Hemorrhoid surgery recovery tips
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Hemorrhoidectomy recovery
I had a hemorrhoidectomy two weeks ago. The doctor warned me that recovery process would be painful. But I didn't think it would be this intense. Here are a few tips to ease the pain. It made a world of difference in pain management for me:
1) ice packs-- most ice packs are not shaped for your butt and the flat ones only numb the butt cheeks, not the surgical site where you need relief. So make your own! Buy diapers (any size 3-6) and fill it with 3-4 cups of water and put it in a ziplock bag (for hygienic storage) and in the freezer. Once frozen, the diapers are curved perfectly to your anus area and won't drip as it melts either because the gel is designed to hold in liquid. I use one diaper several times before tossing. Just put it in a ziplock bag and refreeze.
2) squirt bottles--clean yourself with squirt bottles, not even wet toilet paper or baby wipes were gentle enough post surgery when the area is extremely raw. I bought two big squirt bottles at the drug store and fill them up before any bowel movements.
3) Boneal-- after cleaning the anus with the squirt bottles, I apply boneal (otc lotion for anal cleaning) lotion on toilet paper and dab it on my anus. It relieves the pain and itching that come later in the healing process.
4) sitz bath-- Do this 2-3 times a day and definitely after a bowel movement. Sometimes, I have my bowel movements in the sitz bath to ease the pain. Just remember to rinse it with soap and hot water right away if you have a bowel movement in there so you don't sit in fecal water and develop a uti on top of everything else.
5) if possible, stick to lots of veggies and soups for the first two weeks to allow the wound to heal. No starchy foods and anything binding!!!
These tips were given to me by the maternity nurses after I had a baby, but they are completely relevant here and I am especially grateful for the ice pack diaper trick! It was the ONLY way an ice pack can be applied to that anus area and not to my butt cheeks. Good luck and speedy recovery. BTW-- get all this ready, especially the diaper ice packs before surgery so you will have it immediately after you come home from surgery. You'll be in so much pain and not very mobile, so have all the relief remedies prepared ahead of time!
14 likes, 446 replies
strong23065 gee11215
Posted
Day 4, well day 3 ended well, 0/10 about an 7.5 which was very much acceptable. I took my Tylenol, Prep h, Meta, Stool softners an I’m soaking in the Epson salt bath as I text, it feel ok but yesterday was wonderful, I did have my 2nd & 3rd bm this morning, I can relax a bit easier when this happens, still some fear but no panic attacks, both times were tolerable,
murray32326 gee11215
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Happybum murray32326
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Yep, I hear ya. Today marked week 4 post op. I saw my surgeon two days ago. I mentioned the occasional rectal spasms (after a bm especially) pain between 2-6 upon having a BM, some slight bleeding after bms, not always, but often and the seepage that is yellow with sometimes a little fecal coloured liquid about the size of a nickel to quarter on a 2 x 4 non stick gauze that I put between my butt cheeks. He said that's all normal. He said that things should all return to normal around 3 months or so. The seepage though, he didn't really say that would or would not go away, in that, it may and it may not. Great. But we'll see. I've read on other boards that some people had that go away within weeks, some within 3 to 4 months and some still have it years later. However, the surgeon did indicate that healing was happening on schedule and that it does, indeed, take time. Not the one week and your back to work crap. He LAUGHED at that and even after 3 weeks. I still have one stitched area still in place but he said that should fall out. All in all, one month later, I am not as healed up as I thought I would be but at least, today, I was able to walk, not normally, but walk, for 30 minutes and THAT was an achievement! Oh, and he has prescribed a rectal ointment that he said will improve healing, calm down the spasms as well. I am still waiting for it (compounding pharmacy) and will let you know how that goes. I'll be honest, this operation and now recovery was a bit more than I bargained for, but, depending how it goes, if I heal up as good as new, it will have been well worth it.
cheryl46943 Happybum
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Uuuuug !!!! I don't know what I was expecting your dr to say - but that wasn't it .
After all you have gone through this far I was hoping for more ' yep you are so ready for jumping jacks ! ' But I am glad you are doing better each day.
The leakage thing distresses me to no end. I have that now and have had for 2 years and I don't think I would go through all this fir that not to be gone. My doctor said it might not fix that problem at all - so I was hoping for another opinion .
I never dreamed my life would resort to being obsessed with butts and poop. Lol
Won't it be nice when it's just a faint memory and so behind you !!! Oops. There I go again - behind. Just hoping for a smile on that.
Thanks all you guys and gals for sharing your experiences and thoughts.
ana36747 gee11215
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A PAIN IN THE ASS!!!!
