Don't normally post on these types of things but hope to help with my story. I had a severe fissure that was persistent for 3 years. Tried the doctor recommended treatment - mainly rectiv cream which gave me a severe headache. Didn't have a fiber issue so increasing that didn't do anything. Then recommended botox or surgery. Not something I wanted to do. For a few months, 2 or 3 times a day I would insert my finger with petroleum jelly and massage in a circle and actually rub with pressure on the fissure. This helped but it would still easily tear. Then I bought some 5% lidocaine anal cream on Amazon and applied that and used a small dilator (butt plug). Did that a few times and literally was healed in a few weeks. Would use the cream on an off a bit longer but now don't need. My anus feels very relaxed and supple now. I can only think the lidocaine helped to relax the muscle and allowed it to stretch without ripping? I will say when trying this my fear was that the numbness would just hide the pain and allow even more damage, but that was not the case. A friend if mine tried this solution and has success as well.
All that I can say is that I was resigned to this being an ongoing thing and this simple solution resolved the problem very rapidly. Hope it helps.

That's awesome! Congratulations. Thanks for posting. I didn't know you could get lidocaine from amazon so this is useful information. Thanks for sharing.
LM

It must feel great to be healed! I'm thinking of trying dilation as well. How long did you keep the dilator in for during one session?

The cream you can find on Amazon.com is called Recticare.
In terms of dialation I would do for 10-15 mins at a time. Make sure to move around and use plenty of lubrication after using recticare (wait a few minutes for it to work) so it doesn't stick after awhile.

I've considered whether a "dilator"/butt plug would help, it's interesting to hear your story. Did you just get one that was designed for recreational use? What type? I don't know how small they come, but I'm clenched up so tight sometimes that it sounds difficult to get anything inserted.

@pony: Look up pediatric rectal dilators. They come in small sizes starting from 7 mm. I bought a set of them from 7-14 mm from a medical shop on eBay.

Don’t you have to be careful with lidocaine? My doctor said it could cause thinning of the skin and ultimately make the fissure more likely to tear. It is great for pain relief though. I have some in the cupboard but don’t dare to use it.

I've used lidocaine and muscle relaxant combined in a suppository on and off for several months now. I don't use the whole suppository, only parts of it. I haven't noticed any skin thinning externally, but sometimes it'll cause burning internally, so I no longer insert it, just apply to the outside as it melts.