Hemorrhoid surgery recovery tips

Hi

I am 5 days post op and so very glad I found this forum so I know there are others going through the same horrendous pain.

The terrible pain after a BM lasts 4-5 hours then gradually eases and the pain is bearable but I am dreading going again tomorrow. I really wish I had never had the surgery although I was told it would be painful nothing prepares you for the severity.

I have a ruptured achilles tendon and wearing an air boot so I'm not even very mobile when pacing round trying to relieve the pain.

I'm sure things can only get better (so I keep telling myself)

I thought I would reply to this topic regarding this Surgery.

I am three days past the surgery and believe my experience could help others wondering if they should continue. Please do the surgery - Life without these will make you so much happier.

I have been scheduled 3 times to have this surgery and each time I had to cancel it due to the forums and general feelings regarding this surgery. (People saying its Hell on earth and most painful thing ever)

I have a feeling that these are all dues to a few things and I would like to share.

1. Lack of preparation.

   I am not going to sugar coat this. It is a very uncomfortable surgery. But the benefits far outweigh the few days of being uncomfortable. What I mean about preparation is this. The day before the surgery you should go on a liquid diet and also clean your system out as if you were prep for a colonoscopy. They make you drink a gallon of the more nasty drink (available at the pharmacy) that will keep you on the toilet most of the day. You only can stop when you are pooping clear liquid with no solid what so ever. From that point you can only drink chicken Broth ,water and Jello. I know its hard but trust me this is the key to you being the person that tells someone this was hell on earth or just a difficult and uncomfortable time.

2. My surgery was the next day around 6pm so I was so hungry but I know I had to keep my colon clear of any solid. I was then given my IV ( which was the worst part of this whole experience) I was very nervous due to all the negative reviews I had read and most were terrible. I know we all have different pain tolerance but if I can tell you one thing I am terrible with pain. Even a shot is too much for me.

   I was put under and woke up in recovery. The first thing I felt was a need to go poop. I had 2 large hems removed and 2 that were tied off- ligation. I had a button to press when I needed a boost of pain meds.

   I can tell you after the whole night the system said I only pressed it 6 times. The nurses were shocked.

   It was not as bad as I imagined the worst part was the feeling of pressure and fake feeling like you had to poop. And that was the tied off hems.

   I was admitted overnight for pain management in the hospital. I now know I could have gone home and would have managed it just fine as the pain was more of a uncomfortable announce with a bit of stinging sensation far from #10 pain as I had read in so many posts. I watched my wife have 4 children and that too me looks like the most painful experience anyone can have.

   I asked my surgeon to only prescribe me 3 days of narcotics as I know they are not good for you and cause constipation. I also told him that I would stay on a liquid diet for days after which he thought was a great idea.

3. At home the chicken broth and Jello was all I had for days. Was it hard yes and It will be a while till I have Jello again. But what it did was insure that my butt had enough time to repair before a solid poop would have to be handled. Popping liquid does not create pain and was very easy. Then jumping in a hot bath. I kept up with my meds and I will share the meds that I had and how they made this whole experience totally pain free.
4. Pain meds - Diazepam 5 mg - This stops the Anal sphincter from spasm- taken every 8 hours. 3 days worth
5. Tramadol HCL 50 MG- Pain meds for 3 days - taken every 6 hours.
6. Cream for your anus - Diltiazem 2% and Lidocaine 2% ointment - This was applied 3 times a day before a poop.
7. I would also take Tylenol and ibuphophen when I took my pain meds. Alternating them. every 5 hours.

   I spend almost 2 years from my first appointment to get these horrible things taken off and cancelled so many time because of the horror stories people have posted on here. I want to be the voice that tells you that it does not have to be so hard. Speak to your doctor and ask for the meds to clean your system out the day before your operation. I still have not needed to pass a stool giving my butt time to heal. I am sure when I do it will be unpleasant. But I can only imaging if someone still has solids in their colon and had to pass this after the surgery. It must be like passing a hot coal.

