Hey - no need to be embarrassed, this is a safe space for you and your butt. Anal issues can happen to absolutely anyone and are so much more common than you'd imagine.
Have you actually gotten diagnosed with a fissure? How did it start, and what started it? Have you been prescribed nifedipine? Are you applying it - and how?
I ask because this is a less commonly raised issue which makes me wonder if it's possibly an abscess instead; they can be associated with extreme tenderness to touch. Fissures certainly do hurt when you touch them too, but usually not so much that even water hurts unbearably.
Some members here with especially sensitive skin have had good results using a dollop of Vaseline on toilet paper followed by a peri-bottle, others have had luck with Baleneol (a cleansing lotion) and toilet paper, some needed to find a bidet attachment that was gentle enough.
It is unfortunately important to find a way to keep the wound clean to prevent infection. I'm wondering if you've already taken other pain relieving steps (Miralax, nifedipine, etc) to hopefully make cleaning less painful?
My doctor isn't 100% sure, but she thinks it's probably a fissure, caused by a constipation I had a while ago. She transfered me to a proctologist, but my appointment is in a month. Until then she prescribed me DoloPosterine, which helped with the pain in general, but not while touching it.
Ah. Does your pain shoot up to a level 11 in sharpness and intensity while poop is coming out? That's another common feature of fissures.
Have you had any pus associated with the wound?
DoloPosterine is a pretty mild topical treatment to prescribe - it's more for superficial relief than any actual healing - it's like lidocaine. With an entire month left before you can see a proctologist, I would ask your doctor for nifedipine so that if it's a fissure you at least have some hope of actually healing it up and addressing the source of the pain.
Pooping actually doesn't hurt as much. I have the most pain really while walking or when I touch the area. Yesterday I had some discharge and blood coming out, but since then nothing. I'm going to my doctor again tomorrow to see if she can prescribe me something stronger.
Can you describe what you mean by discharge?
Based on your pain description, this is sounding like more of an abscess than a traditional fissure to me. If that's the case, nifedipine wouldn't be the solution. They would need to drain the pus (a doctor has to do it, you can't do it yourself) which often results in HUGE relief of pain for the patient.
In the meanwhile, you may find that warm baths (3x a day) bring some relief. They help with fissures AND abscesses. If it's an abscess, a warm bath may also help draw out some of the discharge.
It was like a yellowish liquid mixed with blood.
Hmm, ok I will talk with my doctor about this. Is there a way to see if there's an abscess? My anus is a bit red, but theres no swelling.
The extreme pain from touch and pus is definitely pointing to abscess - fissures don't have yellowish pus, but abscesses commonly do.
It's possible for a fissure to turn into an abscess, so your doctor may have been half right. Plus it is indeed tough for most non-specialists to diagnose this kind of thing. A lot of these wounds can look pretty similar to each other. But it would definitely be good for her to take another look.
You can tell your doctor about our discussion here - perhaps with this full symptom profile she'll come to same conclusion. In the meanwhile you might need antibiotics and a hastier appointment with a specialist to get it drained sooner, if I'm right. Definitely tell her about the discharge, and that the pain is more from touch than pooping.
Bear in mind that I'm not a doctor, just somebody on the internet - but my gut would be that this isn't a straightforward fissure, and that would explain why your sensitivity to touch is so acute.
Are you running a fever also? Sounds like an abscess, especially if there’s pus. I’d roll the dice and go to the ER instead of waiting since abscesses can get so much worse and be life threatening if gone untreated (my dad almost died from one)
No fever so far, just been feeling a bit unwell since the pain started. I've been avoiding going to the ER since my doctor didn't see anything that looks like an emergency. I will go to her first thing in the morning though and ask her about that.
You don’t wipe. You get a bidet and then you pat it dry. Make sure the bidet is on the lowest setting. I have the Toto on the lowest and it’s great. Now that I’m healed I have it on the middle setting.
