narrowing and hemorrhoids after hemorrhoidectomy

anoody · Guest

I had a hemorrhoidectomz 8 weeks ago. Ever since then I have been on and off severely constipated. Ever since surgery my hole has been narrower, and the stools have been as thin as pencils. I thought that maybe this would eventually go away but it still hasn't. The doctor said that I have anal stenosis (the narrowing) and also now some internal hemorrhoids from all of the constipation. I take stool softeners 3 times a day and drink 8 to 10 glasses of water, and stay away from all constipating foods such as cheese and meats. The doctor gave me a prescription for nitroglycerine gel and said to try to manually make the hole bigger on my own. The alternative is anal dilation surgery. Does anyone have a similar experience at all with the narrowing (stenosis) after hemorrhoidectomy? Would the nitroglycerine work? What are the major complications and recovery from anal dilation surgery? Did anyone here have it before?

agstin · Newbie Joined: 01 Apr 2007 Posts: 1

alarm · Newbie Joined: 25 Feb 2007 Posts: 14

It's been about 6 weeks since my surgery. When I went in for a check-up last week, my doctor asked about the size of my stool. I told him it was quite thin still -- although it is a little thicker than a pencil.

My daily routine included taking a glass of prune juice with fiber added into it. He asked that I stop with the prune juice and just take water with the fiber instead to make my stool harder and thicker. This is because you don't want your stool too soft and watery.

The other option was to stick your finger up your rectum in order to make the size of the anus bigger. He did that at the doctor's office and it hurt like crazy so I'm not about to do that either.

I'm going to start drinking water with fiber instead of the prune juice and we'll see what happens. My anus area is still swollen externally but the good thing is that there is no pain with BMs.

Hope this helps.

Jubilant · Newbie Joined: 23 Mar 2007 Posts: 2

It's been 3 months since I had my hemorrhoidectomy. I too have anal stenosis. I've done the water-fiber thing, but it didn't work. My doctor told me that I had to use my finger to dilate myself. I tried that, but my fingers aren't big enough to make any progress. Basically, my doctor told me that if I don't make the opening larger, scar tissue will form, and the only other alternative will be surgery. He also told me that if I thought recovery from the hemorrhoidectomy was bad, this surgery was worse. The complications are not nice either. The risk of incontenance (can't control bowel movements) is about 10%. That scared me.

What I did - I went to a sex shop and bought a small anal plug (it's a sex toy, but I thought if they sell it for that specific purpose, it just might help). With lots of lubricant, I slowly inserted it and began increasing the size of my opening. It hurt like crazy, but there has been progress. It's been 6 weeks now. While my doctor still isn't completly satisfied, he is pleased to see how much progress I've done. He did tell me that this is a long process and I may have to continue to do this for a few months. He really liked my idea of an anal sex toy - thought it was quite ingenious.

I also recommend you do a lot of research on the internet regarding anal stenosis. I did. While fibre and laxatives may help in the interim, only dilation and surgery will correct anal stenosis. I know it hurts, but the alternatives (ie, living with this for the rest of your life or possibly living with incontenance) are not worth it. Hope this helps. Let me know how things go.

narrowing and hemorrhoids after hemorrhoidectomy

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