Has anybody had a Sphincterotomy?

Posted , 102 users are following.

Hi All, I've been advised to 'seriously consider' a Sphincterotomy following Botox, which doesn’t seem to have worked. Although I'm booked in for a second round of Botox, my consultant advised me to have the 'risky' op The risk he says could result in incontinence and this is what scares me. Has anybody had this procedure, what was the recovery time and did it work, without the incontinence? Thank you.

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  • Posted

    I am seeing a surgeon in a few days and trying to gather all of the info possible.  I have chronic fissure with a skin tag. Also battle with IBS.  Have tried meds, diet, fiber... pain gets more tolerable then extremely bad.  I see you did Botox and then surgery.  I am traveling out of the country in 6 weeks and trying to figure out what my options are. Wondering recovery and at what point would travel be "comfortable"... 

    Should I try Botox first or will that even be an option with the skin tag? I also worry about the incontinence issue.

    I would greatly appreciate your opinion.

  • Posted

    Hi,

    I am so glad to have found this forum. 

    I am suffering with AF for last 1 year now, even after treating it with medicine and home remedies it keeps coming back. This time it is the worst. I feel like my anus has closed shut and not letting stool pass. I have been applying nifedipine compounded ointment which my doctor prescribed, drinking lots of water, taking all sorts of fiber, 250 mg of stool softeners everyday but still when I pass stool in the morning it takes all my energy to get the 1st chunk out. The rest of it is soft. I underwent a skin tag removal about a month back and recovered quickly but the fissure has reoccured after that and is very painful. This morning there was so much pain and it felt like some flesh also came out. I am not sure if I should wait for this fissure to heal first and then think about the surgery, or get it soon even with the fissure. I booked an appointment for this Friday but I am pretty sure she will not perform surgery for one week at least. 

    I would greatly appreciate any opinion or experience!

  • Posted

    Finally had the surgery yesterday morning. Felt ok immediately after but started hurting last night but not terrible. Just pooped for the 1st time in about 60 hours. Gotta say, not as bad as I thought the 1st time would be. Taking percocet to get by. Was worried about constipation from the meds but have been taking lots of stool softeners & drinking over a gallon of water a day. How much longer is the po ain going to last?

    • Posted

      Probably hurt about as s bad as before the surgery but with the swelling I expected worse
    • Posted

      Expect to feel pain PAIN for 7 days. Days 2 through 5 was worse for me. It will get better.
    • Posted

      How are you feeling today? I'm scheduled for surgery in about 2 weeks and i am very nervous about the recovery process as well.

    • Posted

      I'm a little over 2 weeks after surgery & feel very close to 100%. No pain at all any more. Not even when I go to the bathroom. The 1st week sucked but more because the infection than anything else. I didn't really feel any worse than before surgery. I was scared to death about going to the bathroom but it was like 3 days after when I went the 1st time & it was about as bad as pre surgery. Not much worse. It was really bad the 2 weeks before the surgery that I was ready bv to get it over with. Dr gave me percocet for the pain. I was afraid they would cause constipation but I drank an insane amount of water & never had any constipation issues thank God. I'm so grateful I had it done. You're gonna be just fine after a week or so

    • Posted

      Thank you. I am really hopeful that this will all be a bad memory soon.

    • Posted

      its ok to be nervous. recovery the 1st week is tough. but you WILL be fine. it is a sensitive area. just build up on fiber food...fiber bagels, beans, oatmeals, fiber cereal. eat a fiber diet and tons of water the 1st week. it really does help. 1st bm is very scary but as long as u keep your fiber going it shouldnt hurt as much. i had my surgery 3 months ago and i now feel healed. if i can manage the recovery with 2 babies ...i know u can. FYI dont eat cheese for about 2 months or anything that may trigger constipation. being constipated is the worse thing u can do during recovery.

    • Posted

      You were pretty spot on about the recovery time. Thank you. You were very helpful helping me know what to expect

    • Posted

      Thank you for the reassurance i appreciate it. Im already so used to eating soo much fiber that should be ok but it will suck to drop the cheese lol. Thankfully ill have some help from my parents and fiance with the baby. I took a week off of work so i hope ill be ok to go back after 7 days

    • Posted

      Yea you should be fine. I had my surgery during summer vacation so I had 4 weeks off. The rinsing the area after bm helped so much. Good luck! 😃

    • Posted

      I'm getting ready to schedule my surgery. I was under the impression I'd be able to get back to work after a week, but these posts make me think I need to take two. Any thoughts?

      Also, I went to a colorectal surgeon who prescribed a ointment that seems to have cleared up the fissure, but having a BM hasn't gotten any easier - even with stool softeners. Does that still sound like the surgery is called for?

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