Maybe my experience is somewhat rare. I don't know. I only know that I had one or two fissures which caused intense pain that persisted. Fissures came on May 21. It took 'till mid September for full healing. Healing was accomplished by baths, walking, diet, and some Walgreens Hemmorroid gel. After the doc said the fissures healed, he also said I should not get any further surgery for the remaining irritating pain. He was right. The final irritations went away. Now I can sit, play tennis, etc. I am concentrating on playing tennis and building up all my muscles from the waist down, so this never happens again. When the fissure(s), first came on, the pain was so great that I came close to going to the emergency room. And I could not believe that it lasted so long. I was prepared to go thru surgery to get my life back. I don't have any advice for fissure sufferers, except after the fissure closes, get exercise. I'll bet I walked at least 150 miles and took about 300-400 baths to heal mysel. Last of all, I believe time is a healer, too.