After Hemorrhoidectomy Surgery - Recovery time, Swelling, Pa

alarm · Newbie Joined: 25 Feb 2007 Posts: 14

I originally first started this topic back in February 2007.

An update...

It's been almost a year since my surgery. I received my surgery last February.

Since my last post here, I was concerned about the external swelling in the anus area after the surgery. It looked like an additional hemorrhoid that the doctor forgot to remove.

Well, it's been a year, and that external looking hemorrhoid - swelling type thing is still there. I don't think it'll ever go away.

Initially after surgery, I asked my doctor and he first said it was swelling. Six months after the surgery when I went back for a check-up, he said that it was a skin tag, and therefore would never be normal looking again down there. I tried the cream, Analphram, which the doctor prescribed and used it daily after the surgery, but that did not help reduce the swelling.

The doctor suggested that if I did want it removed, he would be able to have another surgery to remove it. The sole reason would be for cosmetic reasons only, since the "skin tag" did not hurt. The doctor did warn me that the surgery would be painful (just like the original surgery) and may not be 100% successful as the skin tag may return. He also said that females are usually left with these skin tags.

Given that information (that even after surgery, the external hemorrhoid looking thing) would return, I opted not to have the surgery. Although, now I am reconsidering having the surgery to remove it since it's ugly and it's hard to keep clean down there.

Even though the "external hemorrhoid looking thing" does not hurt, it does get messy when I go to the restroom. Every time I go to the restroom, I always take a shower afterwards since it's hard to keep that area clean. If I can't take a shower right away, I use baby wipes to wipe my rear end.

mommy2 · Newbie Joined: 20 Jan 2008 Posts: 1

I had the surgery 6 days ago and I am still in alot of pain having a BM. It took me 4 days to have a BM----Needless to say I thought I would pass out due to the pain. I ate prunes, lettuce, fruit, metamucil, stool softener and finally the dr suggested milk of magnesia. He said recovery usually is 2-4 weeks before returning to work. On a positive note, I must say that everyday the pain gets just a little better so hopefully the worst is over. I am on vicodin as needed but I try not to take it cuz of the constipation. This sounds gross but you might want to try and go to the bathroom while sitting in a sitz bath. The warm water seems to calm the nerves and ease the pain of the BM.

Tham · Newbie Joined: 28 Jul 2006 Posts: 45

Try taking the sitz bath with Dead Sea salts, such as those
from Jordan, which you can get from the health food store,
or organic food stores. Those Himalaya rock salts are also
not bad.

Ordinary sea salt don't work very well. The common processed
fine salt is even worse.

sneeed · Newbie Joined: 23 Feb 2008 Posts: 1

My hemorroidectomy was 1/28/08. I was extremely scared due to the horror stories on these forums, but these damn roids have ruined every vacation I had in the past 8 years. I tried "banding" about 8 roids, but the pain actually got worse! At surgery, Dr. Bute suggested I get a "spinal" instead of a local anesthetic due to the severity and number of roids. Good choice! After surgery I felt fine and got home with no problem, thanks to the "spinal". The pain worsened over the next few days, but I managed it by taking one oxycodone (percocet) every two hours. I had a tough bowel movement on the third day. I was biting on a roll of paper towels to help force it out. Yummy. After that I started taking stool softeners and milk of magnesia. I should have done that earlier. For two weeks I lay in bed watching movies and searching the internet. After bowel movements I would writhe in pain for two hours. But I knew nothing was wrong from reading these forums. For some reason baths did nothing for me so I only took them to cleanse myself. I stopped the oxycodone after a week and a half because they constipate you. So then I was in more pain, and starting to get depressed. After three weeks I went back to work and I am steadily improving. But I was prewarned. Dr. Bute told me it would be the worst three weeks of my life. You just have to get through the rough time and keep your mind on the goal of a pain free life. But what's to stop me from guzzling beer and eating fried chicken wings now?!

Guest · Guest

I had a large external hemorrhoid surgically removed Friday morning and it's now Saturday night and I'm still in agonizing pain. It's quite seriously the worst pain I've ever felt and I've jacked my body up pretty bad. I guess this is where the phrase "pain in the ass" comes from. Vicodin helps and I've been eating it like candy. Darvocet doesn't really do much. My doctor, who has done this procedure hundreds of times, suggests warm Sitz baths (which are awesome) and keeping the wound clean and covered. He also suggested fiber (of course) and Neosporin. There's an extra strength version of the ointment with a pain reliever in it which is also pretty nice. I'm going to see if I can upgrade to Percocet on Monday as my Vicodin is almost gone.

