I am writing to share my personal lessons learned so far as I try to heal. I was diagnosed with an AF eight weeks ago. Every person is different, but I'm sharing these observations, in case they may apply to anyone else's body. I've had relatively pain-free BMs for the last two weeks, and my colorectal surgeon says the fissure is healing and much smaller... after much sound and fury along the way to this point. Here are the three things that appear to have been crucial to making progress in my case.
Diet: go with soluble fiber rather than insoluble. Soluble fiber makes my stool gelatinous and soft. Insoluble fiber makes my stool higher in diameter. The patient education materials I got from my colorectal surgeon emphasized (very unfortunately) insoluble fiber, exactly the wrong kind. With help from my physical therapist, I switched to soluble fiber foods (beans, pears, oats) and noticed that bowel movements became less painful and lower risk in terms of re-tearing the AF.
Nifedipine: this ointment seems to work in reducing the extent of spasms. My CRS had me apply 0.2% four times daily on the outside and rim of my anus. It seems to help avoid spasms, increase blood flow, and allow healing to occur.
Physical therapy: my fissure may have been caused by improper use of my pelvic floor muscles over a period of decades. I used the external sphincter muscles to keep skin tags from old hemorrhoids inside my anus. With the help of therapists, I have been learning to relax the sphincter and instead stabilize with my left/right abdominal oblique muscles and diaphragm muscles. This seems to have taken some pressure off the rectum and AF, which in turn allowed the AF to be more free to heal.