I developed an anal fissure 8 months ago when I gave birth to my baby. The birth was very quick but resulted in a large tear. For the next three weeks I often felt uncomfortable when I went to the loo but not in agony (that was to come!) and any pain I felt I thought was due to my stitches. I will still on antibiotics from a birth related infection,it was only when I came off these I began to feel the pain of the fissure. When my baby was 4 weeks old I couldn't go to the loo without crying in pain,it made me feel panicky and I had to have a bath straight away or the pain was awful. I went to the Dr who diagnosed a fissure and sent me home with little explanation apart from a print out of symptoms and Rectogesic and Movical. I am exclusively breastfeeding and could not use the Rectogesic and didn't even know how much Movical to take.It was frightening,looking after a newborn and having to deal with a fissure without much help or advice was very hard. I ended up going to the Dr five more times to get further advice,one dr said give myself diarrhea to heal it,another said eat normally,another said take the rectogesic anyway despite the advice on the leaflet which said not to. It made me realise that if I was going to sort this out I was going to have to do it myself.
I tried everything,I changed my diet completely- nothing processed,little meat mostly fruit and veg. I tried eating mostly fibre which made things too bulky. I ate lots of Mangoes,Pears and grapes. I went to a herbalist who concocted me a healing mixture of comprey and witch hazel. I used lotions from the chemist such as Hemoclin and Anusol. I took magnesium,flax seed etc. I felt like I tried it all and I kept going round in a horrible pattern- pain,healing,tear,pain,healing,tear. I cried (alot) and found going to the toilet very diff. It became part of my daily routine, know I needed the loo,endure the pain,recover from the pain and then try to forget about it the rest of the day. Sound familiar?
In the end after 7 months I discovered a combination which I think is working for me, I have been to the loo now pain free for two weeks. I have cut out pasta and only eat small portions of meat- these seem to be my trigger foods. I drink lots of water ,3-4 litres (I'm still breastfeeding). I drink one glass of prune juice at night and 1.5 sachets of movical dissolved in water. I had come off Movical after four months as I didn't want my body to become dependent but decided to go back on to finally heal this thing! I have managed for the first time since the birth to actually go to the toilet without that horrible feeling of fear. I hope this helps some of you who are reading this. I don't believe that I have healed my fissure yet but I think at the moment I have learned how to give my body space to recover.

joannenew,
Great news! I'm so sorry you've been suffering so long and that you've had such frustrating experiences with doctors. All this, and a new baby too. But it is great news that you are finding some things that work. I wouldn't worry about the Movicol becoming habit forming. It isn't a stimulant laxative so it isn't affecting the nerves of the bowel. It is just drawing water into the stool, much like prune juice does. It is more important to give the fissure area plenty of time to heal and grow stronger, which happens over the course of many months. The area is like tissue paper in the early stages. Stopping what works too soon will cause setbacks, so just hold the course over the long haul to give the area plenty of time to get stronger.
Wishing you the best of luck and permanent healing!

Joanne,
Some people have to take Movicol/Miralax indefinitely (like me). I wouldn't fret about that. The molecule is large and is not absorbed into the body. I've been reassured about that by one of my doctors. Good luck and thanks for sharing your story!