thebestpossibletaste - hi, I'm so sorry I'm only seeing this now, I've been a bit under the weather the last few days - I, too, had an anal fissure and I still shudder at the memory. They're hell to get rid of. I tried stool softeners and Diltiazem cream and all that stuff that GPs suggest, to no avail. What helped me was 1) keeping stool to the consistency of toothpaste, and 2) applying Traumeel cream or ointment to the fissure. Either is fine, but I think the ointment would probably stay on better. I only had the cream so I used that. You can buy it on Amazon if British pharmacies (chemists?) don't have it (I'm in Canada). It's not actually intended to be put on open wounds, it's for bruises, sprains and strains, but somehow, the homeopathic ingredients really work for increasing blood flow to the area and healing fissures. I put it on about six times a day. At first it feels quite warm, I won't say it burns but it does give you a sort of "yikes!" kind of feeling, but then it feels quite good.
For stool softening, the magic bullet for me is Magnesium Glycinate, in 1000 mg capsules. Again, can be bought on Amazon if you can't get it locally. I take one a night and probably will for the rest of my life (still have other problems) and it does the job. I don't get cramps, or the runs, or anything like that. I tried eating dried apricots at first, and that works too, but I don't like the taste and they're very very sugary which I don't like.
I hope that helps! I'll try to check in more regularly.
coffee1sugar - yay for Pervwatch :o