Anal Fissure

[deste]

My dd has IBS and an anal fissure, she is in constant pain and cant go to college sometimes or do certain subjects as it is a very physical course. She was given cream for thrush but did not get an applicator so could not use it. She had to go back to the doctor again as she now has greenish discharge. She has lactulose and a new cream with an applicator but has not imroved at all. she has another longer appointment on Monday so hopefully she will get more help. Does anyone have any advice so that she can get on with her life thanks.

Bump

Where is the discharge, from the anus or vagina? Why was she given an antifungal cream foe the fissure?

Its coming from the anus. I questioned the fact it was caniston. Thanks for replying

Canesten will do nothing for an anal fissure. The lacutlose will help if your dd is constipated. There are some good creams for the fissure.

Greenish discharge doesn't sound good. have this thread on watch, but am going to bed now.

What's the new cream?

I had diltiazem cream for my anal fissure - worked pretty well.

I'm not sure what she was given, I will find out, but how long did it take to work and did you do anything in particular to help yourself.

I had one of these in my teens, they are really embarassing to talk about as well as uncomfortable.

Make sure your DD drinks plenty of water and eats non-spicy and acidic food as this can add to the irritation.

I was given large syringe applicators of local anasthetic gel to apply before opening my bowels and it really helped. These were prescribed by the hospital as I was away from home and terrifeied by seeing blood in my pooh!

I am sure your GP can prescribe something similar.

Hope she gets better soon!

I had one of these a few years ago. But not with the discharge - not sure that is anything to do with a fissure?

It hurt like h*ll when I opened my bowel and there were always bloodstreaks on the stool and tissue.

GP was not interested so I got myself some wound cream with anasthetic in which relieved the pain and allowed it to heal up. I also increased fruit/veg/water intake to keep things soft till fissure had healed.

Worked a treat, and it has not returned as yet!!

She has been given zyloproct a local anaesthtic and has been using it since Wednesday but still no relief.

I hate to tell you this, but I suffered with my fissure for many months before it healed up. It just kept re-opening as I had daily bowel movements.

No other advice really, sorry...

my DD2 was diagnosed with this in november - doctor described it as chronic (she is 16 months now). it has now almost healed though from having 2 doses of lactulose a day, tons of water, innocent smoothie drinks and as much fruit/fibre as i can get into her (pureed fruit in her weetabix etc...)

how old is your DD? a teenager i guess if she is at college. Quite often it does need surgery but the operation is very very successful. Does she try desperately not to poo as it hurts so much, resulting in dried/harder poos which hurt more and so the cycle continues? You really have to get her poos moving, aim for the consistency of "tarka dhal" the doctor told me...

think the thrush is unconnected btw.

I had this (fissure) after having DS. I found lactulose worse than useless - and in fact find a good dose of fresh orange juice really helped in that respect.

I suffered absolute agony for about a year having one cream or suppositry after another. No use.

Eventually had 2 operations which sorted it. (if you have private health insurance for your family then i would say don't mess around just get her referred and sorted).

I know this won't help the IBS - but i know how draining and painful a fissure can be - sooner that bit is fixed the better.

She is 20 and having IBS is going to the toilet a few times a day and in the middle of the night so it does not get a chance to heal. Our health insurance does not cover her unfortunately. She will know if she needs an operation next week. She is a student and lives at the other end of the country and is getting a bit down because of it.

Sorry I haven't had a chance to get back before now. I used the cream for about a month. It was an unlicensed product at the time (i.e. it had not been given a product licence in this country) so was not that easy to get and I don't know if it's been licensed yet. Anyway, it was different to what your dd has. The fissure wasn't completely healed by the time I finished the course (and I couldn't go on using it because I had started to develop a reaction to it), so I had to carry on treating it by making sure I never got constipated (I used lactulose, Senokot and ate lots of fruit). I agree with whoever said it takes months to heal. Mine gradually got better but I still get twinges 5 years on. Whenever I get any hint of it, I take some lactulose and Senokot just to stop it opening up.

I used to have to use a bidet because I couldn't really wipe much (too painful and couldn't seem to get properly clean by wiping). So maybe suggest she washes instead of wipes. It's awkward but works quite well.

I think your dd needs to talk to her GP about the discharge and about the IBS problem. My mother has IBS and has a fissure too. She uses Lomotyl to control the IBS symptoms (basically it bungs her up). Although it might seem daft to take something to bung you up if you have a fissure she may have a chance of healing if she is not going so often (as long as her stools do not get hard) so maybe that is something she can talk to her doctor about.

My mother had the operation in the end and it improved hers but didn't completely work. I really wanted to avoid it because it can cause incontinence (which is not always obvious at first - can develop later).

Just a thought (maybe completely off the wall)...but wonder if a colostomy might do the trick if she can't heal due to frequent opening of her bowels. Would presumably avoid the risk of incontinence.

Anyway, hope that helps and send her my sympathy - it really is excruciating .

There is a licensed GTN cream now but for the life of me can't remember it's name.

