Today is day 7 after the surgery. From reading other people's experience, I feel getting support from others. So I wish to share my experience to help others.
I've had PPH in early June but I got really constipated a few weeks after that. Since PPH does not remove completely the internal hem, the residual bits flared up again. One of them was particularly large and the doctor decided to excise that in the office 7 days ago.
Since I didn't excise many hems, I guess my experience is not as bad as others.
Day 1: The pain killer injected in the office lasted for 10 hours. That kept me rather comfortable. The pain came at midnight but I found it acceptable because I expected the pain to be really bad. I didn't take any painkiller until waking up in the morning. Didn't sleep well. I woke up from pain every 0.5 to 2 hours. First BM occurred with blood as expected. A very sharp pain occurred when the stool touched the open wound. Anyway, I was glad that BM happened. I knew the pain could not be worse than this. The post BM pain lasted for a few hours. The pain killer didn't make me comfortable at all.
Day 2: Urinating was difficult at times because it was impossible to relax the muscle enough due to the pain, especially when the effect of the pain killer has decreased. I soaked a towel in very hot water. After making it reasonably dry, I put it on my belly. That usually worked. I sometimes also leaned forward, resting my head and hands against the wall as if I am sleeping while remaining standing up. This relaxing position also makes my urinating easy. The daily BM occurred with sharp pain again but I was surprised that very little blood occurred. Can the healing be so quick? Post BM pain still lasted an hour or so but the pain killer could make me feel okay. So from this experience, I knew that the pain was less than before. I felt completely exhausted after every BM and all the cleaning up afterwards. Sleeping at night was still difficult since I was too lazy to eat something before taking the pain killer in the middle of the night.
Day 3: The daily BM was terrible. The stools were hard, and lots of blood came out as if I had bleeding hemorrhoid. Why?
Day 4: No BM. Is this a good news or not? I now realised that the pain killers are constipating (from reading the posts on this website). But I still maintained taking 2 pills after every meal. May be I should eat more fruit. Others always asked me if I felt less pain. The answer was that there was hardly any change since Day 2. This is going to be a slow recovery. Sleeping was still difficult. I always looked forward to waking up at 8am and took my pain killer with breakfast.
Day 5: BM finally came. What a disaster! The blood was almost pouring out from the wound. The stool was so hard. I am really afraid that my other hems would worsen! However, I also noted that the really sharp pain that I experienced before did not occur now. There was of course still pain but the feel was very different from that before. To prevent constipation, I decided not to take 2 pain killers each time. One was enough. Surprisingly, one pain killer seemed to have almost the same effect as taking two.
Day 6: I was sick of sleeping badly and taking the pain every night. I decided to eat something (banana) and took a pain killer at night. As a result, I had a reasonably good night sleep. After increasing my fruit intake (taking fruit after every meal rather than just one meal) and lowering the amount of painkiller, the stools were back to what I wanted: soft and reasonably self-propelling. Very little blood came, which was much better than I could ever hope for after yesterday's disaster. The pain I experienced when the effect of pain killer has subsided seemed to be slightly less than before.
Day 7: I decided to try not taking pain killer for my sleep at night, and it worked! I could sleep non-stop without waking up from pain. I find that banana is great for my BM. After eating banana, I have BM very shortly afterwards. There seemed to be more blood compared with yesterday's miracle.
Now, I have hit the 1 week mark. I am happy that I can see some progress in the last few days. The first few days were really terrible since the pain was equally bad every day with no improvement. It is easy to get really depressed. I am still in pain but better than before. The pain during BM is also less than before. I am sure I will not experience the sharp killing pain I got in Day 1 and 2 again. I still cannot sit down for long (Sitting down is okay but it is the pain when I get up that is most annoying.). I still prefer to be on the bed most of the times. The only thing that really worries me is that there is still major swelling at the wound. It felt like a big hemorrhoid but from what I've read on this web it should be just swelling.
Thank you for the generous sharing from everyone on this web. It is almost my only source of real support because you understand what I am going through. The first week is really difficult. It is a challenge both physically and mentally. Good luck to those who are in this stage. It is tough but it will pass.
I've had PPH in early June but I got really constipated a few weeks after that. Since PPH does not remove completely the internal hem, the residual bits flared up again. One of them was particularly large and the doctor decided to excise that in the office 7 days ago.
Since I didn't excise many hems, I guess my experience is not as bad as others.
Day 1: The pain killer injected in the office lasted for 10 hours. That kept me rather comfortable. The pain came at midnight but I found it acceptable because I expected the pain to be really bad. I didn't take any painkiller until waking up in the morning. Didn't sleep well. I woke up from pain every 0.5 to 2 hours. First BM occurred with blood as expected. A very sharp pain occurred when the stool touched the open wound. Anyway, I was glad that BM happened. I knew the pain could not be worse than this. The post BM pain lasted for a few hours. The pain killer didn't make me comfortable at all.
