Does using a heating pad achieve the same results as a warm bath? It's a lot easier to do that throughout the day and it's wonderfully relaxing, but I don't know if it really helps with healing.

Some people swear by it, but I could never "sit" on one, nor find any other satisfactory method of delivering the heat to my tail...
I'm am sure it is comparable to a hot bath, maybe not quite as effective. But if it is soothing, it may also be bringing blood to the fissure site, which would be a wonderful thing...

for me it wasn't. i have heated seats in the car and i while driving with mind-blowing ass pain, the heated seats would some how almost aggrevate the situation for me.
just beware of the heating elements and butt sweat.

beware of burning your butt! I wouldn't be parted from my hot water bottle, but I now have REALLY bad burns on my ass from it. When I had the op last week, nearly every one of the nurses who checked on the wound said..oh my God, what have you DONE! LOL!

I use a heating pad when I can't get to a tub. Especially when I am traveling. It really helps with the pain so does advil. Baths are nicer but I always have my heating pad with me and I can plug it into the car. Just be careful of the settings and not to burn your butt!!
Take Care Patty

the hot baths work best for me. It provides quick healing and pushes the white blood cells to the area to promote healing.

The hot baths work best for me too.
But I do find that if the pain isn't too bad, the heated seats in the car work wonders. However if the pain is excruciating, the seats seem to just make the pain throb worse so I turn them off.

While I had my fissure I had to heat my butt 24/7 - heat was the only thing that helped with spasms : (. So, I was either in the water, or had a water-bottle in my bed, or was sitting on a heating pad. Fortunately didn't have sweating problem , LOL. I don't know if it helped healing my fissure first time around, but it made my life a waaaaay more bearable : (.

Yeh, I agree with you Fis, 24/7 heat-I was either in the bath cooking my butt, or burning it on the hot water bottle!

i sit ona heating pad at work. It really helps, though the baths are much better. I'm not sure why. Maybe work makes me tight arsed.