A bit of a graphic question..enter at your own risk. =-)

[abeautifulworld]

Well, I was a little nervous about asking this here, but everyone seems to be very open, so here goes.

Has anyone had any experience/know anyone who has healed an anal fissure with raw foods? For anyone who does not know, it is an extremely painful (though not harmful, according to Western docs) condition. It makes nearly every bowel movement excruciating. I went to a doctor and they said a) I'd have to live with it (as I have for the past several years,) or B) they could do a surgery, which has something like a 20% failure rate which leaves you with some very, shall we say, unpleasant, symptoms. Thanks for reading. =-)

[Veganforlife]

No, I haven't, but (oops, didn't mean to say but), I would think a Raw food diet will really help...

[abeautifulworld]

Ah hahahaha. Thanks for a laugh.

[katchmoleen]

You should know that it might temporarily make it worse because fiber can be very irritating at first to those of us with sensitive guts. A green smoothie or juice fast might be very helpful.

[margoss]

I was thinking juicing would be easier than the 'food', lots of water.

[rawrawks]

Hmmmm that sounds like no fun at all. Yes I think I would juice and rest that area. I myself would cleanse the colon (water irrigation kind) vs having any hard b.m. pass thru there.

[EZ rider]

I wonder if its possible to stop using the bowel by eating a fiberless diet ?

[juliebove]

My daughter had as a newborn. I couldn't produce enough milk due to a thyroid problem most likely. She was losing weight so I was told I had to supplement. I didn't want to use a milk based forumula so was told to try soy. We didn't know it at the time but she was allergic not only to soy but milk. The soy seemed to constipate her and give her a very hard stool, hence the anal fissure. The Dr. told us to try a different formula. That one gave her a runny stool! He also told us to clean her gently with a warm, wet washcloth instead of a baby wipe and to put Vaseline on the fissure. It healed very quickly and never came back.

You should try putting something on it that will moisturize it. If you don't want to use Vaseline, use a petroleum substitute or even coconut oil.

Try to find out what in your diet may have caused this problem to begin with. You'll want to eat foods that will keep your stool soft. Drink plenty of liquids. Foods that would typically cause a hard stool would not be the foods that are on a vegan diet, unless of course you have an allergy or intolerance to something you are consuming.

[streetsurfer]

abeautifulworld, I have e-mailed you some info on ayurveda treatment for fissures. I used RFT's e-mail feature, if you have that enabled.

[Azaria]

streetsurfer, can I ask you to send me the info too? Thank you :)

[Azaria]

Sorry for the double post; can't edit for some reason.

Wheatgrass cream can be really helpful, as can any sort of ointment that acts as a salve for the fissure. It can be a really hard cycle to break....healing and then keeping healed rather than reopening with bowel movements. You can also try sitz baths with healing / antiseptic herbs (calendula, comfrey, sage, rosemary, sea salt, tea tree etc). Most importantly keep your stool as soft and small as possible and do not strain or push etc. Any chance this could be part of a larger gut problem like Crohn's disease?

[abeautifulworld]

Thank you, everyone, for your replies!

I've been trying tea tree oil, but hadn't thought of using a moisturizer, so I think I'll definitely try coconut oil. I've had this for years, so I'm beginnign to lose hope that it will ever heal. Do you think I could use tt oil to cleanser, and then follow up with coconut oil, or would that cause irritation?

I think a juice fast should certainly be in order soon as well. Maybe that would be a nice way to kick off going 100% raw!

rawrawks (or anyone who knows,) how do you do a colonic with just water? I've used the salt based enemas before. Do you just get a bottle similar to those and use that?

And streetsurfer, I did receive your email! Thank you so much! I'm going to be taking a good look at all of that information today.