2)it is very painful 3) and chances are you will need more than 1 shot. Having to pay out of pocket eliminated that as an option for me. After bursting into tears in her office, we decided that I should have the surgery. It wasn't at all what I wanted, but knowing that I'd like to get pregnant again soon, I needed to get this taken care of.
This wonderful doctor called me at home later that day to tell me she had been doing some researching and had found an article in her medical journal discussing a drug (creme) that she thought I might try in one last ditch attempt to avoid surgery. THIS MIRACLE CREME IS CALLED: NIFEDIPINE I have been using it for about a month and it is amazing!!! I had relief in about 2 days, no side affects, no more bleeding or pain. I still take the aloe vera juice and water, but otherwise am living normally. The doctor said that this creme dialates the area to allow for healing. Basically the same thing the surgery (permenantly) and botox (temporarily) would have done. It is even on my insurance's list of preferred drugs and was only $5!!!!
I really hope this helps. I haven't seen anyone else mention this on your page, though if you search the web you can find articles on it.
Please feel free to use any part of my story. Thank you so much for this page - it saved my sanity for over a year!!
Dear Jack, I have heard that hemorrhoids are practically unknown in parts of the world where the squatting position is used for elimination. And that this condition is a direct result of the recent (150 years ago) switch to the sit-down toilet. An Israeli physician, Dr Berko Sikirov, did a study of 20 patients with severe hemorrhoids. He had them do nothing but switch to the squatting position and 18 of them were completely cured. This research was published in 1987 in the Israel Journal of Medical Science.
NOTE: This message was sent to me from the NaturesPlatform.com domain. Jack
If you visit the site http://www.NaturesPlatform.com you can see a lot more research on the benefits of squatting.
| How does this medication work? What will it do for me? |
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Docusate sodium and docusate calcium belong to the family of laxatives known as stool softeners. These medications work by allowing liquids to mix with hard stools. These medications do not cause bowel movements, but allow for passage of the stool without straining. This is especially important in conditions such as heart disease and any circumstances where passage of stools could be potentially painful.
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Hi, I have your website in my favorites believe it or not because I've been plagued with this problem for two years now. I just hit on something that I wanted to pass on to you even though it's really small. I was talking to someone about their elderly mother and she said something that clicked in my brain. She mentioned that her mother was bleeding and the hospital told her to cut out Advil. You know how Advil can make your stomach bleed. Anyway, I decided to stop it completely for the pain. I also have arthritis so I was taking it for that pain also. not alot. just two tablets a day. I was bleeding like 1/4 cup of blood a day when I would do a BM. It's been a month now and the bleeding has 99 % stopped! It still feels like I'm passing razor blades but no blood! I think it's healing. I think maybe the Advil was keeping the wound open by bleeding. Now it's having a chance to heal. If this can help one person I would be so happy. Good luck and thanks for being there when I needed it.
Hi Jack, I would like to thank you VERY much for maintaining the Anal Fissure Self Help Page . I believe it is still being updated, isn't it? If you are not wanting to receive e-mails any more, I apologize for this intrusion. I did save my life - literally. I don't know if you are still gathering "cases" so I will make this e-mail short but I am ready to send my whole "ordeal" if you think it will still be of any interest. To make the long story short, after al kinds of anti-inflammatory, creams, suppositories, exercises,, voodoos, prayers and etc...I found your page with the suggestion for Tinactin - in fact the only thing I had not tried yet... And after gathering enough courage for such "insanity", as I though, I bought all the Tinactin products. I decided to start with the powder to check any reaction , just in case...but at the first following "razor-blade glass chunk" pain event that followed my "powder experiment", I jumped on the cream and (I am still in shock) IT WORKED!!! Before I applied the cream I prepared a "mirrors wall" so that I would be able to check what was going on in the "affected area" an a second basis... remaining in a prone position. Amazingly, there was an almost instantaneous relaxation of the muscle system of the rectal area and the pain really subsided in less than 10 minutes. The swelling also started vanishing and in about 1 hour (when I finally stopped my "mirror check") I could sit , yes, sit without pain, for the first time in about two months. I am still healing but it is really healing now. It has been only two days since the first Tinactin miracle. Thank you so much