   When you walk around you butt will feel like it is bruised. But everyday it gets better.

   My doctors notes say to expect 1 to 4 weeks of pain. He made no excuse that this is a painful surgery.

   But I can tell you that I have had hems get bad at my kids birthday party, at many events and work. Causing me to bleed all through my clothes. It is just not worth it. Get the surgery and be done with them. Just make sure to prep and have things ready to manage those pain for those 3 days. IT IS NOT AS BAD AS YOU THINK. Keep in mind what life will be like after they are gone.

   Also getting up and moving is important. The first thing I did in recovery is get out of bed and have the nurses walk me to the bathroom. I can see just sitting in bed will slow recovery down.

   I hope this helps a few people sitting on the fence scared like I was with all the negative reviews. Most are not that bad. You can do it like I did and 3 days after I have no more pain just a butt that feel like its bruised.

i had a hemorrhoidopexy almost 6 weeks ago and it has not gone well. my doctor said on my last visit that it is not healing as he would hoped and I have a build up of tissue. He cut some of it out at my last visit, which was very painful in office, but I had some relief during the following days. But, now the pain and pressure is back, no pain management plan in place, and I am intensely suffering.

Does anyone have any advice? I am desperate!!!

Hello everyone, thank you so much for all the recommendations and tips, they were very helpful during the recovery process. I had Hemorrhoidectomy 8 days ago and today is the first day that I can say the pain almost gone. The only extra recommendations I will focus on here are: 1) start a liquid diet few days before the surgery, my first bowel movement after the surgery was SO PAINFUL that I almost passed out. I literally fell down on the bathroom floor from the pain with blood everywhere, my wife was so scared. So, having a liquid diet will make a difference. 2) The main thing that really helped me was taking a lot of baths, narcotics cause constipation so I had to give them up on day three. Finally, a lot of rest, the ice diapers are a great idea, squirt bottles, a lot of vegetables and fruits, and just remember pain will decrease on daily basis. good luck and thanks again for everyone who posted here, reading a lot of posts helped get prepared, physically and emotionally.

i just want to say this opertation is as bad as everyone says it is. The first several times going to the bathroom were sooooooo painful I thought i was going to puke and black out at the same time because the pain was so bad. i have had breast augmentation and a lift done before and i have had a 1 natural birth child and a c section with twins. i would rather have my stomach cut open again and recovery from that twice over going through this. its the ABSOLUTE WORST!! however the best piece of advice someone gave me.. FLAXSEED OIL OMG it does wonders. It helps pass the stools comes out nice and fast and soft and made the process a million times better. Also you do not need the pain pills they make everything worse i started rotating motrin and tylenol on day 3 -and instantly felt a million times better. Im exactly 2 weeks post op and the pain is gone but now the biggest struggle I have is the itching OMG its sooooo ITCHY and nothing helps but i know thats a sign of healing so hopefully the end is near.

i had hemorrhoidectomy 8 days ago. i work 2 jobs both retail and i asked when i could go back to work, i was told 4-5 days. i had to take off 2 days early to verify COVID free. Im so thankful to find this forum because i know people think im exaggerating on how painful it is. I went to one retail job on day 4; i hurt the next day but i went in the next too. i didnt finish my shift. on Wednesday (day 5) I had been told I should have bowel movement. I sat on toilet for 4 hours and only passes a little soft stool every so often. That night, I was crawling on hands and knees because pain was so bad. The next day, I contacted doctors office and they were like "oh its only going to be soft at first." on day 6, I had BM in sitz bath. I worked one job today, but again had to leave after 4 hours. I feel misinformed, no payroll if you dont work, I was bleeding and leaving trails, so I had surgery done. Im ready to go back to normalcy but I feel like its going to be longer than I knew.

What was the reason you had to have this procedure vs banding or the CRH O'Regan procedure? Is there any pain killers to help with the pain? How long is the recoup time?

currently on day 11 after surgery.

thank you guys for all the tips.

when I had my BM for the first week I felt like I wanted to pass out, the most painful experience I ever had.