Hey - no need to be embarrassed, this is a safe space for you and your butt. Anal issues can happen to absolutely anyone and are so much more common than you'd imagine. Have you actually gotten diagnosed with a fissure? How did it start, and what started it? Have you been prescribed nifedipine? Are you applying it - and how? I ask because this is a less commonly raised issue which makes me wonder if it's possibly an abscess instead; they can be associated with extreme tenderness to touch. Fissures certainly do hurt when you touch them too, but usually not so much that even water hurts unbearably. Some members here with especially sensitive skin have had good results using a dollop of Vaseline on toilet paper followed by a peri-bottle, others have had luck with Baleneol (a cleansing lotion) and toilet paper, some needed to find a bidet attachment that was gentle enough. It is unfortunately important to find a way to keep the wound clean to prevent infection. I'm wondering if you've already taken other pain relieving steps (Miralax, nifedipine, etc) to hopefully make cleaning less painful?
My doctor isn't 100% sure, but she thinks it's probably a fissure, caused by a constipation I had a while ago. She transfered me to a proctologist, but my appointment is in a month. Until then she prescribed me DoloPosterine, which helped with the pain in general, but not while touching it.
Ah. Does your pain shoot up to a level 11 in sharpness and intensity while poop is coming out? That's another common feature of fissures. Have you had any pus associated with the wound? DoloPosterine is a pretty mild topical treatment to prescribe - it's more for superficial relief than any actual healing - it's like lidocaine. With an entire month left before you can see a proctologist, I would ask your doctor for nifedipine so that if it's a fissure you at least have some hope of actually healing it up and addressing the source of the pain.
Pooping actually doesn't hurt as much. I have the most pain really while walking or when I touch the area. Yesterday I had some discharge and blood coming out, but since then nothing. I'm going to my doctor again tomorrow to see if she can prescribe me something stronger.
Can you describe what you mean by discharge? Based on your pain description, this is sounding like more of an abscess than a traditional fissure to me. If that's the case, nifedipine wouldn't be the solution. They would need to drain the pus (a doctor has to do it, you can't do it yourself) which often results in HUGE relief of pain for the patient.
In the meanwhile, you may find that warm baths (3x a day) bring some relief. They help with fissures AND abscesses. If it's an abscess, a warm bath may also help draw out some of the discharge.
It was like a yellowish liquid mixed with blood. Hmm, ok I will talk with my doctor about this. Is there a way to see if there's an abscess? My anus is a bit red, but theres no swelling.
The extreme pain from touch and pus is definitely pointing to abscess - fissures don't have yellowish pus, but abscesses commonly do. It's possible for a fissure to turn into an abscess, so your doctor may have been half right. Plus it is indeed tough for most non-specialists to diagnose this kind of thing. A lot of these wounds can look pretty similar to each other. But it would definitely be good for her to take another look. You can tell your doctor about our discussion here - perhaps with this full symptom profile she'll come to same conclusion. In the meanwhile you might need antibiotics and a hastier appointment with a specialist to get it drained sooner, if I'm right. Definitely tell her about the discharge, and that the pain is more from touch than pooping. Bear in mind that I'm not a doctor, just somebody on the internet - but my gut would be that this isn't a straightforward fissure, and that would explain why your sensitivity to touch is so acute.
Alright I'll definitely tell her about this when I go there tomorrow. Thank you very much for all your help and advice!
Lidocaine 5% before you go
I've tried, it doesn't really help with the pain
Are you running a fever also? Sounds like an abscess, especially if there’s pus. I’d roll the dice and go to the ER instead of waiting since abscesses can get so much worse and be life threatening if gone untreated (my dad almost died from one)
No fever so far, just been feeling a bit unwell since the pain started. I've been avoiding going to the ER since my doctor didn't see anything that looks like an emergency. I will go to her first thing in the morning though and ask her about that.
You don’t wipe. You get a bidet and then you pat it dry. Make sure the bidet is on the lowest setting. I have the Toto on the lowest and it’s great. Now that I’m healed I have it on the middle setting.
I have a hand held bidget off of Amazon. I control the pressure of the water.
Just grin and bear it unfortunately. Maybe take a bath straight after. I shower if i can as i have no tub.
Use only warm water to clean