Sigmoidoscopy-The Honest Truth

Some people say it's unbearable, others day it's painless and only a bit 'crampy' while they insert air into the colon. I had my first sigmoidoscopy today and can reveal my intepretation of the procedure.

Firstly, it is slightly uncomfortable, but not 'painful' as you might associate with a dental procedure. The doctor will adminster some air to expand the colon and initially, the feeling of stomach cramps slowly starts. It's not a stabbing or sharp pain and it doesn't take you by surprise. The discomfort starts slowly and then increases but not to an unbearable level. You get used to the feeling very quickly but to begin with, I did curl my toes up a bit as it wasn't a 'nice' feeling, but neither would it be described as horrendous. The feeling of cramps last a very short time, for no more than two seconds.

On insertion of the endoscope, I felt rather startled by the sensation of the scope pushing against the muscles of the anus. Your initial reaction is to tense your anal muscles, but you shouldn't worry because once the tip of the scope is in the colon, you don't feel any resistance at all.

I got a few biopsies taken, the biopsies taken from the colon arn't painful at all - in fact, you can't feel anything! When the doctor took samples from the rectum, I could feel this a bit more, but it wasn't painful.

The procedure was over VERY quickly and I was pleasantly surprised when the nurse said \"the doctor is now removing the scope.\"

All in all, if you are going for a sigmoidoscopy and getting anxious about it, then ofcourse you'll be anxious. There are various other people touting the procedure as 'worse than hell' and 'torturous' while other people mention how they 'begged the doctor to stop the procedure.' I wouldn't pay too much attention to these reviews as some people will always find things more painful than others and some people have conditions which make things more painful.

If you want to compare the sensation of the sigmoidoscopy to something you can relate to, then it's just like having a moderate amount of belly gas. It isn't nice and you might think 'god, this isn't nice' but your not rolling around the floor in agony or praying that the procedure will end. If the procedure went on for another hour, I wouldn't have minded.

In fact, the two MOST unpleasant things about the whole procedure are:

1. Being woken at night by the preparation laxatives you get sent home. I had to visit the toilet about eight times last night. Again, it wasn't painful, just annoying!

2. After the procedure, you'll have quite a bit of gas still there. You might want to consider taking a few wind tablets with you, if the doctor ok's it! I did, and it helped tons.

I won't wish you goodluck with your procedure because you don't need it - promise. It's fine and you'll leave with a smile on your face, glad that it wasn't as bad as you thought.

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