My 7 year old complained of severe needle type pain this afternoon on his anus. I looked and couldn’t see anything but then saw a small paper cut like cut at the 9 o’clock position. Since then we cleaned gently with patting, put Vaseline, he’s been sitting on a doughnut cushion, drinking plenty of water, eating fruits and veggies, we gave him a stool softener (even tho he’s not constipated), and we’re about to do a warm water soak - we will continue to do this after each bowel movement. He hasn’t had a bowel movement since he reported the pain but he’s still in pain 7 hrs later since it started hurting. It’s bedtime and I don’t know how to help him have a solid good night’s sleep. Any ideas? Will go to dr tomorrow but want to help him as much as I can until then.
So the drs office recommends prep h wipes that contain witch hazel and to continue to do what we’ve been doing. I’m dreading the next bm and just hoping that the fissure heals quicker than what I’ve been reading online.
I just went to our neighborhood pharmacy/apothecary and was told witch hazel is an astringent that will cause stinging. So he recommended doing sitz baths right after bowels, keep up with the Vaseline, and use an ointment based triple antibiotic ointment at night since that is when most of the healing takes place. He also said he could ingest oral mineral, castor, or olive oil to help soften stools.
I think you're doing all that you can - I might do Advil just for pain until you can check with pediatrician. Just to dull the pain.
A pharmacist might be able to help too. Good luck hopefully they can advise you and provide relief.
You've done about all you can do for now.
Some preparation H might help dull the pain for awhile.
See what the doctor says and then follow his directions.
Did you try witch hazel?
There are also numbing gels specifically for the anus on Amazon. We got it to help numb areas for blood draws. (Got the idea from my eyebrow lady who used it on her daughter when she waxed.)
If encopresis is a worry, I’d definitely get the gel. I’ve had fissures myself and they’ve taken a few days to heal. I happened to have all purpose nipple ointment on hand so I used that.
A cup of warm water about 30 -45 minutes before breakfast and maybe a bit of prune juice with meals will help make stools a little more comfortable when having a bowel movement. I've also read cucumbers, watermelon and celery are great ways to rehydrate the body naturally with food. This has helped me ,too.
