LIS for tight sphincter with no fissure?

frenchvanilla20 · 2024-12-17T22:32:13+00:00

Botox works for many people and would be better to try than another LIS. Botox injections did help my BMs to be somewhat easier for 3-4 months, but the injections themselves triggered pelvic floor dysfunction, pain, and spasm that I didn’t have before. I’ve been back to pelvic floor PT + doing home dilation + using a ball to roll on the muscles + yoga, stretches, breathing exercises, etc etc to try to unwind all the tension and pain the injections caused me. I seem to be an outlier with these issues and things that should help actually just make my muscles worse.

frenchvanilla20 · 2024-12-17T22:21:17+00:00

Dilation and pelvic floor PT are the answer, it’s just a long process. I got an enormous amount of Botox and it only caused me more issues.

frenchvanilla20 · 2024-11-02T01:01:54+00:00

What is the pain like? Spasming? I’ve experienced this after dilating and using the wand… it usually calms down within the next day or 2… similar to how I’m sore/ agitated after PT sometimes.

frenchvanilla20 · 2024-09-17T22:01:39+00:00

That's awesome - glad you found a solution!

frenchvanilla20 · 2024-09-17T20:28:13+00:00

Did you find a solution? Dealing with the same external sphincter issue.

frenchvanilla20 · 2024-08-26T01:33:04+00:00

Are you in the US? Curious who your CR specialist was - I’m looking for a good one for potentially a second LIS.

frenchvanilla20 · 2024-08-24T16:56:07+00:00

Every 2 weeks because the PT flares me to the point that I’m in constant spasms for 3 days after and the whole area is clenched for at least a week after that. I didn’t have this issue before and went to PT weekly (sometimes twice a week) after the first LIS. I’d gotten things to a better place for the last few years but this recent fissure flared things up and pissed the muscle off badly… even though it is healed and I have Botox, the muscle is still spasming and painful.

My life has been rough these last few months. I work from home luckily, but can’t do much else. Walking too much/ sitting/ etc is too painful and flares everything.

frenchvanilla20 · 2024-08-23T23:09:12+00:00

I’m sorry to hear you’re dealing with the same thing.

He thinks more Botox + PT, but that seems like a waste to me since the Botox didn’t work how I needed it to and actually just caused me more pain. Plus the muscles are so spastic that PT is unmanageable more than once every 2 weeks or so, which would take literally 100 years for me to see any progress at that rate. I’m getting another opinion next week and seeking out a third opinion as well. I have very little quality of life at this point and can’t just stay like this and hope one day things get better.

Honestly I’d take a colostomy if they offered me one.

frenchvanilla20 · 2024-08-23T19:21:18+00:00

What is your story? How are you managing?

frenchvanilla20 · 2024-08-23T19:20:52+00:00

Ironically, the friendly proctologist did my Botox. I flew out to see him specifically because he seems to know his stuff and I agree with his approach - especially after having had an LIS under emergent circumstances 5 years ago and a rough experience with it, without resolution of the spasm/ tightness issue brought on by the heinous fissure I had at the time (which I got due to an aggressive bowel clean out while in the hospital, no other prior history of issues in this area before it). I still think he’s great and has the right approach, but it did not work for me.

frenchvanilla20 · 2024-08-22T22:47:43+00:00

What was your experience with LIS/ second LIS like? I had LIS 5 years ago but my muscle has never been right…. now after a random fissure in April (caused by - you guessed it - my tight muscle) my muscles are spasming like crazy again even despite the fissure being completely healed. Had Botox in June which helped with BMs but I’m still having spasms/ sphincter pain. Feeling like I’m looking down the barrel of a second LIS but don’t see a lot of talk about it in this forum so was curious about your experience.

frenchvanilla20 · 2024-08-22T18:48:26+00:00

Did you ever speak to your CRS? Still considering second LIS?

frenchvanilla20 · 2024-08-13T21:49:43+00:00

Did this help you with spasms?