for the page and please let me know if you want to have a "full version". Just as a comment, my situation was sort of similar to that described by Fan, 7 Sep 1998 - a back pain with ruptured discs and one had fragmented . But I did not even consider surgery. Death for sure but having to consider a huge back surgery as inevitable made me totally disregard another surgery that could be (maybe) avoided. Most of the situation was associated to the spasms originated from the back problem, diarrhea form Celebrex and constipation from similar. In the attempt to find the proper medication for the incredible back pain I concluded that the only thing that really worked for it was the "butt pain"...Thanks to Tinactin ( unbelievable!!!) I am back to my now wonderful back, leg, knee, foot pain - ... Thanks again very sincerely,
Hi, "Jack", Finding your page was a godsend. Please feel free to use any or all of my story on your page if it seems fitting. I had been experiencing bleeding on and off for the past several months, and for short periods going back as far as a couple of years ago. About a month ago I began to see a spot of blood sometimes as large as a dime on the toilet paper, so I decided to do a web search and found your excellent page. At first, I tried dried fruit and fiber capsules, which didn't help much with the hardness or size of the first "block" to come out. Then I remembered that I had cut everything out of my diet which was known to cause flatulence, especially broccoli, cabbage and chickpeas. Once I reintroduced these into my diet (in socially acceptable quantities) I stopped passing cannonballs. In particular, a snack called "Papadi" (available at a local Indian market) made of chick-pea flour fried in corn oil (no red pepper!) helped keep my insides mushy, as did Fiber One cereal sprinkled over oat bran flakes in the morning. Fiber integrated into food seemed to work much better for me than fiber pills. I want to add that removing seeds from my diet seemed to help, because they don't completely digest and come out rather jagged, pumpkin seeds especially. For treating the wound, I first tried the BF&C cream recommended by others here, but it was slightly gritty and caused increased inflammation and itching in my case. For those two symptoms, which had already been occurring on their own, I found Calendula ointment in a petrolatum base to be excellent. It's possible, however, that the few days I did use BF&C contributed to my eventual healing. The real healing began when I started using vitamin E oil. With a safety pin, I make a hole in a 400 IU gel capsule of *natural* vitamin E (I have read that alpha-tocopherols are readily absorbed, while others are not), apply part of it to the wound and eat the rest of the capsule, since vitamin E taken internally also helps with healing. To assist healing, I take zinc and vitamin C supplements internally. Also of great help was to carry individually-wrapped packets of Dickinson's Witch Hazel Formula Towelettes with Aloe, which were available at the local Osco Drug. Wiping very gently with toilet paper then doing the finer cleanup work with the towelette kept the area much cleaner than toilet paper alone. Using this regimen of diet, vitamin E and towelettes, my bleeding stopped completely within a week, and has not reappeared once in over two weeks. I'll just throw in at the end that prayer can't hurt, and may have had as much or more to do with my healing than any of the above...
Hello - I wanted to contribute, for what it's worth, in gratitude for the help received on these pages. I've had a chronic fissure for about five years, caused during a severe bout of constipation. After a good deal of mis-information gathered in the offices of doctors in Seattle, I resolved the problem as best I could with a complete change of diet and daily use of Metamucil; the diet was a low fat, high carb diet similar to that suggested for heart patients. I avoided any constipating foods such as dairy, nuts, beans. Within a couple of weeks the fissure healed to the point where it became benign. I don't say it healed completely, because occasionally a firm stool might cause bleeding and minor pain. But generally speaking I was able to live symptom-free on this diet. Then two months ago I caught a stomach virus while traveling which resulted in diarhea. I mistakenly took some Pepto Bismol. The resulting constipation split me open again and I suffered for a week or more, my regular healing diet nothwithstanding. I found your page, read the info (much of which I knew from previous research), then came to the anecdotal evidence of the use of Tinactin to effect a cure. It was crazy, but it made sense; I tried it. It worked. Within a couple of days I could feel the difference. Within a week there was no longer any evidence of a fissure. I was normal, for me, or maybe even better. I am not hopeful that my anus is forever fissure free, but once again I am symptom free, at least. The only caveat here is, of course, the two variables. I did go on a very soft foods diet which had worked a cure in the past. But I am certain the Tinactin helped the healing process itself. Thanks to the fellow who first put his tail end on the line.