Just want to share my story and please forgive me if this might be a bit too much information but I feel as though this forum really helped me during my recovery as I was googling tips for not crying during this painful process :'
I want to start off my mentioning that I am a generally healthy 24 year old female so my doctor said that it was a bit unusual as to why I kept getting hemorrhoids so often. They were very painful, took about a week to heal, and obviously looked embarrassing and questionable to those who have the pleasure of not knowing what a hemorrhoid is. I actually had to go through this whole process TWO times.
The first time, I'm not sure what I was expecting but I didn't think it would be all that bad. It was the very first surgery I've ever had, and my surgeon told me that I would be "a little bit sore" and that it would be a good idea for me to take a few days off work (since I work sitting down in an office). I actually ended up taking a week off. He was definitely making it sound nice and fluffy as to how it actually went down. Coming out of the surgery I didn't think it was all that bad (I was on morphine) and went on with my daily activities. Second day was alright, the third day was worse and the fourth and fifth day was absolute hell. Overall I healed about a week and a half later, and once I healed it looked as though I had a skin tag leftover from the way I healed with the stitches. It really didn't look aesthetically pleasing and I asked my surgeon if there was a quick solution to get rid of this. He recommended I come back and redo the procedure and it wouldn't be AS BAD as the first time, because it was just a small skin tag removal, not the hemorrhoid. I agreed.
So I'm writing this now after day a week of my second time around. (Today is Thursday, I had the surgery last Thursday morning). My second time around I feel like the procedure was 3 times worse than the first. I was put under, and my surgery was called a "Hemorrhoidectomy" (even though my request was to remove the skin tag... but I trusted the surgeon) so I went through this whole painful process again. I do have to say that day 5 is TRULY the worst pain I have ever felt in my entire life.
I was prescribed painkillers and with warning, they do make you EXTREMELY constipated. I was taking the stool softeners, drinking laxative tea, eating soups/very soft food and I still had huge issues. This is where it gets bad..
The painkillers made me so constipated that I couldn't make a bowel movement for 3 days. My stomach was really starting to hurt from the build up so I drank some castor oil (a well known easy fix laxative) to soothe my pain here.... when it came down to the business, I couldn't release a BM because my stitches were so tight, as if my hole was two times smaller, and my BM was two times the size of my hole. Imagine that. I spent about 45 minutes in the washroom in agonizing tears, bleeding puddles, trying to make a BM - I felt like my stitches were going to snap undone and that I grew a fresh new hemorrhoid in this whole process. With that being said, I stopped taking the painkillers after that experience - it was truly traumatizing. Now I've never had children but I swear the pain levels with this procedure could be very comparable, if not worse. When I stopped taking the painkillers, I almost feel as though I went through a 24 withdrawal period. I've never dabbled with opioids before so I didn't know how to deal with it. I had a huge migraine, I was shaking, super irritable and itchy. I wasn't overdoing it with my medication either, so this was unpleasant on top of everything already happening.
Advice to all in recovery mode - take it easy with the meds, constipated is the VERY LAST thing you want to be in this case. The surgery itself is a walk in the park compared to the actual recovery but you do see a light at the end of the tunnel after a week. Keep on with the liquid diet, laxatives are a good dessert, and your drinks of choice should be 3L of water daily and PRUNE JUICE
Hope this helps anyone looking to crack a smile or some advice. All the best, heal fast xx
Happybum ana36747
Posted
Oh Ana36747 I am SO SORRY you had to go through that! Oh my God. Well, I guess I was lucky in that I had a huge negative reaction to the first pill of the opioid I was prescribed so had no choice but to do the pain with tylenol and grit. Was it painful, well, yes BUT not the worst pain all the way through. First night of the surgery it was pretty rough but thank God the sedation they used for the surgery was still in my system so I was able to nod off even though it was a fitfull sleep. That was helpful for about 4 nights.
So, yes, definitely you want to avoid constipation at all costs. I am so sorry you had to go through this. I hope you won't have to go through any more of this. People have no idea what agony and how hard it can be on your moral to have to deal with both the hemmoroids, especially internal ones that prolapse and then the subsequent surgery. It takes over your life! I am on metamucil, ground flax and lax-a-day for life! lol! Not going to develop those again! I wish you a speedy recovery and that the pain lessens substantially, Ana.
