You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
As mentioned in my title I have a slightly uncomfortable, embarassing, and until recently, *extremely* painful issue - which goes by the name of an Anal Fissure. I was wondering if anyone has suffered the same and can give some reassurance?
Here is a long story for you, that you may not wish to read if a it squeamish. However apparently it is very common, and I think it's important to raise awareness...because it is frankly a miserable experience for something that seems quite inconsequential.
Around the beginning of February I started feeling a rather uncomfortable itching in my aft exhaust port. It felt quite familiar as I have had a few issues with Haemorrhoids in the past, so I assumed this is what it was; they normally go away within a week or so. Unfortunately this time they didn't, and it grew more painful to do my daily business over a few weeks and the pain started to hang around more and more.
Alarm bells started ringing in March, when I saw blood on my toilet paper. Never seen that before...and felt a deep sense of horror at the thought and reality of it. Staring me in the face like an eldritch ghoul. I visited the doctor, who took a full blood panel (absolutely fine in all regards) as well as a stool sample (again, fine). He also carried out a digital and external exam, and found only a "skin tag" that may have come from a past pile. He said it may still be causing some piles based issues, so prescribed me some Anusol HC cream and said if it isn't completely gone in 3 weeks come back.
This cream seemed to have the opposite effect, and come the beginning of April I was a wreck. Whereas before I could still bike or run if I timed it well, I was now in shuddering agony. Essentially immobilised. Hot poker insertion feeling at all times. When making a trip to the bathroom, I was pretty sure on a couple of occasions I could see the clouds parting and transcended the mortal sphere though sheer pain. The pain seemed to last all day from sharp to a dull spasming throb, only semi-relieved by sitting on a hot water bottle for an hour.
I threw in the towel and went to the doctor again...who then found a very small papercut-like fissure. Very easy to miss apparently - and quite shocking how something so small can hang around so long and feel like you're pushing out a fully armoured samurai warrior. Apparently what can happen is that the muscles down there decide to go into overdrive upon receiving trauma and clamp shut, causing all sorts of spasming all through the day - and the lack of blood flow means without medical intervention it just won't heal like a normal cut would. Basically as well as sharp pain from the physical damage, I felt like I was constantly, and uncontrollable clenching down there all the time. I don't have a clue how this happened.
I got prescribed Cosmocol (salty orange flavoured stool softener sachets) and Diltiazem (muscle relaxant cream, in this case topical 2% but licensed for heart problems usually) to take twice a day. This was about 3.5 weeks ago now and I am feeling much much better. Almost normal. The pain is almost all gone, just some slight itching every now and then, and maybe a sharp nip for the first second of a bowel movement. No spasms or aches at all, and I am back riding, running etc. I actually feel fitter than I did before as with so much fibre I have lost a couple KGs, and the Cosmocol is packed with electrolytes.
What I am worried about though, is coming off this medicine in 4.5 weeks time. I can't explain why, but it still kinda feels like it's the medicine holding that bad stuff at bay rather than healing - and once I stop it will all come back again. The next stop after that is a botox injection apparently, to deaden the sphincter muscles. After that, the last-line option is surgery to cut the sphincter muscle to fully relax it and open it up the bloodflow.
Has anyone been through this experience before and had a full healing success story?
Almost poetic in places, that.
Almost poetic in places, that.
Deeply moving piece of literature. Not sure I fancy the film version.
Nothing useful to add, but probably one of those subjects that doesn't get talked about as much as it should be.
I’m rather surprised that someone has given this thread a thumbs up.
I’ve had a fissure a couple of times and can completely feel your pain. It gets to a point that you dread going to the toilet because of the inevitable severe pain you will experience. For me as the weeks wore on the pain got more intense and would last longer and longer, up to four hours at its worst. Trouble was it made me go to the toilet less, knowing the inevitable pain would be horrendous but that compounded the issue, because when I did eventually go the size of the number two opened up the fissure even more. Eventually I went to the Doctors and they gave me some cream (not sure what it was) that I had to apply internally after every bowel movement that eventually cleared it up. He also advised to use some sort of laxative to loosen the stools so not to stretch the sphincter and tear the fissure again.
I’m rather surprised that someone has given this thread a thumbs up.
