: 8–13  Hippocrates referred to the use of salicylic tea to reduce fevers around 400 BC, and willow bark preparations were part of the pharmacopoeia of Western medicine in classical antiquity and the Middle Ages. Willow bark extract became recognized for its specific effects on fever, pain, and inflammation in the mid-eighteenth century. By the nineteenth century, pharmacists were experimenting with and prescribing a variety of chemicals related to salicylic acid, the active component of willow extract. : 46–55 

In 1853, chemist Charles Frédéric Gerhardt treated sodium salicylate with acetyl chloride to produce acetylsalicylic acid for the first time;: 46–48  in the second half of the 19th century, other academic chemists established the compounds chemical structure and devised more efficient methods of synthesis. In 1897, scientists at the drug and dye firm Bayer began investigating acetylsalicylic acid as a less-irritating replacement for standard common salicylate medicines, and identified a new way to synthesize it. : 69–75  By 1899, Bayer had dubbed this drug Aspirin and was selling it globally. : 27  The word Aspirin was Bayers brand name, rather than the generic name of the drug; however, Bayers rights to the trademark were lost or sold in many countries. Aspirins popularity grew over the first half of the 20th century leading to fierce competition with the proliferation of aspirin brands and products.Aspirins popularity declined after the development of acetaminophen/paracetamol in 1956 and ibuprofen in 1962.
A combined surgical and pharmacological treatment, administered by colorectal surgeons, is the direct injection of botulinum toxin (Botox) into the anal sphincter to relax it. This treatment was first investigated in 1993. However, in many cases involving Botox injections, the patients eventually had to choose another cure as the injections proved less and less potent, spending thousands of dollars in the meantime for a partial cure. Lateral sphincterotomy is the Gold Standard for curing this condition. Combination of medical therapies may offer up to 98% cure rates. Surgery
Surgical procedures are generally reserved for people with anal fissure who have tried medical therapy for at least one to three months and have not healed. It is not the first option in treatment. The main concern with surgery is the development of anal incontinence. Anal incontinence can include the inability to control gas, mild fecal soiling, or loss of solid stool. Some degree of incontinence can occur in up to 45 percent of patients in the immediate surgical recovery period. However, incontinence is rarely permanent and is usually mild. The risk should be discussed with ones surgeon. Surgical treatment, under general anaesthesia, was either anal stretch (Lords operation) or lateral sphincterotomy where the internal anal sphincter muscle is incised. Both operations aim to decrease sphincter spasming and thereby restore normal blood supply to the anal mucosa. Surgical operations involve a general or regional anaesthetia. Anal stretch is also associated with anal incontinence in a small proportion of cases and thus sphincterotomy is the operation of choice.