Anal fissure: What helps it heal?

Lidocaine ointment helps temporarily. I ended up 2 times with surgery. My surgeon promised me I would never have a fissure again - that was 10 years ago.🙏🏻

I get an anal fissure about every two months now. Burns when I poop then a little blood on tp. Doctor gave me a compound, usually a two or three days it clears up. But it continues to come back I take Metamucil everynight

I have had 3 fissure operations. My surgeon for the third one promised me I would never go through this again. It has been about 9 years ago.

I understand the pain of an anal fissure. Mine occurred during a routine colonoscopy. (When it occurred, the pain brought me out of my state of sedation with a yelp, and I heard the physician tell the assistant to give me more sedation. ) Afterwards she didn’t tell me what happened so I assumed that the resulting pain and bleeding that flared up periodically was caused by hemorrhoids. It wasn’t until I went to see a colon/rectal surgeon that I found out it was a fissure and not hemorrhoids and I was scheduled for surgery.

A few days after surgery, a bout of constipation caused the fissure to begin reopening. The surgeon gave me a prescription for a compounded nifedipine ointment that worked wonders and the fissure site finally healed completely. Since then, I’ve learned that in many cases that particular compounded ointment can heal fissures without surgery. It may be worth a try.

Hello - I am new to this group and would like to ask if any of you have tried red light therapy (infrared) to assist with healing? If so, did you feel that it was helpful as part of an overall conservative protocol for healing a chronic fissure?

I also have a question about using Botox on a 1x basis to settle down the spasms and give the fissure a better chance of healing. I did see in previous posts that Botox has been tried by some, but if anyone has recent experience, it would helpful to collect your thoughts. Additionally, will you please comment as how the Botox was administered? I have read about varying approaches (e.g., superficial around the outside of the sphincter muscle with a local anesthetic vs. injections higher/deeper into the muscle under general sedation).

I have been fully checked out by both a GI specialist and colorectal surgeon. I do not have any underlying conditions...just the fissure and associated spasms. Just trying to assess my options should I need to go beyond conservative measures to clear this up. Thanks so much!

50%r of people can heal them on their own without surgery. Hot sitz baths really helps. Yes, very painful and I feel for you. Keep your feet elevated when you can.

Hi Mikaylar - thank you for your response. I am on a conservative treatment path that includes sitz baths, a compounded ointment, pelvic floor therapy, and so on. Hoping very much to heal it without a surgical intervention. I'm scheduled for a recheck in October. In my case, I was initially misdiagnosed and I think the time lapse is what slowed down my healing. I will add more time w/feet elevated based on your suggestion! Thank you again.

What finally helped me after 2 surgeries and 14 years sitting on a donut was an anti-seizure medication for an unrelated matter. 2 weeks on Topamax and I was better. My pelvic therapist mentioned that she had heard of that. Well, why not mention it to me???

Hi there - completely agree. Thanks again. 🙂

@cahabagirl yes, Nifedipine compounded ointment is what healed my fissure - cost me around $70 because my government health plan didn’t cover it, but it was worth the out of pocket cost! It took six weeks of application three times a day.

I too developed constipation after my colonoscopy and had to remedy that first. That was why it took so long for the fissure to heal.