Having BM in warm/cold sitz bath certainly helps. sometime right after BM I stand up and let the water running on my bum until the pain gone/bearable.

initially i ate just normal asian meal, rice with more veggies, but i had frequent BM and it felt like the wound that almost healed suddenly got worse again. so i decided to eat lightly so I would have 1-2 days in betweeen BM so i will give more chance for the wound to heal.

that strategy worked at first, but the delayed BM made stool harder to pass somehow. so it might even make the BM more painful. lol.

so now when the wound is much better i started eating normal again with more veggies, and i set regular meal time, i wake up early in the morning, i have light exercise, and have healthy breakfast and coffee/prune to induce BM every morning.

i can say now everything seems OK, doctor checked and she says it almost recovers.

i can walk and sit and go anywhere without the pain.

another tips for me is to properly clean up you rectal area and make sure it is dry (i use small fan, even)

i use mirror, my phone flash light and cotton bud to check if it s all wiped clean and dry. it feels much better. hope you guys also have speedy recovery!

I had a hemorrhoidectomy 6 weeks ago. I'm still in lots of pain with every bowel movement.(8/10 pain scale) I can't even have a bowel movement without taking milk of magnesia at night, every night. I believe I will get better soon. I have an appointment with my surgery Dr in 4 days. I hope he can find out why I'm in so much pain still

Yes ! These all help so much. I did not think it would take this long to recover though ! It's "nice" to see that I am not alone. The recovery is so similar to having a baby with what you need to do and use but the pain is so much worse. I am going on 3 weeks now and still in an ungodly amount of pain. The norcos helped so much but if they give you pain meds please spare them for when your pain is a 10 because once they are gone you are plum out of luck plus they bind you up which is NOT something you want. I was doing the diaper thing but found these padsicles at Target in the baby section and they are a godsend along with the peri bottle. I usually use the peri bottle to clean after bm then use the wet wipes vs tp. There are moments where the pain has been so unbearble I've almost passed out. The bowel movements def put you down for a few hours after. I dread it. Can def relate to getting a bath ready to lay in before a bm. I did get preparation h cooling ointment today and it helped a little. I take stool softners, miralax and Citrucel daily and have had soft bms. Praying there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I'm currently at day 2 post op. internal and external. OMG i did t think it was going to be like this! The last two days I've spent primarily in the bath tub and that only gives minimal relief. what freaks me out is that the external ones look bigger now than they ever were! I read that this is normal b/c of swelling. The choice of taking the prescribed pain killers and being constipated vs ibuprofen with minimal relief is a struggle. I'm taking stool softeners and fiber which is helping a little but a movement sure does hurt! hopefully each day gets better and my hats off to everyone here that has gone through with this! Good to see I'm not alone! hang in there!!

Hey all, so I'm 16 days post excisional "hemmy", or, almost getting beyond the gates of hell, but want to say thanks for ALL the great tips on here. I'm a retired LPN, but never had to encounter anything like this. Been walking around with these hemms the size of a baby's fist since my second son, 32 years, and then became grade IV 28 years ago with twins. I keep telling all my kids to get off the freaking toilet with their phones! God forbid they ever have to go through this. Anyhoo, to reiterate what others are saying....

Ive had 2 of my kids natural childbirth, no drugs whatsoever, and i would gladly do that 6 more times than go through this again. This is hell, but after 16 days i do see light at the end of the tunnel. And everyone's experience is different. l went into this telling my husband i would be the exception, HA. I've begged for the sweet mercy of death countless times, all while one hand is on the toilet paper holder and the other is on the bathtub ledge, steadying myself and almost screaming and hoping my neighbor next door isnt outside.

Get a sitz bath, theyre cheap and you will use them so so many times a day. Or just chill in your bathtub a lot, i slept in there, when on the narcotics and its small enough that there was no way to drown.

Poop in your sitz bath, just as everybody says. sounds gross, just roll with it.