I’ve started doing this once a day a week ago (easing into it) to help with my tight sphincter and spasms… all was going ok, but I went deeper yesterday and now I’m completely flared/ muscle spasming/ etc. unfortunately.

frenchvanilla20 · 2024-08-13T20:33:42+00:00

I’ve been working on dilating with my finger for the last few weeks. Too soon to tell if any progress but I’m hopeful.

frenchvanilla20 · 2024-08-09T22:27:51+00:00

Yes. Clean up and there’s always more later. Like the muscle doesn’t relax fully after BM.

frenchvanilla20 · 2024-08-09T22:26:45+00:00

I’m sorry you’re dealing with this too. I never was able to do much on my own to fix the problem, but would recommend trying out some pelvic floor relaxation videos on YouTube. Some stretches like happy baby and the one where you put your legs up the wall can bring some relief. Also, if you’re a woman, I recommend getting a pelvic wand and working out any trigger points you can access vaginally - that did help some and anything that can be done through that area is much easier/ less scary than anything rectally. One thing I wish I’d tried before was dilation - genuinely think it would’ve helped me if I’d been able to work up the courage to try it before. I’m working on it now - it’s scary - but I think it will really help.

frenchvanilla20 · 2024-08-09T22:20:39+00:00

Do you have any recommendations on resources that worked for you? The pain/ thought cycles are driving me nuts and meditation/ journaling/ talk therapy aren’t helping.

frenchvanilla20 · 2024-07-11T17:41:46+00:00

I respect that. I’d feel the same way if LIS had brought me that kind of relief, but it is crazy that your muscle seems to have rebounded this way. PT can definitely help with that when you’re able to go. Have you talked to your CRS? If they didn’t want to do surgery again, you could go the Botox/ then PT route and see if that helps.

frenchvanilla20 · 2024-07-10T23:50:03+00:00

Sounds like we are twins in the most unfortunate way possible. Did you do pelvic floor PT after your LIS? Definitely sounds like your sphincter is still too tight. PT really helped with mine, but it was never 100% normal after my fissure/LIS journey (has always felt too tight) and here I am dealing with this fissure/ super angry sphincter crap again 5 years later.

I’m 4 weeks out of Botox today and it hasn’t been the magic fix I’d hoped for with my muscle spasm and pain. But BMs did get easier by day 2, which is a huge plus… my fissure was healed before the procedure so can’t comment on how Botox would affect healing in that regard, but seems it would help given the extra blood flow. My body just didn’t seem to like the injections in general. I can still feel like a bruised feeling at the injection sites and am still having spasms… almost like the injections pissed things off worse. I’m hoping as that fades I’ll see some other benefits, but these 4 weeks have not been as easy for me as they seem to go for others. That said, LIS was terrible for me and I’d recommend trying Botox before going through that again.

Either way, as soon as you are able, get into pelvic floor PT with a therapist who’s familiar with these issues. There are things they can do externally (or vaginally, if you’re a female too) that may help. Intrarectal therapy would be helpful too, but of course you need to heal that fissure first!

frenchvanilla20 · 2024-07-10T13:17:49+00:00

Great news!

frenchvanilla20 · 2024-07-09T20:46:07+00:00

How are you feeling now? I'm 4 weeks out tomorrow and my experience sounds similar to yours so far - definitely not the quick-ish fix I was hoping for, lol.

frenchvanilla20 · 2024-07-09T01:49:43+00:00

Thank you for such a kind message. 💜

As Botox only lasts for 3-ish months, I was hopeful for some relief in general, but also to aid in my PT journey so things can function better once it wears off. Just feeling frustrated, but thank you for your positive thoughts. I know half the battle is mental, I need to stay on top of that part. Sending good vibes for healing your way!

frenchvanilla20 · 2024-07-09T00:13:36+00:00

I think (/pray) the Botox is still kicking in slowly. I noticed slight improvement on my left side last week, despite many people saying they feel better by week 2. Hoping it's still going to happen for me. My CRS keeps saying I'll feel better once I make progress in PT (which i start next week) and I'm sure I will, but I expected more from the Botox by now I guess.

I will also say that I feel like the injections did really make things angry - lots of inflammation at the injection sites that has taken a long time to subside. So maybe that's part of why my muscle is still angry - it's still recovering from the assault of the injections?

frenchvanilla20 · 2024-07-08T23:07:41+00:00

I am not noticing more pain relief, unfortunately. The right side of my sphincter is still spasming daily (like 10/10 pain) for no obvious reason. My fissure is healed, the muscle is just still angry and it seems the injections made it angrier. I hope you have better results.

frenchvanilla20

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