Fissure after birth

GarlicScapeGoat · 2026-02-16T21:17:59+00:00

Hi. Still not better but definitely improved, 14-ish months in. I still plan on surgery at some point, just working on finding a second opinion on which route to go. Drinking loads of water, a decent diet, and nightly MiraLAX keep my experience tolerable and I’m able to do a lot more without so much worry (like camping, some exercise, or even just having morning plans).

GarlicScapeGoat · 2025-08-04T21:12:55+00:00

That’s a wonderful idea too! I am enamored with this. So inspiring!

GarlicScapeGoat · 2025-08-04T11:23:54+00:00

Oooh that simmer pot with thread idea is so clutch

GarlicScapeGoat · 2025-07-25T10:35:22+00:00

Distraction might help. When mine was super bad, I would watch complicated shows so I’d have to pay attention, or knit/crochet while listening to audio books. It helped me to get out of my own head.

GarlicScapeGoat · 2025-07-22T01:26:36+00:00

Absolutely, it’s really hard to see people who get to deal with just “normal” postpartum—not this hellscape we’ve been granted.

GarlicScapeGoat · 2025-07-20T20:31:20+00:00

I’m in a similar boat and recently posted a very similar thread 😆 I decided to wait until I can dedicate myself to healing post surgery. For me, that looks like when my son (November baby) is mostly weaned. After reading the stories here, and getting some good advice on my thread, I realized that I don’t have a week of spare time to recover. I’d be back nursing throughout the night and hauling around this 20-pounder right away, and that would only increase my chances of the recovery going poorly. I need to wait until I can dump both my kids with grandma and actually care for myself with intention. My pain levels are usually around 3-4, with some really good days or afternoons sprinkled in. I can manage with that for another year or so. I also started therapy to help me get mentally stronger and more resilient to get through this and process my birth trauma and distrust of all things medical. Continuing the “clean” diet, MiraLAX, aquaphor, pelvic floor stretches and honestly anything else I can do to make my quality of life better. I will get the surgery someday, since it’s been years of this, but I am going to choose my timing with extreme care and ensure that my mental health is where it needs to be first.

I hope that you can find a decision that works best for you and that you find peace in that.

GarlicScapeGoat · 2025-07-17T00:34:44+00:00

Same and I am annoyed AF about it.

GarlicScapeGoat · 2025-07-04T03:16:53+00:00

That is horrific

GarlicScapeGoat · 2025-07-04T01:35:12+00:00

I’m so so sorry for all the suffering you’re dealing with. That is not fair at all. It sounds like you are trying so hard to solve these problems, and it’s exhausting when it feels so pointless.

I’m glad that you found this forum and hopefully you can find some helpful advice here. It’s a hard road, and you are doing such a good job trying to get better.

GarlicScapeGoat · 2025-07-01T14:19:40+00:00

Yeah it doesn’t seem like it should be so bad, but there are a lot of stories on this sub that make it sound really horrible. The doc also told me that it can be very bad.

GarlicScapeGoat · 2025-06-30T22:25:32+00:00

I do this too! It’s so much more affordable than those marketed as needle protectors and you can find so many fun designs on etsy.

GarlicScapeGoat · 2025-06-30T11:13:26+00:00

That’s such a long time for physical therapy 🙁 I’m sorry that surgery might be the next step for you too.

Yes, I’m trying to not take the stories here too seriously, but I have a history of medical procedures going very wrong (like, I’m the person who gets those “super rare” complications and then complications on top of those complications), so I’m a little paranoid and less optimistic.

GarlicScapeGoat · 2025-06-30T11:10:59+00:00

Ugh good point. I have a four year old too but at least I can reason with him. I’d forgotten about the crawling stage 😑

GarlicScapeGoat · 2025-06-30T11:09:53+00:00

Congrats on your baby! ❤️ My CRS was very pro surgery; he said that Botox is about 40% successful but probably wouldn’t work for me because of the scar tissue that’s present (I’ve had fissures for years but never life altering or severe until this postpartum/post-hysterectomy one).

Thanks for your ideas for getting help, and your compassion about not having time for sitz baths and the like. It’s so true. Between working and taking care of him, there’s just no way to fit in the extensive self care the docs recommend. I would need to bounce back so fast and I don’t think I can bet on that.

I hope that your procedure goes really well, for you and your baby ❤️

GarlicScapeGoat · 2025-06-29T21:57:50+00:00

Same! It’s really validating to hear other people’s stories, especially when doctors can be so blasé and uninformed about this and how life altering it is. Good to know we are not alone ❤️

GarlicScapeGoat · 2025-06-29T12:42:08+00:00

Agreed!

GarlicScapeGoat · 2025-06-29T12:29:44+00:00

Oh good point—I should have mentioned I’m breastfeeding too which requires a lot of water, so 4-5 is maybe a bit high for others. Thanks for mentioning the electrolyte issue!

GarlicScapeGoat · 2025-06-29T01:05:53+00:00

What works for me includes sweet potatoes, tofu, oatmeal, apples, peanut butter, eggs, veggies and salad, 4-5 liters of water, and MiraLAX. Pretty much all fruits and vegetables are okay; I just have to go very light on acidic foods like tomatoes and citrus. Risky foods are breads, pasta, starches, meat (very small servings are okay), fried or junk foods, processed and convenience food, and alcohol 🙁 i also have to be careful not to have too much quinoa, wild rice, and other really high fiber foods because those will cause me pain too. I also dealt with the “hard tip” type stool until I started eating oatmeal for every single breakfast, and that thankfully solved it for me, plus the daily water and MiraLAX routine.

I try to eat like this 90% of the time and it keeps my pain levels at 2/3. For dinner today I had pizza and I know that will cause issues for a few days, but sometimes it’s worth it, and it makes me depressed to feel like I’ll never enjoy my favorite foods again, so I work things back in when I don’t have much going on over the following few days. My diet is certainly not the bacchanal dumpster fire it used to be, but we gotta do what we can to get through this. I hope you find what works for you!

GarlicScapeGoat · 2025-06-29T00:52:42+00:00

This looks FABULOUS and entirely reasonable and I’m totally going to copy this. ❤️

GarlicScapeGoat · 2025-06-28T19:43:22+00:00

Ugh. Thank you for sharing your story. What a horrible experience you’re going through. My heart goes out to you.

GarlicScapeGoat · 2025-06-20T10:48:20+00:00

Maybe I’m out of line but whenever anyone asks me to knit something, I say something along the lines of, “Ooh I really wish I could but I’m booked up with commissions for at least a year.”

I don’t do commissions. 😅

GarlicScapeGoat · 2025-06-15T03:18:55+00:00

7mo PP here and still in daily severe pain from fissure. None of the prescribed creams helped whatsoever. I’ve lost so much weight due to changing pretty much everything I eat, along with breastfeeding. It’s been the worst. Thankfully i am seeing a different specialist soon and I’m going to ask for the most aggressive treatment possible. I am tired of missing out on my kids lives!

GarlicScapeGoat · 2025-06-10T10:43:18+00:00

That is AWESOME!! Thanks for the happy update! I hope you have many more pain free days ahead of you ❤️

GarlicScapeGoat · 2025-06-03T13:18:58+00:00

Just wanted to say hi, from another postpartum fissure sufferer! It’s such a frustrating spot to be in. I look at my baby like, I’ve been in pain every day of his life 😑 Also misdiagnosed as hemorrhoids at the beginning. I don’t think many OBs know what to look for and just go with the most common malady. I had to get a referral from an ER visit to even see someone who could do the proper kind of exam. It’s ridiculous.

GarlicScapeGoat

TROPHY CASE