Hemorrhoid surgery recovery tips

I thought I would would put my recovery advice in as this forum has helped me, maybe it will help someone else.  At the end I’ll just list everything without the story.

I had my surgery about 5 days ago and while I am in discomfort, there have been many days in the last 7-10 years that I’ve had worse pain with the hemorrhoids in general (I’m only in my early 30’s).  From what I understand I had three cuts all internal.  

Before the surgery start increasing water intake dramatically.  Get powdered fiber and mirilax and start taking it twice a day, you can mix them together.  Take it every day twice a day. 

I’ve found that when I’m in the most pain it’s because I need to have a BM and the best way to cope with that is having it as soft as possible.  I drink mainly water right now and decaf iced tea when I need a change.  

My girlfriend is a sweetheart and  her and my mother have kept the pudding, jello, and soup stocked for when I need something to eat with medication.  I only eat solid foods if I’m feeling nauseous.  

The doctor prescribed norco and I have a muscle relaxer which I was taking maximum dosage of the first couple days, but now I’ve started to cut back on because the withdrawals are worse than the pain in my opinion.  It is smart to rotate ibuprofen and aspirin if you need it.  The prescription stuff will only make you constipated so it’s smart to get off them ASAP.  

If I have pain and don’t BM shortly after getting to the bathroom I go straight for a sitz bath.  In my case I use Dr. Teals and just soak in the tub.  I was so comfortable the other night I fell asleep, so make sure you set an alarm and don’t drown yourself.  After the bath or BMs I generally use a topical with lidocaine on the outside.  Make sure and this is imperative, you need to have wet wipes for cleaning up.   Don’t skimp on that.  

Lastly I’ve really only found sleeping on my back as comfortable with feet propped up a little.  

Recap

1. Start drinking water all day.  Mix fiber and miralax in it twice a day to soften stool. Stay away from sugar, dairy, caffeine.

2. Only eat solid food if your nauseous at first, be healthy but keeping stool soft is priority number one.

3.  If you’re  in pain or discomfort you may need to make a BM.  

4.  If you can’t go right away, soak in tub and relax.  Straining probably got you into this mess and will only hurt.  Sitz bath is a plus, warm water is adequate.

5. If you get prescribed pain killers, don’t use them as a crutch.  Focus on aspirin and ibuprofen.  Narcotics will make it worse and possibly cause withdrawals later.

6. Not mentioned above, get up and move around occasionally.  You may sleep a lot, but being active will improve recovery time.  Just don’t do anything strenuous with bending and lifting.  

7. Remind yourself that the odds are in your favor to not have to deal with the pain and blood in your future.  

8. Optional.  Binge Netflix.  

Hi everyone. I'm going to share my experience and hope someone learns from it.

I had my surgery on Apr 19th. I had put myself on a liquid diet that Monday. So the surgery part was a blur and I was home before I knew it. My first BM was on Saturday and it was a strain and so little. So went out and got psyllium husk, rasberries oranges, more wipes and gauges. I indulge on these for two days straight. I stop taking the oxy on Monday afternoon because I still didn't have another BM yet.

Tuesday morning I have two BMs. First one I straight but decided to push it out. There was plenty of blood. About 15 minutes later, I have my second one. This one was brutal. All the fiber I was eating and everything I did eat decided to come out with blood. I was on the toilet for at least 2hrs bleeding like there was no tomorrow. Then when I thought I was done, I tried to wipe and I was dizzy and disorientated. I was scared and didn't know what was happening. Told my girl she might have to call 911. I thought it was from stopping the oxy so I tried calming down to get my thoughts together. I was sweating, getting cold then hot. Finally wiped myself and made it in the tub. I had the water on cold because I was sweating. Then crawled to bed but still dizzy and couldn't think. Decided to call the hospital that did my surgery but they acted like it was no big deal. They eventually told me to come by if I wanted to. I called another hospital closer to me and told them I was coming.

Skipping the wait and onto now... I had been admitted for 2 days so far. They checked my blood (hemo) and it was at 10. They checked this morning and it was at 8. something. I got checked by their surgeon and it was an experience I wouldn't wish on an enemy. I am prep for a transfusion if my blood goes down to 6-7 and doesn't go up by morning. I have tried to use the bathroom but no luck. I am not bleeding except for the expected. So hope everything goes well in the morning.

I lost blood because I was straining too much for that second BM but kept going. Imagine turning a faucet on about low to medium. Then try stopping it with just your fingers. It was like that for a good hour. But I kept pushing thinking I still had poop.

For anyone that is straining... don't push it. Let your body and the food do it for you. Eat fiber and foods that will help you stool because it will be less painful. My BM wasn't hard and it would had eventually came out but I was careless.

Good luck y'all. I'll update when I'm out.

I know the short term pain is terrible, but just want to encourage you all that I'm 4 month out from my surgery and it is so nice to not have the hemmroid anymore! Stick with it, it is worth it!

You guys are doing so well and congratulate yourself for coming thro the other end! I'm now 7 months post op and I have skin tags after the surgery and alighy.pain still but nothing major. Id deffo get it done again if needed well worth the pain

I seem to definitely be the exception, here! Thus far, anyway. I'm four days into recovery and my hemorrhoid removal surgery has hurt less than having the hemorrhoid did! The only unfortunate thing is that it all took place very quickly, so I had no prep time--which is ideal to do, in order to take a few days to clean your system out (so that it doesn't hurt to "go" later), to get some shopping and laundry and other general tasks done (so you're not having to do them in pain after surgery), and to have items on standby in case you need them (such as ice packs, clean gauze, and maybe some magnesium citrate for constipation if you need it).

I went in for a doctor's appointment on Wednesday and was scheduled for surgery the next morning, on Thursday (someone cancelled--pure luck, not an emergency). It went well; truth be told, I had more issues with the anesthesia in terms of nausea and low blood pressure than with the incision and any pain issues. After the initial pain, relieved by the Toradol shot when I woke up from surgery, I've only had what ranges between moderate discomfort to mild pain... but I've also avoided sitting, and I'm sure that standing and lying down most of the time has helped tremendously. (Even using a "doughnut" pillow doesn't erase the fact that gravity is taking place when you sit, thus putting more pressure on that region.) Having my trusty Yunga Tart toilet seat sitz bath handy is also quite helpful, of course.

My only concern is that I haven't "gone" yet... but my bowels aren't indicating that they're under any pressure and demanding that I do it, either--and straining is a definite no-no at this stage, that's for sure. I keep eating roughage (bananas, apples, lettuce), taking fiber supplements, and pressing my stomach to see how everything's going in there, but I don't feel any tightness, discomfort, etc., and gas is moving through just fine. So even though I'm "supposed to" be going, I'm actually kind of grateful that I'm healing up a bit before that particular need comes about.