I too tried everything - fasting, etc. I HATED waking up in the morning because that meant another episode of PAIN with my BMs. I went through three months of stressing out, not eating, blood and pain. Then I tried "Ultimate Cleanse" by Nature's Secret. Within a day, I was having SOFT stool that passed EFFORTLESSLY. No straining. And NO PAIN! In a couple days, I was on my way to healing and within a week, no more blood and pain, and I was eating normally. Since then, I have experimented and found that the Ultimate Cleanse (or any of their fiber products) works best with EFA (essential fatty acids) and flax seed capsules. That combination REALLY softens my stool. What a miracle product. It literally saved my ass! I hope this info helps others who've gone through the agony.
Jack, I have found an over-the-counter product that greatly reduces the pain of an anal fissure. I tried Preparation H ointment with little to no results. However, Preparation H Cooling Gel works wonders. I apply it liberally and directly to the fissure and within an hour, the pain drops to a level that is bearable. Please post this on your page in hopes that it helps others who do not have access to Nitroglycerin ointment. It is labelled for external use only, but when pain relief is the primary concern, I say go with what works.
Your Web page is a WONDERFUL resource for a difficult situation. I'd like to tell you my story, only because it is a little different than any of the others I have read. It might be useful to someone. All fissure cases are terribly painful and annoying, but this story is to highlight the importance of early intervention. After about four years of on-and-off bleeding and five months of severe bleeding at every BM, I finally decided to see a specialist. I was diagnosed with fissures, something I had never heard of before. My doctor said it was the worst case he had seen. I bled significantly even during the exam. Where my case differs from most is that I had TWO tears that were both bleeding at each BM with a third tear beginning to appear. Had I done something when the problem started, I certainly would not have progressed to level of multiple tears. We opted for surgery and it was the best decision I could have ever made. The recovery from the surgery was difficult for a couple of days, but I returned to my running and bicycling schedule within three weeks and competed in a triathlon just six weeks later. The most post-surgery discomfort was caused by the stitches, but once they were gone, I was a whole new man. While surgery should be avoided when possible, I am confident that it was the only option for a severe case like mine. Lastly, I recommend holding out for a colorectal specialist that you are comfortable with and is willing to answer questions. This isn't necessarily the first one you see. The first one I went to see was the pits, but number two (a little fissure humor) was wonderful and willing to put up with my interrogations. Opting for a surgical correction has taken me to a level of comfort that I haven't experienced in many years. Thank you again for your website and efforts to inform people. It is greatly appreciated.
Hi, Jack. Thanks for your page. I'm only 25 years old I've had anal fissures off and on since I was 17. Of course, I thought I was the only one. On one of my most recent trips to the doctor for this (the student health center at my school), she told me that it was not at all uncommon for college students. Anyway, the thing I wanted to share with you that I had not seen on your page was that she suggested using a little Monistat cream (for vaginal yeast infections) on the rectum. This sounds similar to the Tinactin that others have tried. The idea is that a little yeast infection in that delicate tissue can cause it to be more prone to tearing. So this is especially important for women who are prone to yeast infections. If you're treating one area, go ahead and treat the other area as well. Regards, Nancy
jack, thank you for your page. I have been battling a fissure for about 3 months now. my pain and discomfort do not seem as intense as some of your contributors (or maybe i'm just learning to live with it). I will have 1 or 2 weeks with little to no pain and then one, single, solitary bout of constipation and it feels like i'm back to sqaure one again! (although I have to hope not totally back, maybe just a few steps back). i recommend those metamucil fiber crackers to others, especially the apple crisp kind. they taste pretty good actually!