Get off the narcotics as soon as youre able, they are wicked constipating. Great idea about the wet diaper in the freezer! i did it with incontinance pads, worked like a charm and boy oh boy.... after a holding on to the rails after the bathroom poop does that ever feel great.

Hydrate like theres no tomorrow. First, it helps to heal and get the anesthesia out, second, it makes you get up to pee and get your circulation going, also helping you heal, third, it keeps everything moving and grooving so nothings getting constipated.

So anyway, to anyone about to encounter this event.... definitely follow your docs advice, he knows best. But read everybody's tips and give things a shot. Again, I'm just so grateful for being prepared from what everyone said, and all the helpful knowledge everyone has given. xo to all.

PS I have to take a 12 hour trip in a car in 2 weeks and i cant even sit for 15 minutes.... Anyone? Anyone? Please?

Thanks bunches!

hi everyone I'm on day 7and yep like everyone else wasnt prepared for the pain in recovery. im only taking nurofen and im eating light although now reading all these tips am going to swap to soup!

yesterday afternoon i actually felt quite good, managed a walk to the shops and went to tesco for the shopping and was fine. and I only took one pain killer.

bowel movements are still painful especially afterwards for longer.. im going to try a sitz bath, but my surgeon said no baths for two weeks.

did anyone else have that advice? and would a sitz bath still be ok?

thank you

Hello,

This is the first time I am posting on any forum of this kind. I figured it might be useful to share my relatively positive experience, as well as some tips that helped my recovery after hemorrhoidectomy.

I am a healthy 40 year old female. I watch what I eat and get plenty of light exercise every day (my job requires a lot of moving around and walking). While I had minor issues with hemorrhoids since college (occasional flare up, thrombosis, prolapse, that resolves within a week or two), these issues became more serious during two of my pregnancies. After my second child, a doctor suggested hemorrhoidectomy, but I decided not to do it because cons outweighed the pros at that time. I had the situation under control for over 2 years. And then, after having a difficult BM (not too difficult, but it did require more straining that usually), my problem came back with a vengeance. After suffering for a month, I scheduled my surgery. I had no choice. I couldn’t go to work, I couldn’t take care of my kids, I spent days on the couch with an ice pack and nights drugged up on NyQuil so that I can get a few hours of sleep because the pain kept me awake.

Considering the size of the external hemorrhoid that was excised (roughly 3cm x 3cm) and a couple of smaller internal ones, my recovery is going incredibly well. There is pain, of course, there is no way that can be avoided, but I am getting better every day.

What I believe helped my recovery greatly (and this happened by chance because of the condition I was in before the surgery) is pre-op care. Since I was in so much pain before the surgery, I ate little, all light and easily digestible food and was taking MiraLax every day to make sure my BMs are very soft. I continued with this diet for the first 3-4 days after the surgery as well, slowly returning to normal. For the first 5 days after the surgery, my BMs were super soft, not even entirely formed. They still hurt, but I feel I avoided the worst pain everyone is talking about. On day 6, I had my first soft, but formed BM, which still caused significant pain and some bleeding (not quite I-am-going-to-pass-out pain, more like I’d-rather-have-another-C-section-than-this kind of pain). After that, things started to get better every day.

Bottom line, in addition to all the other tips patients are offering (sitz baths, ice packs, avoid opioids if you can, clean the area by washing, poop in the shower if you are not too disgusted by it, etc), I believe pre-op diet can greatly help recovery. Be very careful what you eat 5-7 days before the surgery, take MiraLax if you need it (some people might not), try to train your body to have very soft BMs. The day before and after the surgery, stick to liquids (maybe a couple of crackers if you get really hungry). My doctor never mentioned it, but I feel this was critical for my “easy” recovery. Doctor only said nothing to eat after midnight the night before surgery, but I feel that’s not enough.

I understand these tips may not apply to all patients, but I hope they will be helpful to some. And I agree with others, do not undergo hemorrhoidectomy if you have other choices.