Day 2: Urinating was difficult at times because it was impossible to relax the muscle enough due to the pain, especially when the effect of the pain killer has decreased. I soaked a towel in very hot water. After making it reasonably dry, I put it on my belly. That usually worked. I sometimes also leaned forward, resting my head and hands against the wall as if I am sleeping while remaining standing up. This relaxing position also makes my urinating easy. The daily BM occurred with sharp pain again but I was surprised that very little blood occurred. Can the healing be so quick? Post BM pain still lasted an hour or so but the pain killer could make me feel okay. So from this experience, I knew that the pain was less than before. I felt completely exhausted after every BM and all the cleaning up afterwards. Sleeping at night was still difficult since I was too lazy to eat something before taking the pain killer in the middle of the night.
Day 3: The daily BM was terrible. The stools were hard, and lots of blood came out as if I had bleeding hemorrhoid. Why?
Day 4: No BM. Is this a good news or not? I now realised that the pain killers are constipating (from reading the posts on this website). But I still maintained taking 2 pills after every meal. May be I should eat more fruit. Others always asked me if I felt less pain. The answer was that there was hardly any change since Day 2. This is going to be a slow recovery. Sleeping was still difficult. I always looked forward to waking up at 8am and took my pain killer with breakfast.
Day 5: BM finally came. What a disaster! The blood was almost pouring out from the wound. The stool was so hard. I am really afraid that my other hems would worsen! However, I also noted that the really sharp pain that I experienced before did not occur now. There was of course still pain but the feel was very different from that before. To prevent constipation, I decided not to take 2 pain killers each time. One was enough. Surprisingly, one pain killer seemed to have almost the same effect as taking two.
Day 6: I was sick of sleeping badly and taking the pain every night. I decided to eat something (banana) and took a pain killer at night. As a result, I had a reasonably good night sleep. After increasing my fruit intake (taking fruit after every meal rather than just one meal) and lowering the amount of painkiller, the stools were back to what I wanted: soft and reasonably self-propelling. Very little blood came, which was much better than I could ever hope for after yesterday's disaster. The pain I experienced when the effect of pain killer has subsided seemed to be slightly less than before.
Day 7: I decided to try not taking pain killer for my sleep at night, and it worked! I could sleep non-stop without waking up from pain. I find that banana is great for my BM. After eating banana, I have BM very shortly afterwards. There seemed to be more blood compared with yesterday's miracle.
Now, I have hit the 1 week mark. I am happy that I can see some progress in the last few days. The first few days were really terrible since the pain was equally bad every day with no improvement. It is easy to get really depressed. I am still in pain but better than before. The pain during BM is also less than before. I am sure I will not experience the sharp killing pain I got in Day 1 and 2 again. I still cannot sit down for long (Sitting down is okay but it is the pain when I get up that is most annoying.). I still prefer to be on the bed most of the times. The only thing that really worries me is that there is still major swelling at the wound. It felt like a big hemorrhoid but from what I've read on this web it should be just swelling.
Thank you for the generous sharing from everyone on this web. It is almost my only source of real support because you understand what I am going through. The first week is really difficult. It is a challenge both physically and mentally. Good luck to those who are in this stage. It is tough but it will pass.
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I'll continue to report my progress.
Day 8: The pain began to change slightly into an itchy feeling. Others said that this was a good sign. In the afternoon, I took only half of a pain killer tablet and I took none at night. This did not cause me noticeable pain.
Day 9: The itchy feeling was getting a bit annoying, although I still preferred it over pain. BM only resulted in very little blood discharge. However, I was still on the bed most of the times.
Day 10: Itchy feeling continued. I only needed one pain killer in the morning before my BM, and took none for the rest of the day. Sitting down for a long time was still a problem. However, I found that I could finally get up easily without feeling too much pain. Walking around was also reasonably comfortable. I had an unexpected BM in the evening, without taking any pain killer before. There wasn't much pain, just discomfort. So I guessed I no longer needed any pain killer.
Day 11: The itchy feeling became less irritable. Even the swelling had decreased, but still quite noticeable. I could now sit for a longer period and got some work done. I no longer needed to wear pads. Finally, I felt I had got my life back, if not completely yet.
Day 8: The pain began to change slightly into an itchy feeling. Others said that this was a good sign. In the afternoon, I took only half of a pain killer tablet and I took none at night. This did not cause me noticeable pain.
Day 9: The itchy feeling was getting a bit annoying, although I still preferred it over pain. BM only resulted in very little blood discharge. However, I was still on the bed most of the times.
Day 10: Itchy feeling continued. I only needed one pain killer in the morning before my BM, and took none for the rest of the day. Sitting down for a long time was still a problem. However, I found that I could finally get up easily without feeling too much pain. Walking around was also reasonably comfortable. I had an unexpected BM in the evening, without taking any pain killer before. There wasn't much pain, just discomfort. So I guessed I no longer needed any pain killer.
