For those who want to suss out the evidence base, and have access to online medical papers (eg through a university or work), I highly recommend reading one or more review papers on anal fissures. Some that you may find helpful include:
The management of anal fissure: ACPGBI position statement. [Review] [47 refs] Cross KL. Massey EJ. Fowler AL. Monson JR. ACPGBI. Colorectal Disease. 10 Suppl 3:1-7, 2008 Nov.
Hemorrhoids and fissure in ano. [Review] [131 refs] Chong PS. Bartolo DC. Gastroenterology Clinics of North America. 37(3):627-44, ix, 2008 Sep
Nonsurgical approaches for the treatment of anal fissures. [Review] [84 refs] Dhawan S. Chopra S. American Journal of Gastroenterology. 102(6):1312-21, 2007 Jun.
Non surgical therapy for anal fissure. [Review] [71 refs][Update of Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2003;(4):CD003431; PMID: 14583976] Nelson R. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. (4):CD003431, 2006.
Systematic review: the treatment of anal fissure. [Review] [98 refs] Steele SR. Madoff RD. Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics. 24(2):247-57, 2006 Jul 15.
Operative procedures for fissure in ano. [Review] [33 refs][Update of Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2002;(1):CD002199; PMID: 11869628] Nelson R. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. (2):CD002199, 2005.
A systematic review of medical therapy for anal fissure. [Review] [37 refs] Nelson R. Diseases of the Colon & Rectum. 47(4):422-31, 2004 Apr.
Chronic anal fissure. [Review] [84 refs] Lindsey I. Jones OM. Cunningham C. Mortensen NJ. British Journal of Surgery. 91(3):270-9, 2004 Mar.
Internal anal sphincter function following lateral internal sphincterotomy for anal fissure: a long-term manometric study. Ram E. Alper D. Stein GY. Bramnik Z. Dreznik Z. Annals of Surgery. 242(2):208-11, 2005 Aug.