I get that it's gross but we all have ringpieces...I don't WANT to be talking about ringpieces but sometimes one must talk about ringpieces. Especially when ones own is damaged. I'm one of the youngest here I would guess and yet have the least shame about my own arsse!
Been there twice. Miserable experience for everyone concerned.
Drink laxido once a day, it softens yer poo so no stretching. It's not a laxative.
Get a cream containing gtn (glycerine tri nitrate). It will relax your hoop and allow blood flow. It's on prescription. Down side it will give you a headache
Get your self a portable bidet and wash yourself every time you have a dump. Never use paper, in fact never use it again, only washing. It's life changing.
Years ago a colleague had this quite severely and was off work for months because of it, signed off sick.
it’s one of those illnesses that you can’t begin to understand how humans before modern medicine coped with.
I had the same experience. Including treating it as piles for a good while, which as you also found out isn’t at all helpful!
All sorted now. Daily baths and mostly vegetarian diet was my path out of it. No drugs.
Oh, the right saddle is key!
I’ve not had it that bad but was diagnosed with plural by a nurse when I went from ‘uncomfortable itchy crack’ to ‘OMG is that blood on the bog roll?!’ after a particular rough dump. My issue was that it was rather dry down there and being a vigorous wiper I was making the skin all cracked and broken. Got some cream and advice to dry it all out after wiping/ showering, then apply the cream, and apply cream 3 times daily at least. Cleared up inside a week, comes back every now and then but a squirt of e45 sorts me right out.
Are you aware of Bob, from back when the Internet was in black and white?
https://www.anus.com/etc/anal-fissure-bob/
Yes, had it
Yes, it stings like you’re getting repeatedly bummed by Satan’s donkey
Botox injection cured it.
No further issues and now, although my face looks every minute of 53 years old, my ring piece only looks about 35
Is that why you always look surprised when you are talking out your arse Perchy?
Nah, I do it so often that it’s never a surprise
I’m rather surprised that someone has given this thread a thumbs up.
I get that it's gross but we all have ringpieces...I don't WANT to be talking about ringpieces but sometimes one must talk about ringpieces. Especially when ones own is damaged. I'm one of the youngest here I would guess and yet have the least shame about my own arsse!
whoosh….. it was in jest,
it’s one of those illnesses that you can’t begin to understand how humans before modern medicine coped with.
Interestingly, if it gets bad enough to need an operation, the procedure is the same as it was 100’s of years ago.
Just to say, my mtbing mate had one back in the 90s and we used to call it his "Gary"
the procedure is the same as it was 100’s of years ago.
Wire brush and Dettol?
Wire brush and Dettol?
I for one appreciated this reference. 👏
(Perhaps the 'clap' emoji was too much...)
Wire brush and Dettol?
Bet he’s just glad he got in with it first
Are you aware of Bob, from back when the Internet was in black and white?
Hahaha - this is amazing. I wish I could write that well. "Grogan Buster (tm)" had me buckled.
Years ago a colleague had this quite severely and was off work for months because of it, signed off sick.
it’s one of those illnesses that you can’t begin to understand how humans before modern medicine coped with.
Totally! When mine was really bad I had to take a couple days off with a suitable excuse, but thanks to the doctors interventions it's now like a 2/10 at most instead of a 9/10 in terms of grimness.
And yeah...between anal fissures and a couple bad rounds of tooth infections (that's my guess at how I got this), safe to say if I was a caveman I would probably be dead by now!
I had the same experience. Including treating it as piles for a good while, which as you also found out isn’t at all helpful!
All sorted now. Daily baths and mostly vegetarian diet was my path out of it. No drugs.
Oh, the right saddle is key!
Yeah - I think because piles treatments reduce blood flow, and fissure treatment boosts it they counteract each other. I never realised that human hoops are such fragile things...seems like it should be made of iron like a spaceship door to be honest.
I had a eureka moment a few days ago; I actually have 3 missing teeth (all molars) from the past few years as a result of poor teenage dental hygeine catching up to me. I think that I need to concentrate on chewing more before I get them bridged, because I'm sure that is what has caused this.
Happened to MrsIHN last year, triggered we think by a particularly nasty bout of the shits which took a couple of weeks to properly settle down.