Rectogesic I think. Glyceryl Trinitrate 0.4%.

just to say I had one of these after having dd and lactulose combined with using rectogesic gel really really helped - but the rectogesic did give me quite bad headaches for a few days

your poor daughter, i'm 25 and i have a had this problem for 7yrs it heals then reappears, now i have to have an operation to quortorize(sp?) it. I also was prescribed rectogesic very good as it allows the muscles to relax when passing anything therefor it gives a little time to heal the fissure, the glyceryl trinitrate thats in this ointment actually is used for heart patients to allow the arteries and muscles to relax, the only problem i had was that whenever i used it i felt dizzy for a few minutes but it does bring a great deal of relief when using it, def see your doctor about this prescription

Just posting to show solidarity, I have a reoccuring fissure and try and keep it under control by drinking lots of water and keeping everything soft. It's bad at the moment and I really sympathise. This thread makes me think I should to go back to the dr as it's been going on for about 5 years now.

She went to the doctor yesterday and he said he doesn't think she has IBS so that is a relief. She managed to go two days without going to the toilet and thought the cream was beginning to work. That is the first time in weeks she has had a chance to heal. She is waiting for an appointment at the hospital for more investigations. Thankyou everyone for answering, you have been a great help.

anyone still following this?
i got a fissure a month after a forceps delivery of my baby. i was so shocked at how unbelievably painful it was, and when i found out it could take months to heal i was mortified.
4 months on, i still have it. but its a load better , and im sure its on the way out. the hospital recommended a cream but they couldnt guarantee its safety during breastfeeding and i am now managing my pain enough that i wont risk it or give up feeding.
DIET:
i drink a lot of water, a few pints a day. every cup of caffeine, or chocolate bar, or booze, needs an extra glass of water to go with it!
i eat a lot of fruit, a breakfast with fresh and dried fruit mixed with bran flakes and oats.
i dont drink coffee anymore, although i cant bring myself to give up tea.
i dont eat red meat, or anything processed.
i eat lots of wholegrains.
OTHER:
use ky jelly before a bowel movement. sometimes im relaxed enough to put my little finger up, and sometimes i only manage the edge, but that really helps. it should also help stop you opening the fissure again, or making it worse, cos it slides out! sorry for being graphic, but its a graphic problem)
i use babywipes to wipe myself rather than toilet roll.
i was using a comfrey ointment locally which is a wound healer, but get a qualified herbalist to sort you out some.

in thebeginning month i wept every day, after an excruitiating poo, of which i had 1,2,or 3 a day, i would be in pain for up to 8 hours afterward. it was hard to sleep cos i would start worrying about needing to poo in the morning, and the last thing you need with a sleepless baby is a mother getting even less sleep than she can. sometimes i couldnt sit down to feed my baby it hurt too much afterward, and i would be torn between eating enough to keep myself and the baby healthy, and wanting to not eat to make myself poo less.
now, it only hurts when i actually poo, and enough to make me grimace but not to literally be clinging onto the side of the bath crying. it is so much better. and i hardly bleed, maybe every 4th day a bit of pink blood, but, please reassure me other sufferers, i am healling arent i???!!
but i think it has taken me a long time partly because i kept thinking i was healed and being slack with my diet and then tearing open again. so persist!
and i hope me and all the other fissure sufferers get well soon.

gosh yes I also ripped my arse to pieces when I had both babies (apparently 10% of women do) - couldn't believe it when it happened the second time too, I was GUTTED. It was the most traumatic part. I was blubbing to all my friends on the phone for months afterwards . I would pass out every day when I did a poo. The pain is terrible. I saw loads of docs and consultants, but there isn't much they can do. Anyway both times it healed up after about 9ish months. Ahhhh it's so lovely to be able to poo and not throw up or pass out.

Good luck to all of you with battered rear-ends.

MaeBee, all your advice is really spot-on

MaeBee - I had an anal fissure a few years ago after a nasty banana boating incident - they call it a 40 mile an hour enema! Also suffered a bit after the birth of DS2, as my tear went up my bum as well. I was prescribed instillagel (usually used to insert catheters for men) to use when I needed a poo. It helped with the pain when having a poo, and the pain for hours afterwards. I put it on before I went to the loo, and again once I'd been. It made such a difference - went from lying in bed crying with pain, to just uncomfortable. I am fully bfing DS2, and was told it was fine to use when bfing.

I've just been diagnosed with this (yesterday) after a week of the most unspeakable agony. I've been given Rectogesic to use twice a day for six weeks (apparently a big mistake a lot of sufferers make is that they feel the symptoms abate so they stop using Rectogesic - & the fissure comes back), lactulose & instillagel. I haven't had a poo today and am absolutely dreading it when I do (will use the insillagel before hand - thanks for the tip Laura!). The consultant I saw asked me to come back in a week & said that I'd feel the benefit of the Rectogesic within a day - is this right?! I honestly cannot bear to think that this might go on for any longer as it's the worst agony I have ever experienced - much worse than the birth of my daughter!)
Is it a good idea to eat less in order to try to poo less frequently, will that help?
PLEASE tell me I will get over this - I am at my wits end & it's taking over my life in a horrible way.