u/No_Vermicelli_3280

Can any lady who's had a lis tell me if they experienced a worsening of pain when their period started? I'm 9 days post, period started yesterday, and my pain around the massive bruise on my inner butt cheek and incision area has increased. I've heard menstruation causes increased blood flow throughout the pelvis, so I'm wondering if the two are connected and I need to just ride it out. My husband has looked and has seen no signs of infection.

Please help!

Hello everyone!

Not much of an update. There's still some drainage from the incision, and some pain, but I can tell there's improvement.

My opinion on Peri bottles? Eh. I don't think they work well for cleaning, but I'll admit it is soothing to my bum to be rinsed with water once I'm clean. It's a take it or leave it type deal, imo.

I ran out of the pads the surgery center provided me to protect my undies and ordered depends from Walmart. I could have used panty liners or pads, but those are expensive and I'd rather not use them for the drainage. It's a little embarrassing to be 32 and wearing adult diapers, but you gotta do what you gotta do. 🤷🏼‍♀️

All that being said, I can tell this surgery has benefited me. The constant pain in my anus is gone. Having BMs and gas only hurts because it irritates the incision but that's improving. It's also a lot easier to have a BM. Is surgery fun or something to take lightly? No. But I'm glad I did it.

This is probably the last update, but feel free to comment if you have any questions!

Not much has changed over the last 24 hours, which is a relief after the blood and clot of yesterday morning's first BM.

Still having some mild drainage, still some stinging pain, still not able to sit straight.

I washed the Peri bottles this morning and ended up needing to use them pretty much right away. I think they work well enough, but it's one of those things that aren't really necessary but nice to have. Low-key messy though, so make sure you're aiming at the right area!

I have noticed that I have a low-grade fever, but that's completely normal and expected because my immune system is hard at work making sure I don't get an infection, and my incision and fissure heal up.

Also, I have a huge bruise on my right inner cheek where the incision is about the size of my hand. Again, completely normal and expected.

I don't have much to say for today's update, a lot is still the same as yesterday. One thing I've noticed, and I believe this is due to the anesthesia, is that I have been violently, aggressively gassy. Like, aggressive to the point it hurts my incision and anal area every time. And this has continued with BMs, and I had one this morning that came out with so much aggressive gas that it opened up my incision a bit. I had fresh bleeding and a blood clot/scabby thing. I immediately took a couple gas relief pills and a shower to make sure everything was clean down there again. But my god...not the way I wanted to start my morning.

The Peri bottles arrived today, and I need to clean them before usage, so no updates on that yet.

My pain has improved enough with the lidocaine cream that I haven't really taken any Tylenol or oxy today. That being said, I'm still not sure if I'll be able to return to work on Monday as planned. We'll see how things continue this weekend.

The biggest hurdle I think I have right now is honestly the violent farting. Getting that to stop or at least calm down is going to go a long way to letting things heal.

I promised an update on my first post so here we are. Check that one out for the first 24 hours.

Alright, so things have been pretty chill. I have had some normal incision drainage, but that's completely fine and part of the healing process. Also had some pain, had to break into the oxy and Tylenol at 2am pm when it woke me up, but I've definitely had worse pain before! I've also been using a 5% lidocaine cream I got from Walmart that's done wonders for pain control as well.

I've noticed that I definitely cannot sit flat on my butt. I have to sit on one of my hips or lay down to avoid putting pressure on the incision. Going to the toilet is uncomfortable regardless of which business I'm doing just because of the way humans naturally sit on the toilet. It's important not to linger any longer than necessary!

One of the things I think is helping the most besides the lidocaine cream and side sitting is that I use wet wipes and rinse off in the shower after my BMs. Wet wipes are much easier on the sensitive skin down there, and water helps keep it clean too without the trash waste of wipes (I don't care if they claim to be flushable, do not flush the wipes!!). Keeping the area clean will decrease the risk of infection and help the body heal. Just don't touch or handle the area more than what's needed to keep it clean. It's just like if you had an injury on your arm: the more you pick at it, the longer it'll take to heal, plus you're increasing the chances of complications.

And finally...sitz baths. I tried. I am too big for the special sitz bath tub I ordered from Amazon, so it's going to be a foot soaking tub now. I ordered some Peri bottles from Amazon that are supposed to arrive tomorrow for cleaning down there instead of hopping in the shower after BMs. Hopefully those will work.

I hope this helps anyone who's thinking about getting a lateral internal sphinterotomy!

Please let me know if you would like another update tomorrow!

I've been looking for a scooter/moped for a couple of years on and off as a replacement for my car to get to work. The problem is that I have balance issues and it's really not a good idea to trust my balance on a two wheeled vehicle.

Now, I know e-bikes are a thing, and they come in 3 wheel models, but I'd like something that goes 35mph on its own so I can drive it on the street without backing up local traffic.

Does anyone know if trike or 3 wheeled scooters or mopeds exist? Or is there a way to modify one to make it a trike? I also really don't want something fast (again, balance problems plus licensing).

Tia

Hello, 1st post, but I've seen a lot of questions about what the recovery is for an lis. I'm just under 24hrs post.

I'm 32f, and I've had an anal fissure for a lot longer than I thought I did. I had on and off bleeding for a couple of years with hard stool around the beginning of my periods. Then at the end of Feb 2026, I had a hard stool and the bleeding didn't stop for 4 days before I realized I needed to see my PCP. Up until then, I had assumed I had a hemorrhoid that got irritated due to my cycle. When I saw my PCP, she did an anoscope and said I had an internal hemorrhoid that was very irritated and referred me to general surgery. General surgery took a look and said nope, that's an anal fissure, you've had it for at least a month, use nefepidine/lidocaine ointment and see me again in a month. I did not make it a month. The pain escalated to the point where I couldn't walk without it hurting and I thought I developed a fistula or abscess. General surgery referred me to a colorectal surgery specialist, and after she confirmed the fissure, gave me two options: Botox or lis. I had Botox in the past for migraines and ended up having side effects, so I chose lis. A couple weeks later, and here we are.

Day 1: So the 2hr drive home was good. I slept most of it, and they really numbed me up, so I wasn't having any pain. I sat on my hip for the last 45 minutes of the drive and was fine. My first 2 BMs had blood, which I expected, and it's entirely normal as long as it's not "cups and cups.". I used wipes and rinsed with the handheld shower head to make sure it's clean.

Day 2: still numb but it's definitely wearing off. Had a BM with no bleeding, but I think I irritated the incision while rinsing off in the shower because I'm having some localized pain (but no bleeding). Took a couple Tylenol, no oxycodone yet unless I need it, and I've got some Peri bottles on the way so hopefully I won't have that problem again. Otherwise, I feel pretty good. No fecal incontinence, but gas is just slipping out as it pleases. Hopefully that's under control soon or I'll have to have an awkward convo with my boss if I return to work on Monday.

Hope this helps anyone worrying about getting the surgery.