As others above, self-treated as piles for a while, when that was doing nothing she went to GPs who referred to consultant, luckily she has BUPA cover.
He diagnosed the fissure, she was prescribed a cream to go in/up and lactolose to soften her dumps. She was on that for a good few weeks, then a final check with a camera to make sure it was fixed.
I know folks are laughing cos, you know, bums, but it really was miserable for her so you have my full sympathy.
Yes, when I was 19 (40 years ago) had two ops a couple of months apart. One for a fissure and the other for a fistula. Can't remember much about it other than being hugely embarrassing.
I thought this was something only porn actors got. What are you lot up to?
I thought this was something only porn actors got. What are you lot up to?
Hey, it pays well that's all I'll say.
Trouble was it made me go to the toilet less, knowing the inevitable pain would be horrendous but that compounded the issue, because when I did eventually go the size of the number two opened up the fissure even more.
I wouldn't say constipation was my favourite arse-related medical condition, but it's a solid number two
So I never got it diagnosed but fairly sure it was a fissure I had.
So it was Christmas a few years ago and I had eaten quite a lot and a big part of that was meat.
I sat down on the pan to have a what felt like a fairly sizeable meaty jobbie
Mid push, I sneezed and said meaty jobbie rocketed out of my anus and splashed down in the bowl
I then lay on the toilet floor for a while in absolute agony
for the next 8 or 9 months I had to be really careful what I ate. It had to include 2 litres of water and at least 5 portions of fruit / veg a day to make the jobbies soft . If I missed any if the water/fruit/veg the ensuing crap would be horrendously painful
Oh good grief, there's a story to rival the picolax thread.
Actually crying laughing here.
What is wrong with me
With you on this. I now have to inflict this on share this with my friends
About 40 years ago I had an op on this issue. Afterwards I found I had 'packing' in the rear end. It was congealed blood etc all nicely glued in. Removing it was agony. I was face down, deep breathing, gripping the mattress and beads of sweat on the forehead. Eventually the nurse said 'it's out' and I enquired, 'is it as boy?' No response.
Foolishly I'd travelled to the hospital on my motor bike. I had to ride back like I was in training for the Grand National.
You have my sympathy for the pain, nothing quite like it, excruciating. Anyway, any recurring issues in that department and get it checked out. Complications can involve septicemia and all kinds of nasties.
as soon as I saw the thread title I was thinking of "Bob" - I think that one dates from when there were magazines with websites reproduced either inside or on the cover CD for those that didn't have internet, pretty sure that's how I first saw the tale. A real historical artifact!
About 40 years ago I had an op on this issue. Afterwards I found I had 'packing' in the rear end. It was congealed blood etc all nicely glued in. Removing it was agony. I was face down, deep breathing, gripping the mattress and beads of sweat on the forehead. Eventually the nurse said 'it's out' and I enquired, 'is it as boy?' No response.
Foolishly I'd travelled to the hospital on my motor bike. I had to ride back like I was in training for the Grand National.
You have my sympathy for the pain, nothing quite like it, excruciating. Anyway, any recurring issues in that department and get it checked out. Complications can involve septicemia and all kinds of nasties.
Thank you! Luckily I am in regular contact with my doctor who, through several embarassing and vulnerable appointments, has found nothing else of concern. The Diltiazem and Cosmocol they have prescribed me have also quelled it to the point of a non-issue...for now. Expect if it comes straight back after my course I may end up with surgery!
But yeah, the pain was quite extraordinary when using the bathroom before that. Required some serious wim hof breathing to get through it. The rest of the time it wasn't exactly agony, just intensely uncomfortable and annoying. Couldn't even walk let along ride or run for a good week at the worst of it.
---
I actually have a little pet theory as an aside. The Diltiazem cream they gave me is primarily designed for heart patients as it increases blood flow. The cream is very dilute and is topical...yet I am *sure* it is having some kind of systemic benefit. As I say I couldn't ride for a while; since getting back into it I feel really fit and can drop mates that I couldn't drop before. Am I doping?!!
have you been tested for coeliac disease??
My symptoms improved when diagnosed as Coeliac and started on gluten free diet
have you been tested for coeliac disease??
My symptoms improved when diagnosed as Coeliac and started on gluten free diet
Been tested for everything known to man and nothing comes up. Fit as a fiddle otherwise...it is an "injury" rather than a condition so many things can be the cause. My diet is generally very good.