Day 11: The itchy feeling became less irritable. Even the swelling had decreased, but still quite noticeable. I could now sit for a longer period and got some work done. I no longer needed to wear pads. Finally, I felt I had got my life back, if not completely yet.
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Day 12: I left home for the first time since the surgery. Sitting through a 90 minute movie was not a pleasant experience. The itchy feeling continued.
Day 13-14: The itchy feeling decreased noticeably every day and I could sit for increasing amount of time with no problem.
Day 15: I could sit down for 2 hours with no problem. The itchy feeling had gone. I felt 100% normal.
Good luck to those who are recovering. I can finally appreciate the surgery and I am glad I did it.
Day 13-14: The itchy feeling decreased noticeably every day and I could sit for increasing amount of time with no problem.
Day 15: I could sit down for 2 hours with no problem. The itchy feeling had gone. I felt 100% normal.
Good luck to those who are recovering. I can finally appreciate the surgery and I am glad I did it.
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I read your post, and it sounds pretty encouraging to get it done. I have been suffering a bigger external hemi post delivery after my son was born, for almost 8 months now. There are 3 other smaller ones that really don't bother me at all, unless the bigger flares up, then my entire butt basically flares up. It's excruciating itching and snoreness for a few days, and then it subsides. Sort of like it's in a dormant phase, but I still feel the itching, and just an overall discomfort. And I'm not really sure what's causing the kind of sensation that I have, I've just heard that external hemi's shouldn't be bothersome. I just know that I have itching, and sometimes soreness/numbness around the anal area.
I'm really trying to just ride it out because I know it takes a long time to heal after giving birth, so I don't want to jump to conclusion to get surgery after reading everything on this forum. It really scares me to death. What would you recommend?
I'm really trying to just ride it out because I know it takes a long time to heal after giving birth, so I don't want to jump to conclusion to get surgery after reading everything on this forum. It really scares me to death. What would you recommend?
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Dave76, did you end up with a lot of scarring in the area?
And, also, did you eat anything on the day 1?
Thanks
And, also, did you eat anything on the day 1?
Thanks
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Guess my reply is too late, but I am posting my reply anyway just in case it will help someone.
I do not get a lot of scarring in the area. I eat normally on day 1, but avoid food that will get me constipated. Fruit and vegetables are essential, with some stool softeners given by the doctor.
Surgery is not recommended unless the hems are affecting your life. For my case, the hems affected me to the point where I cannot go out after BM due to the pain. There is always some risk involved in any surgery. May be I am unfortunate, the risk seems to realise every time!
In fact, a few weeks after the surgery, I still have some discharge due to the wound not properly closing up. The doctor said that this was due to some dirt in the wound. After using something to scratch the dirt out, the wound tried to heal again but there is always a small part that refuses to close. One doctor said that it is becoming anal fissure. Another one said that there is still a residual hem at that area, so I have a wound on a residual hem which is hard to heal. I don't know who to believe.
Therefore I still feel some discomfort especially when sitting for long, but it is not affecting my life. In particular, I feel no discomfort at all when I am standing and walking around, and also when I am having BM. Therefore, I am going to do nothing about it.
There is some little surgery that I can try, but there is no guarantee that there will be no complication of some kind. The basic idea is to remove that part and let the area heal again, with no guarantee that it will heal properly this time.
I do not get a lot of scarring in the area. I eat normally on day 1, but avoid food that will get me constipated. Fruit and vegetables are essential, with some stool softeners given by the doctor.
Surgery is not recommended unless the hems are affecting your life. For my case, the hems affected me to the point where I cannot go out after BM due to the pain. There is always some risk involved in any surgery. May be I am unfortunate, the risk seems to realise every time!
In fact, a few weeks after the surgery, I still have some discharge due to the wound not properly closing up. The doctor said that this was due to some dirt in the wound. After using something to scratch the dirt out, the wound tried to heal again but there is always a small part that refuses to close. One doctor said that it is becoming anal fissure. Another one said that there is still a residual hem at that area, so I have a wound on a residual hem which is hard to heal. I don't know who to believe.
Therefore I still feel some discomfort especially when sitting for long, but it is not affecting my life. In particular, I feel no discomfort at all when I am standing and walking around, and also when I am having BM. Therefore, I am going to do nothing about it.
There is some little surgery that I can try, but there is no guarantee that there will be no complication of some kind. The basic idea is to remove that part and let the area heal again, with no guarantee that it will heal properly this time.
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I am day 5 post surgery. Have been taken minor painkillers, antibiotics, and an an anaesthetic cream. I have experieinced no pain, can sit fine, have had a little stinging but very minor. A little bleeding, but again minor. Movements are fine - have been eating a lot of fruit and veg. So far so good..
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