Fiber and Fissures

By Michaela

2 min read

Last updated: November 2023

We've all heard of hemorrhoids–they are best buds with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), the remoras to the IBS shark. Painful little balls that can make going to the bathroom even worse than it already can be. If you have IBS, you've probably dealt with them at some point. I was lucky. I hadn't dealt with them or even given them a second thought.

I should have knocked on wood.

Hemorrhoids or fissures?

I first noticed something was off when I got the usual symptoms of pain, mild bleeding, and feeling like something was there. It went away with a little help from prep H, and I went on my merry way. And then it came back worse and would not go away. Repeatedly seeing blood where it's not supposed to be is pretty concerning. After speaking with an OB/GYN, she referred me to a gastroenterologist. I was able to schedule an appointment soon after and got in quickly.

The doctor asked me some questions and did the exam. She noticed some internal hemorrhoids, but they were small enough that she wasn't worried about them. What she did find to be the main source of pain was an anal fissure.

She explained that a fissure can be like an internal or external cut or a tear that comes from pushing too hard. They have similar symptoms to hemorrhoids, which explains why I thought hemorrhoids were the culprit! It can hang around and come back very easily if the stool is irregular and hard pushing is involved. This makes it very hard for it to heal and stay that way.

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Fiber for stool consistency

The solution? Fiber.

The doctor told me to add a fiber supplement (and drink more water, otherwise it could get worse). This would help my stool become more of a regular consistency so I would stop having to push to pass it, therefore allowing the fissure to heal.

And what do you know, but it works pretty well! I use a little bit of petroleum jelly to help out with the healing process. I personally like using the pills, because the kind you put in your drink has no appeal to me. I know for sure that the positive effects are from the fiber because if I stop taking it for too long, I become irregular, start having to push, and the fissures come back with vengeance. While I don't love having to remember to take the pills, I'd much rather do that than feel that very specific pain. Plus, I feel better overall when I am more consistent. With IBS, it's all about the little wins.

This article represents the opinions, thoughts, and experiences of the author; none of this content has been paid for by any advertiser. The IrritableBowelSyndrome.net team does not recommend or endorse any products or treatments discussed herein. Learn more about how we maintain editorial integrity here.

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Kim Dolce Moderator & Contributor
<inline-mention username="Michaela" user-id="4167468"/> I'm so glad you found a treatment! We are all so different. My type of IBS is a moving target. Started as IBS-C, then changed to IBS-D, then IBS-M, and now I'm back to IBS-C again. Unfortunately, fiber and water do not help me. Fiber seems to make it worse. Adding bulk to a rock only seems to make it a bigger rock. Stool softeners are my best solution for breaking the log jam. Laxatives are too harsh and cause diarrhea, which moves around the hard, dry stuff instead of bringing down everything. So I'm adding Smooth Move tea to see if it helps. So far it isn't. I guess IBS will always be a work in progress!
1. CommunityMember9d551a Member
 Funny that you mentioned the smooth move tea. I didn't have any luck with it either. I have IBS-M for lack of a better description. My intestines are really sensitive and none too shy about letting me know when they are disgruntled. My opinion is that the less you do the better. Adding more fiber to an already dysfunctional system doesn't make any sense to me (nor does it make me comfortable). In any case, I hope things are going smoothly for you and that you are comfortable!
2. Kim Dolce Moderator & Contributor
 <inline-mention username="CommunityMember9d551a" user-id="8659444"/> Thank you, I hope you are too! Irritatingly, things have changed in just 9 days, grrrr. Taking numerous stool softeners every day failed to produce well-formed, soft logs. I had to resort to a laxative to finally break the log jam of the oldest stool, followed by those much-coveted logs, a penultimate bout of diarrhea, and a finish of clear yellow liquid. It was just like cleaning out in prep for a colonoscopy! I felt so much better afterwards.
mktggirl Member
I'm glad you've found relief through fiber. I, too, suffer from hemorrhoids that bother from time to time, so that's been a lovely side effect of taking psyllium husk capsules to help my IBS-D. The more regular I am, the easier it is on my bottom. I tried the drink mix-in and got sick of that pretty quickly. The pills are so much nicer. It's a lot of capsules to get my daily dose, so I break it up by taking 5 with breakfast and 5 with dinner. I buy huge generic economy size packs, and the math works out to a very reasonable cost to feel so much better each day. I hope they continue to work for you! 
1. Karina Moderator & Contributor
 <inline-mention username="mktggirl" user-id="2314123"/> I'm glad to hear that you're doing better with the psyllium husk capsules! Thank you so much for sharing. Wishing you a flare-free day today, Karina (team member)