Hey! I'm new here and could use some advice. :p
So for a few months I have been having these horrid bowel problems. I figured for quite awhile that it was a hemorrhoid, but according to my doctor, I have an anal fissure. I am getting at the point where things are starting to become become better because I am starting to get my stools to a more comfortable...size, and texture I guess.
Like I said, I have had this going on for about 3-4 months and started after I had a ton of constipation. (I had a horrible habit of not drinking enough water.) Since then I have started drinking much more water during the day, and I have been trying to get more fiber into my diet as well. Occasionally I will take a laxative in case my stools are getting too hard. One thing I find strange, is that usually diarrhea feels the best for me. It usually doesn't hurt at all to pass. (it hurts a bit right after the BM but it quickly fades away) And the funny thing is that sometimes I can have diarrhea and go only once or twice a day.
There are other kinds of stools that I do pass (although they do hurt a bit more) usually the kind that is small, and soft, or even somewhat mushy. (sorry if that was too much XD ) But basically what I have been wondering is if I have been doing some things wrong, or if I can just do some things better. Should I use stool softeners instead of laxatives? Is there a exact specific stool that I should try to have?
Another thing that I am wondering about, is how can I deal with the pain I have DURING a bowel movement? Because sometimes I will get the occasional painful stool, and usually with those I just grab a towel and yell into it and get it over with. But I think the WORST ones to deal with is when you have a painful one, you get by it, but later that day you have to go AGAIN. Those are extremely painful and I want to know how I can just deal with the pain.
What are some tips that you guys have? :)

it's so great that your doctor hasn't mis-diagnosed you! But with that being said, yes, I have some suggestions for you. I think you and I are at about the same "stage" in the fissure journey, LOL, and there are some things that I found helpful.
1. While you may find liquid stools (using laxatives) to be gentler on your rectum, there are some big cons to using them (as opposed to stool softeners). The first is that laxatives will often delay or prevent your body from breaking down food properly and absorbing nutrients from it. Less nutrients in your body means you do not heal as fast in the long run. If you can take stool softeners instead and drink more water than you think you need, you will probably feel better in general. It is also not recommended to take laxatives for a long time, as they can cause some really nasty internal issues. Stool softeners are a bit gentler on your system in general to my understanding.
2. If you do have a liquid stool and feel the immediate "burning" you can easily help it go away by using oil in your rectum - coconut oil or a fissure healing oil. The oil will coat your delicate tissue - the burning sensation you feel is latent acidic liquid left behind from your liquid BM. These acidic liquids tend to burn for about half an hour while your tissue creates it's own barrier of "mucus". Since these acidic liquids are "burning" you they are also disrupting the tissue and irritating it. It's best to quench this as soon as possible so that your next BM is less painful. Otherwise it just makes the area even more sensitive to the next BM.
But during a bowel movement you will notice that occasionally you can feel relief by changing your posture or even using clean fingers to press against the side of your pursing rectum. If you use your fingers to help the pressure, just be sure that your stool is going to be soft - otherwise you could force a hard stool in the opposite direction and create new fissures. Press gently and focus on relaxing - don't just think about relaxing your rectum but also your whole pelvic "floor". The more relaxed you are, the less chance of a painful spasm.
If you do experience a spasm as your stool begins to "peak" out of your rectum, you can choose to voluntarily "tighten" your rectum just for a few seconds to allow the spasm to pass. Once you feel the spasm relaxing, let go of your tightening and see if your stool will emerge a little easier. This technique has really helped me.
I also found it helpful to not put any kind of "expectation" on myself for how long I should take in the bathroom. if I need to take a little longer and just let things come out slowly then so be it - it is better to let my tissues open up slowly. But with that being said, do not sit on the toilet so long that your legs or butt cheeks fall asleep. This is too much for your rectum area and can actually make things worse.
You don't have to bite the towel in pain - there are lots of other ways to "cope" that will help you to gradually heal and hopefully become pain-free. I found that doing at least something (whether taking the stool softeners, using the oil, getting in a warm bath - etc. etc.) made me feel like I had greater control over what was "happening to me". And I eventually saw a huge reduction in my pain.
And most of all, remember, you are not alone!
After your BM, apply oil again to the fissures to promote healing. If you feel that your rectum is "dry" by the time the next BM time comes around, then apply some oil before as well. If you use your fingers just be sure that you have washed them very well before (or use a little latex finger glove).

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply! I should definitely get some coconut oil or other kinds of oils that would help.
I wish I had seen this reply sooner today. XD I had to go to the bathroom twice. the first one was kinda liquid like, so it didn't hurt much at all. The second one was at the end of the day, and boy was it a painful one. Strange thing is that it was just a soft stool, and was pretty small. but it just felt like a nightmare, as it would come out, I could feel my legs shaking from the pain. I wonder if I had used oil beforehand, it would have been easier...
There was no blood when I wiped, so that made me feel good. Also, when you said something about pushing your fingers against the rectum to help with pressure, I got a bit confused on how to do this. Could you re explain it to me? O.o

Yes I can definitely explain. OK, so like imagine that your rectum is like your mouth. Like, if you had a cut in the corner of your mouth, it would really hurt to open your mouth wide or to purse your lips. But, imagine if you could use a couple of fingers to push against the affected area (just outside your lip, kind of like pushing a bit against your cheek flesh). Try making a duck-face and then use two fingers to push against one corner of your mouth. You can see now that if you were to insert a banana into your mouth, the opposite side of your mouth would stretch a little more to accommodate the banana, or the banana itself would squish smaller as it entered as long as it was a soft banana, but that side of your mouth with the cut wouldn't stretch further and open up.
Now, when you are having a BM, your rectum "purses" a little, kind of like making a duck-face, LOL. I have found that if I have a fissure or a cut near the outer area of my rectum (not a deep one but one just very near the outside part) the the pursing part really hurts. So, I reach down and use one or two fingers to just gently add pressure to the side of my rectum. As long as my stool is soft, it will exit my rectum easily and the area where the fissure is will hurt less.
I hope this helps!