OK, I don't want this to sound crazy, but I would really like to see someone else try this, because it worked for me. I have had problems with anal fissures for more than 15 years. At first, hydrocortisone suppositories worked fine, first 1% than 2.5%. Eventually that stopped working & my attacks became more & more severe (like lots of the cases I read). My doctor prescribed the Nitroglycerin ointment, and while this did help to a great extent, I still always had some pain & occasional bad attacks. Surgery seemed to be the next option. Now comes the strange part. I'm not sure why I tried this, but I have had a bad recurring fungal infection on my foot that I treat with Tinactin (standard over the counter cream for athletes foot). Part of the foot problem included a recurring deep & painful cut between my two small toes. A week or so of aggressive treatment with Tinactin always healed this problem. OK, so I guess that is why I tried it. I figured since Tinactin can also be used for jock itch, how much further off is my ass! So after another painful anal fissure attack, I experimented on myself. At first, I used both the nitro & the Tinactin. Within 4 or 5 days I had a huge improvement. Getting brave, I switched to only Tinactin - 3 times daily. After about 2 weeks - NO PAIN. I mean nothing! I hadn't had a pain free bowel movement in close to 2 years, and now I was completely pain free. It has now been 4 months since I started this & I now use basically nothing. Just occasional maintenance at the slightest hint of trouble. I try to keep to a diet that keeps my stools soft, but I even stopped using a stool softener (I was taking 2 colace daily). I know this sounds like a strange treatment, but it worked for me & I would be curious to see if it could work for someone else. I haven't been back to the doctor so I never mentioned it to him, but I think he would just think I was nuts. I promise you, I had as severe a case as anyone could have, extreme pain, bleeding, spasms, etc., & now cured! Try it, it worked for me & please let me know if it works for you. PS - I also tried a generic (Walgreens) brand. Had the same active ingredient, but for some reason burned on contact. If you try it use the name brand - I had no burning with that, so it must have had something to do with the base. Good Luck
As a new 'recruit' it was really helpful just to find something so useful and encouraging. I am trying out a number of the non-medical suggestions first! One thing I have noticed that no one else appears to have mentioned is HOT WATER BOTTLES. Sitting on one when an episode occurs has proved to reduce both the pain and the length of the episode dramatically for me. Just don't burn your backside!!! Once again many thanks for taking the time and trouble to set and run this site. PS Please don't publish my name (I'm sure you wouldn't any way!).
I found some interesting information at http://www.gihealth.com/TREC2/articles/analfissure.html about the surgery I'm soon facing. Answered quite a bit of questions, and your site visitors might find it useful. Thanks for making such an excellent repository of information available. Please don't use my name or e-mail on the site.
hi jack,
thank you for excellent web page. I am a 35 yr white mail with a
documented history of anal fissures. my case started like yours with small
hemmorhoids leading to a small fissure which I left untreated for a year or
so. I run and bike alot so my case stared out with a carb loaded diet and
dehydration. I currently am 1 week healed after 1 year of
burning,pain,itching ...my plan is such:
breakfast: high fiber cereal --8-10grams of fiber. sometimes 1 & 1/2 cup
required.
at least 3 glasses of water by 10 oclock.
lunch:large salad with dark green organic lettuce and lots of veggies
including peas
garbanzo beans,bean sprouts,cucs,olives,green peppers,etc .. any kind of
colored vegetable. 2 glasses of h20 by after noon.i use a chicken breast
every couple days
also.
dinner: anything really in small portions. usually a small salad and stay
away from breads. 2-3 glasses of h20.
snacks: throughout day -- various fruits--- alot of gum
meds: 1 surfak per day. vitamin multi.
med during flare up: analpram 2.5 cream three times a day
xylocaine jelly before bowel movement in am.
sitz bath 2 or 3 times a day.
I sit here today comfortably finally. I did stop working out in order to
heal but I must begin to work out again. I am afraid of course of the
possibly dehydration and hemms and cycle coming back. do you know of any
athletes who I could talk to about maintence issues-- like possibly using
some sort of anal cream before working out to reduce friction and maintane
moisture during high intensity workouts.
I am a pharmacist so if I can help you with any other info please ask. again
your web site helped me formulate my current healing plan and I am very
thankful to you.