Jojo423 gee11215
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I’ve suffered with hemmoroids for about 6 years now and they got to a point they were taking over my whole life. I finally broke down and went to see a colorectal surgeon who diagnosed me with 2 complex stage 3 prolapsed hemmoroids and anal fissure. She had me use a nitroglycerin cream for about 8 weeks to repair the fissure prior to the surgery. On 2/16/18, I had a hemmoroidectomy. The surgery itself was easy, but it was recovery I was dreading. I woke up very nauseous (from the anesthesia) and in a good deal of pain. I was given Zofran for the nausea plus Fentynl for the pain. The rest of the night was a fog and I mostly slept, but I did have an appetite. The next 24 hours were the same as I was taking the percoset (with my colace of course!) Here is where my issue started, I had to stop the percoset 48 hours later due to the constipation. With this surgery you do not want to be constipated! On day 3 I woke up and I was able to have a very small BM. Very painful, but not terrible. From days 3-5 I had a great deal of pain each day (just taking Aleve and colace @ this point) and just 1 small BM a day). I was feeling very uncomfortable between the surgery site pain and all of the pressure building up down there I finally had to really push on day 5 and had an actual BM. It was a huge relief, but now I’m on day 9 and I fear that I have myself 2 new external hemmoroids. I see 2 small “piles” there but I’m not sure if it’s from the surgery and I’m still healing or I did in fact cause these? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Good luck to anyone recovering!
Happybum Jojo423
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I haven't really looked at the area except for once about a week and a half after the surgery. My poor anal area looked like Frankenstein with the dark black stitches, lol! Now, after four weeks I can feel a little lump there and my guess is that it's from the surgery itself. I have no idea how it's suppose to be after it all heals up but we'll see. You are probably still pretty swollen from inflammation so give it a few weeks and then see. That's my guess. Hoping a speedy recovery for you!
Jojo423 Happybum
Posted
Happybum Jojo423
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It's been 4 weeks and five days since the surgery. Well, a lot better now than then, that' for sure! Lol! It's just a day at a time. Some days are better than others. It seems to come down to bowel movements. The more I have in a day the more sore I become and then the more spasms and seepage. So I just have one meal a day to try to ensure one or two bowel movements a day. So, key to speed healing is managing bms and not doing too much in a day, like bending, cleaninng under beds ,lifting too much etc. I did that the other day and set myself back.
However, I'd have to say that things are definitely moving in the right direction. I am getting some cream from a compounding pharmacy that my surgeon prescribed which has 1% lidocaine in it and another medication that I can't remember at the moment. It is suppose to help with healing.
The key is also having very soft bowel movements so when I do well with that things do better.
I hope that helps : ) I'll keep you posted at the 6 week mark.
cheryl46943 Happybum
Posted
Are you doing better.
Happybum cheryl46943
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Hello Cheryl! Yes, things are moving in the right direction. I had a flare of my IBS and that was causing discomfort in the lower bowel, rectal area. It was making it feel like I was having to go, to eliminate sort of constantly until I either passed gas or had a BM. I realized that some of the food I was eating (like oranges which are great fibre but not so great for IBS) were causing issues. I also had increased my meals to 2 to 3 a day and that was causing too many BMS so I have cut back to one meal and a more IBS friendly diet - bland.
So, where I am is that I am still having bleeding with a bowel movement, light, bright smear of red on the toilet paper after gently dabbing with dampened toilet paper. So I have to still do sitz baths after BMs. Still having some spasming on and off. Pain still but all depends on the day and what I dod and how I eat. Yesterday was better than the three days before it.
That being said, I can stand now for longer periods of time which is great! Sitting I really can't do for long periods at all. Once the fissures heal up all should be good to go. I am at 6 weeks or so post op now. Even though I'd love to be already done, I'd say that things are much better than at 1-4 weeks post op, lol!
Guest Happybum
Posted
hi Happy Bum, do you have a growth or fissure that looks like a hem sticking out of your bum!!. I do, and it seems to be getting bigger. I'm 10 weeks post op and still in immense pain after a BM.
Happybum Guest
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Hey Sandy : )
Sorry to hear you are still having a lot of pain after a BM. I am not having a LOT of pain but I still do have pain when I have a BM. I have two fissures now which are the internal hem wounds healing. I spot some bright red blood on the dampened toilet tissue when I gently pat wipe after a BM.
I can't really see that well what is going on down there but I can feel that there are "protrusions" that run along the wound. My guess is that it is still inflammation as the wound heals.
If you are having immense pain you should probably see your surgeon to make sure it's not infection or what have you. I don't know - only you can tell. I have read that people have pain for sometimes up to 3 months or more. The area is very tender and takes time to heal.
panic465 Guest
Posted