Tight Anal Muscle

I have always had a tight anal muscle, and i have always had to keep my stools soft to get them out without straining.
but since i have had this fissure, i have been scared to even have a bowel movement.
the doctor put me on nitro cream a week ago and it seems to be healing, i have no more pain when i go, but i get so scared that i just try and keep my muscles tight to avoide opening up to much, which in turn makes me strain more to get it out.
Has any one else had this problem.
all i have been eating is cream of chicken soup , yogart, potted meat, -- but still this is hard for me to get out, maybe just the fear of going i don't know.
has any one ever tryed that dr wheatgrass cream.
I would just like to get back to normal , but the fear's i think keep me from doing it.

love you guys, you are great.
marvin

hey marvin,

you may want to cut out the cream of chicken soup and simply just have a very healthy non-dairy/creamy type of soup like brown rice and veggies and chicken or look into miso soup.

in addition to your yogurt (make sure it is loaded with probiotics or lots of helpful cultured bacteria) and that your potted meat is accompanied by healthy steamed veggies (green colored ones are best but also surround your meat with lots of colorful varieties too) - making sure that your veggies outnumber your potted meat like 3-4 times the serving size.

i dreaded going to poo too and would make myself tighter than what i needed too as i already suffer from a tight bum as well.

what really helped me get over the elimination pain was SQUATTING on the toilet seat. it was a Godsend. you may want to try it.

also lube up your butt right before a bowel movement. and use only baby wipes - my favorite to use, altho not baby wipes, is Charmin's Freshmates!

good luck!

If all you are eating is chicken soup and yogurt and potted meat, there's your problem...

Where's your fiber?

As for the tightness, that happens to 95% of AF sufferers, my anal canal was terribly tight. It goes along with the other symptoms, like bleeding and pain.
The apprehension before a BM is a learned behaviour and not something any of us can help, I am sure.

I'm happy the nitro seems to be working, maybe in a few weeks you can have all this "behind" you but don't get your hopes too high, as fissures have a way of coming back to hauntyou just when you think you're getting better...

Is cream of chicken soup constipating, and is potted meat constipating, i noticed you said to quit the cream of chicken soup.
thanks

One more thing i did yesterday is that i ate some all brand cereal, drank lots of water but this morning it was hard to get out.fiber to me is just hard to move out .
thanks

Marvin, fiber is perhaps "the" most essential ingredient in "moving things" through your digestive system. But you are like most of the rest of us, too much is too much and can be as bad as too little. So if you just get the recommended amount, along with an adequate intake of water, things should move along fine.
It could be that for some reason the fiber you do eat is not getting enough water, for whatever reason. Then the fiber will indeed turn to concrete, so to speak, and things will back up a bit and you'll have painful BMs.

Do you use a stool softener of any type. All they do is bring water to your stool, they are not considered laxatives. Most AF sufferers need and use stool softeners..

Good luck!

I would try supplementing with fish oil and or flax seed oil. That helps things to slide out better. I know you mentioned mineral oil-does that still seem to help?

I would recommend eliminating dairy for the most part except for yogurt. That can be very constipating. Bean might be better than meat for protein because they have fiber but it doesn't bulk it up.

Maybe you can apply a very warm washcloth to the area before you go to try to relax the anus. I also try to get my mind of what I am doing while I go. Maybe thumb through a magazine-though don't sit there for more than 5 minutes.

Take some deep breaths and pray if you are so inclined. Then get in the tub.

Gareth mentioned squatting and I think that can help too. I will get on my knees and bend my torso over to the ground. This seems to get things going in the morning.

I have been useing mineral oil , that is the only thing that seem's to help me
this morning i am cooking some brown rice and try that, it just seems that the cream of chicken and potted meat are binding me up, i got to try something else, so i am not going over board this morning i am going to try a little at a time with it.
You know when you are going through thing's like this, you keep wondering about the life here after, and i have been looking at a lot of material , and i have to keep asking myself am i a saved person, that really bother's me.
and there is time's when i lay down at night for bed and i pray lord if it be possable
please take me home tonight, because i don't like going through this, but at the same time in the back of my mind i have to ask myself am i really a saved person.
thanks

the Dr. Wheatgrass cream didn't work for me. No improvement whatsoever as a result of using it.

I have the same problem with grain fibers--cereal, oatmeal, psyllium--they bind me up no matter how much water I drink. Fiber is important so I get mine through fruits and veggies, all cooked, and also non-grain supplementary fibers like methylcellulose and glucomannan. I do prefer the glucomannan.

i suggest that for those who eat the grains-high fiber cereals and still have tough, rough, binding BMs, that you should eat your cereal cooked - as in perhaps heat up some soy milk and then add the cereal and let it absorb the soy and have it warm.

according to macrobiotics, you are supposed to eat warm to hot foods in the morning and thus cooking with soy milk or even amazake (a brown rice milk) with your cereals - fiber and grains and oatmeal, etc. - will make a difference.

if you can get use to eating a very healthy veggie soup or get to liking miso soup in the morning with seaweed, you will notice the difference!

also try having a cup of hot green tea after each meal to help with digestion.

I have noticed a difference since I started eating cooked apples in the morning.

i do like miso quite a bit and may start that in the morning too. I just have to get to the right store and buy some more

i used wheatgrass cream, i think it worked for me but im not sure if it was that or the diet, bathig, lubing before bm or hot water bottle i sleep on. though im sure my fissure isnt gone for good i still using the cream hoing it will help stop it coming back. chicken soup is great aslong as its clear brothy typse like chinese soup. this stuff worked great for me and you can put loads of veggies it. i dont think you should be eating all that meat, though i dont know what potted meat it. eat dried fruit like apple rings and prunes. also home made veggie soup is great. just boil a load of veg, onions, carrot, celery, squash whatever in some stock and eflavourings like garlic then blend it all up.

I am hopeing the Dr Wheatgrass works because i just ordered some of it,
I drank some prune juice today that was the only way i could get the brand flakes out of me, supriseingly i did not have any pain, when i went poo, i still got sore afterwards i tryed 3 times today to go but it was like pushing concret out, and the prune juice got it out, now my stomach just bubbles around, the internet is full of so much lie's just to sell you something.
but you hear so much about Dr Wheatgrass, he even talked to me on the phone, and told me what a great product it was.
I still think that cream of chicken soup and potted meat was binding me up.

Marvin,
Is there some reason why you can't just eat ordinary fruits and vegetables?

I hope the wheatgrass works, I really do, but I had a fissure for almost a year, and have been on this board for another year.

I have found that for most people with a chronic fissure, it takes lifestyle changes. There aren't any miracle creams out there, none. There just aren't.

1) You have to change your diet. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, less meat, and no junk food. Avoid dairy. Eat soft foods, rather than thing like roasted peanuts. drink adequate amounts of water (no need to drink more than 6-8 glasses a day)

2) Take a hot soaking bath as many times a day as you can. This brings blood to the fissure site and promotes healing. It also relieves the pain a lot.

3) Take a stool softener everyday.

4) see your doctor.

5) There are several types of treatment available than can help heal, or at the very least, lessen your pain.

2% nefedipine or Diltiazem cream, prescribed by a medical practitioner.
.02% nitro cream, also by prescription
Botox injections.
LIS surgery (which cured me)

If you read the posts, you'll see there are many other ways in which different people cope with their fissures. Such as squatting to have a BM, probitotics, macrobitotics, etc.

Good luck!

i think the reason i have not tryed fruits and vegs, is just the fear of it comeing out.
i am now on nitro cream .02, and it seems to be helping but the fear is still there.
marvin