My pet theory is that I have had had 4 teeth taken out over the past 3 years - all of them molars (bad teenage habits catching up with me).
Never had any issues before this, but had some reflux, digestive discomfort (hence all the testing), and as mentioned a couple minor run-ins with the Nurembergs before this Fissure business, all within the same timeframe. I think that because I am missing a lot of chewing teeth, I *think* I am chewing properly but I am not. Leading to some bother throughout the digestive system and probably some more solid than ideal jobbies.
At least that makes sense to me...I am starting to get them bridged now so hopefully should resolve over time.
Have had something similar. I am just about normal wrt bowel frequency - going about two or three times a week. On occasion there has been too much time between visits, resulting in a fissure and occasionally blood. It has cleared up on it's own. I don't take anything for constipation because I'm not. There is a lot of vasculature down there and a little fresh blood can be alarming. In fact, brown blood should be more alarming as it has come from further up the GI tract.
as soon as I saw the thread title I was thinking of "Bob" - I think that one dates from when there were magazines with websites reproduced either inside or on the cover CD for those that didn't have internet, pretty sure that's how I first saw the tale. A real historical artifact!
I'm reasonably confident that the first time I read that tale, the preferred method of distribution was a printout and a photocopier.
Ah, lost on me then I'm afraid.
I don't think it'll be chewing related - if it's digestible then large or small chunks will all end up as mush once through the stomach.
Nope, not at all... it was an MTB related piece of humour
Ah, lost on me then I'm afraid.
Surely you've heard of Gary Fisher?
Who, to bring it full circle* bears more than a passing resemblance to the cockney rhyming slang paedophile.
*entirely deliberate, I thank you.
Oh I see. Yes, that Rings A Bell. *
@elray89 feel free to PM me if you want a proper chat about this... Happy to give you my phone number and to be as supportive as I can be...
As for my experience with anal fissures...?
Long story short (yes, really, this is a very succinct version of events!), suspected I had a problem with my bowels as discovered blood in my poo back end of 2021. Had a feel up there, could feel something that shouldn't be there. Went to the docs, he dismissed it as nothing... I demanded a 2nd opinion... 7 months later, I finally got seen by a colorectal specialist, who within seconds was telling me I needed a camera up there as I had a polyp that was suspect...
Camera up there a few weeks later, they were concerned enough to decide it should come out at some point, but a biopsy didn't reveal too much at the time...
October 2022, I had an operation to remove the polyp from my bowel... This is when the problems start!
2 weeks later, I have a meeting with the surgeon... He immediately asks me to sit down (and has 2 nurses with him)... They've discovered it was cancerous after all, and scared the beejesus out of me posthumously (so to speak, the polyp had been removed)... By this point I've only just stopped shitting myself every day (anal surgery is absolutely the f***ing worst thing I've experienced!), I really needed a pick me up and finding out I'd cancer wasn't it! But things were about to get worse still...
Another 4 weeks later, my antibiotics clearly weren't working, I was losing control of my bowels again and started feeling very ill. GF rushed me to hospital, spent 12hrs waiting in A&E mostly curled up in a ball and sometimes crying to myself, before I got through to be seen... 2hrs on a bed in a hallway before got onto a ward, but as soon as I got onto the ward, duty doctor saw me, took a look at my arse and said "right, we're going into surgery today"... Basically I was a few short hours away from dying of SEPSIS! The surgeon operated to relieve the infection, and I spent a couple of nights in hospital recovering before I was ok to go home under the careful supervision of my GF again...
An MRI scan a few weeks later reveals a fissure (as warned against before my original surgery)... Oh great! What's the plan? Well believe it or not, the NHS don't have a plan for it! They're amazing at saving your life or dealing with cancer, but for something far more debilitating on a day to day basis but not life threatening most of the time (until it is), they don't have a plan!!!
3 months later... Guess what happened... I got infected again! This time fortunately, antibiotics cleared it up, but several days of shitting myself every day (get used to this I'm afraid, buy plenty of adult nappies and don't sleep in your best cotton/silk bed sheets!) later, it cleared and I slowly went back to my "new normal"...