I suppose everyone is different, but for the removal of external hemorrhoids, it's just like any other wound, recovery-wise. I've been taking two Dulcolax pills (stool softeners) before bed every night and they help immensely when it comes time for the bowel moving. I highly recommend this stuff.

Guest · Guest

I had surgery on Febuary 25, 08. I am37 years old. Laughing

I am home recovering, I was in great pain afterward and was terrified of a bm. however, I to didn't have a bm until after about 4 days. milk of magneisa did the trick. be sure not to induce diarrea because that would be an even worst pain. The showers and sitz baths 3 and 4 times a day are good for me. I feel so relaxed after a bm. I too have the skin tag and what looks like a hemmroid. I still have minor swelling after five days. My follow up appointment is 3/6/08. I will use these web posting to develop questions that I may need to get answers to, and hopeful i can report back with some information about the estimated time for swelling and the skin tags. my doctor assured me that he would remove the skin tags so I would be disabppointed to know that its still there. I would need immediate answers for that oversight. Hang in there guys, I'm feeling better, bm's aren't so bad but still uncomfortable. Thanks for the info.

ricio · Newbie Joined: 04 Mar 2008 Posts: 1

WHEN WILL THE BLEEDING AND LEAKING STOP?! was operated last dec 23 and it's almost three months now. Sad

JoeSantill · Newbie Joined: 08 Mar 2008 Posts: 10

It seems the range of recovery experiences is quite broad. Myself I had a hemorrhoidectomy 11 days ago using a harmonic scalpel.

I am a 54 year old male who is in good health and I have a high tolerance for pain. Lo' and behold, I had no idea what kind of pain was going to follow.

The 30 Percosets were gone in four days. I borrowed about 30 Vicodins from my mother to get me through the next week.

The bowel and bladder pain were absolutely agonizing. Yes, bladder pain. In order to urinate it requires some pressure to be applied on the bladder muscle. Well, the pain was so great that my system just shut down the bladder in response to the pain. My bladder was bursting for days while I stood over the toilet trying every conceivable technique to squeeze out one drop at a time.

And the codone class of narcotic pain killers also cause constipation.

I would spend days and nights on the toilet struggling in extreme pain to pass dime sized stools and drops of urine. While sitting on the toilet I was overwhelmed by nausea and the urge to vomit, literally struggling to maintain consciousness in against a tidal wave of pain.

Improvement and relief came day by day. It took until day number 10 to pass a stool without extreme pain. It took until day four to be able to urinate when the urge was present.

Sometimes I feel good, then I have these explosive hour-long bowel movements that are simply exhausting. Pain will weaken you, depending on your age and medical condition.

Alas, on day 11 I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. No more hemorrhoids! Clean underwear!

Make sure you follow your post op instructions to include the stool softener and fiber supplement. I found sterile "non-stick" gauze squares to be real life savers. After each bowel movement I would fold one in half and place it against my anus to prevent blood and stool leakage where it would be discharged on the next bowel movement.

The pain will subside. Good luck!

JoeSantill · Newbie Joined: 08 Mar 2008 Posts: 10

I have a bidet and after each bowel movement I could sit down and irrigate and wash with a steady stream of warm water. Once you get over the initial pain of the wash, it is really quite comforting. If you do not have a bidet, buy one of those hand held shower extensions from Home Depot and use it to wash your rear.

Not enough can be said for the comfort of irrigating your "wound" with a steady stream of warm water.

Don't be shy about asking your Doc for more pain meds. Having an ample supply of pain meds can make all the difference between intolerable pain and manageable pain.

genneva · Newbie Joined: 15 Apr 2008 Posts: 1

I'm currently on day 6 after having roids, polyps, and 3 anal skin tags removed. I'm a 37 yo F and in pretty good health otherwise. I won't lie, the first bowel movement was PAINFUL and I saw stars, but it didn't last too long. The most painful so far was the next bowel movement 2 days after the surgery. It hurt for a couple of hours afterwards. I tried to go back to work on day 3 but left after 2 hours because it hurt to sit that long.

It's still sore & throbs, but it's getting better. I am still not back at work yet, but am hoping to be by day 12. It hurts less than recovering from childbirth, so if you've had a baby, it's not that big a deal comparatively. When people ask me if it hurts, I say more than a root canal, less than childbirth.

After Hemorrhoidectomy Surgery - Recovery time, Swelling, Pa

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