Another 3 months later again... Yup it came back again! Antibiotics not having enough of an effect this time... Went to A&E to explain the situation, they couldn't find enough evidence of a problem (when Sepsis comes, you might feel awful but often won't show many signs of how sick you are right up until it's almost too late!), so sent me home from A&E with more antibiotics... My parting shot to them was a sarcastic "thank you, I'll see you tomorrow then"...
Less than 24hrs later, I'm in REAL shit again... I got an emergency appointment at my GP (who was much more in tune with my problem than the A&E staff in general), said GP took one look at my backside and immediately said I needed to get to the hospital NOW and into surgery asap! He phoned the hospital ahead so that I didn't need to go through A&E and in fact went into their direct admissions unit (forgotten its name right now), and about 4hrs later I was in surgery once again having my life saved from Sepsis once again!
As you can imagine, by this point, I am feeling like a lost cause... The NHS will step in and save my life when needed, but won't do anything to fix the problem that is causing them to need to save my life regularly!
My Dad spoke to a friend of his whose son in law was a colrectal specialist, but did quite a bit of work privately as well as NHS. I booked an initial consultation, and he took a look at the problem and then informed me of my options... I booked an MRI scan with them (cost me £500) which revealed the extent of the fissure, and the surgeon then said that he could stick me under the knife electively to close the fissure off (hopefully), and that within 4 weeks of that surgery I'd be back at work and on my way back to normal...
So for another £3.5k I decided to pay the bill and get my life back! I now have BUPA coverage, but that's a conversation for another day...
I was back at work in November 2023, didn't have a single problem with the fissure during 2024, so the surgery had worked! I was even able to start riding a bike again in spring 2024 being careful not to aggravate my bumhole (bear in mind, the last time I'd ridden a bike at this point was in August 2022, almost 2 full years without riding a bike when it has been my lifelong passion!)... All was going well...
Fast forward to beginning of Feb 25... A personal issue (that I'm not going into on here) that has caused me a severe problem with stress and anxiety kicks me hard in the gut (literally), and as you can imagine, my physical health starts to deteriorate again... I'm back on antibiotics within a couple of weeks, fortunately they seem to contain the problem, but I wasn't taking chances and got booked into another MRI as soon as I could...
I've just had the results of said MRI this evening (6th May) and fortunately they've revealed no lasting damage, but there was evidence of more infection again. The surgery in September 2023 had worked to a degree, but unfortunately my body needs to be kept in a perfect equilibrium so that I don't get infected again, and a BIG part of that is having a clean bill of mental health too! So anything and everything you can do to balance your mental health at the same time... Do it! I couldn't ride bikes (obviously), but couldn't even ride a motorbike (my other passion) for ages either... So I bought an MX5, something I could actually enjoy for a while whilst waiting to be able to ride again. That car really saved my mental health a number of times I'll be honest! Sounds odd, but I absolutely don't need the car now but really can't bear parting with it because of my emotional ties to it... And don't pressure yourself into riding again too soon! You can do more damage than good, and horrendous as it might be to hear about everyone else riding and having fun when you can't, the day will come again when you can ride again and be glad that it's all behind you (pun intended) now!
Best of luck! And like I say... If you need any support, happy to offer whatever I can.
Foolishly I'd travelled to the hospital on my motor bike. I had to ride back like I was in training for the Grand National.
This has had me in stitches!!! 😂
I can totally relate to this...
@mboy - jeepers man, I am really sorry that all that happened. Compared to your experience, mine is just a minor annoyance that now seems to be under control. Many thanks for your kind offer to reach out...if this thing gets worse again I may well do! For now luckily I am back able to do the stuff I like with no issues. I am just worried what happens when the medication stops...don't want to be having to rub cream on my bottom every day.
Stories like this is why I think general bum health needs to be destigmatized a little bit more. So any people are terrified of going to the doctor...friends I have told have said they'd probably have held out longer in fear of getting poked around down there. Yes it is uncomfortable but the doctors don't care. And by the sounds of it...if you don't then you could have lots more to worry about that getting embarassed.
Btw, cod liver oil is the V-Power of keeping pipes clear and firing on all cylinders.
As for my experience with anal fissures...?
Christ (not) on a bike, that's a journey. Glad it sounds like you've mostly come out the other side now.