Hemorrhoidectomy Surgery Post Operative Healing.

Do not fear the hemorrhoidectomy! It is certainly not an easy surgery but it IS tolerable. I am a 37 year old female that has suffered from Grade 3 hems since I was 18 years old. I have birthed 3 kids vaginally and had episiotomies with all of them. I liken my hemorrhoidectomy to a more painful episiotomy with a longer healing time. The key to this surgery is setting realistic expectations and being calm! Write off around 2 weeks of your life to not being able to physically do much. For the first 7 days I consistently took my pain meds (Percocet), Ibuprofen, and stool softeners and spent the majority of my time in the bathtub or in bed with an ice pack on my hiney. The pain is tolerable if you are diligent with your meds and ice/sitz baths. I did not have a BM until day 4 post-op and that was the thing I dreaded most about this experience. I had read story after story about how bad the first BM was and honestly, it was not that bad. *I'm sure everyone is different. The key was lots of stool softener and WATER. Drink drink drink! I used a stool to prop my feet into the squatting position and tried to relax as much as possible. Immediately after every BM I jumped into a hot bath to relax my bottom then iced it for a little while.
I am 2 weeks post-op now and feel really good. I can't lift my babies or stand for long periods but I can get around to do light housework, etc. The only time I am set back a little is after each BM. I still need to take a sitz bath immediately after to lessen the swollen feeling afterwards. I am glad I had the surgery and expect to be able to get back to my normal activities next week. I explained to my surgeon that this surgery is "a couple steps forward and 1 poop back!" Just be patient and persistent with taking care of yourself. I'm sure everyone is different but my surgery was not nearly as bad as what everyone had me thinking!

Thanks you for posting. I am a 39 year old mother of 3 and have also dealt with this problem since about 19 years old. I am scheduled for surgery in 2 weeks. I am terrified. My pain from hemorrhoids has only been bad after a thrombosed external and following the births of my children. The rest of the time I have had daily discomfort and some flare ups that were moderate. I found a surgeon who will operate and I am going through with it. I don't want to look back and say I wish I had gone through with it the next time I have a sore bum. Hope I don't regret my decision.

Thank you so very much! My mom has the surgery tomorrow and I want to make sure I am doing all the right things for her. As a non-medical person, I did just want to clarify your treatment plan. Did you keep taking the Tylenol/ibuprofen every two hours for 3 days straight? Or was it just what you listed exactly each day? (Specifically, I took 400mg of Ibuprofen, then two hours later, I took 500mg of Tylenol, then two hours later I took 400mg of Ibuprofen, then two hours later 500mg of Tylenol and 5mg of Flexoril (a muscle relaxant). I guess I got confused b/c you listed the maximum daily at 4,000 and said you need to keep ahead of the pain. I don't want to give her too much! But if I should be waking her every 2 hours I will do so!!! I really hope you are still part of this group to respond. Your advice has been essential and gave her hope!!!

Thank you so much for your post! This really helped reading about your experience since I'm living through it now. I'm going to try Tylenol and Aleve together and stop the norco. I cry too much on that drug and its constipating. I think my pain at the 10 day mark is still bad and it's hard not to push, but the sutures are making the pain so much worse! Thank you again for giving me hope!

Thank you for giving me hope and also knowing I'm not alone in this difficult recovery!

Did your GP find anything I am having the same problem

I am about 8 hours post surgery. I have had zero pain so far and no urinary incontinence. I have passed gas several times and am keeping ahead of the pain with Percocet and Motrin. I was also given some balm for the rectum. I will have to check, but it's lidocaine, Marcaine, bupivicaine, one of the anistetics. Tomorrow should be an interesting day as from what I have read on these post. I was planning on being completely mobile, but it appears I should rethink my recovery strategy.

What a great post, thanks! I'm day 10 post op and passing BM in the bath tub, yeah gross but is my saving grace. I appreciate your update and hope I can get there with such positivity. Every BM so far has been like pushing out a baby ( & I did that drug free). I've been on and off with norcote as I had so many external and internal piles removed that to ensure less scar tissue the surgeon left me with a cluster of prolapsed internal piles which are very painful.
Yeah hot water poops are the best!

Hi everyone,

I've been wanting to write about my post-op experience, but I keep coming to the forum and hesitating because I don't want to sound like I am bragging. But I really wanted to share with you how useful it is to see a pelvic physiotherapist pre-op. And I wanted to share a story of an easy post-op experience so that it is not so scary and overwhelming for people.

I am a GP myself, which really helps, I guess. I've been having external haemorrhoids and anal fissures for about the last 6 years ... which is probably more genetic than anything else, because I do absolutely everything I tell my patients to do. I am now day 19 post op (a traditional Milligan-Morgan haemorrhoidectomy where there are no stitches and the wounds are left open). This whole time I have not needed to take anything stronger than paracetamol (acetaminophen for the North Americans). I was able to go grocery shopping day 2 post op. I started working from home day 4 (computer work like typing up medical reports), stopped taking any pain meds day 5 and went back to full time work day 6. By day 10 I felt like a normal person again (apart from maybe about 20 minutes after bowel motions), and on day 17 I went back to playing competitive netball (for non-commonwealth people, it's like basketball).

Like I mentioned above, I think the biggest tip I can give is going to see a pelvic physiotherapist. They are amazing. I saw mine 3 times pre-op. She taught me how to pass bowel motions with minimal trauma, and also taught me how each one of my pelvic floor and sphincter muscles feel in both their tense and relaxed states. It is invaluable for the post-bowel motion pain, because you learn that actually most of the pain comes from the internal anal sphincter contracting as a response to being stretched during the bowel motion. When the sphincter contracts really hard, it cuts off its own blood supply, which leads to a lot of pain, of which you are all no doubt aware. Also, no blood supply means no healing.

I guess I was "lucky" in a sense that I have had fissures before, so I know what it feels like to have an anal wound. When the fissures were playing up, I used to have pain for about 7 hours after each bowel motion. I used to force myself to have bowel motions in the evenings so that the pain didn't distract me at work. After I saw the pelvic physiotherapist and learned to relax the musculature, the pain was reduced to 2 hours ... which is also what happened immediately post-op. And now, 19 days post op, I would probably have a total of one twinge of pain after a bowel motion. And because I've managed to keep the area relaxed, it has healed so much more quickly.

If you live in Sydney, google Physiotherapy Downunder. Tara is amazing.

Thank you so much for sharing your story. This certainly will very helpful to myself, and others experiencing the same problem.

Thanks for the information shared. I am also a doctor, a consultant general surgeon who does a lot of hemorrhoids cronies. I have had hemorrhoids myself since 1996. I had a major bleed five years ago but it stopped. Sigmoidoscopy done revealed no lesion besides the fourth degree haemorrhoid. The past two weeks have been terrible for me, bleeding with burning sensation in the anal region. In preparation for Colonoscopy, I have had to avoid the food I love, watching my family eat them. I have had the Colonoscopy done today with no pathology apart from the fourth degree hemorrhoids. A colleague will operate on me tomorrow. I am emboldened by your write up to go through the procedure and be myself again. Your experience will help me especially with the management of the post operative pain. Thank you.

Hi. 4 days post op = 4 days of hell, until I read your article, thank you. Have had two Sitz bath (my own version), wow it was like paradise. between my wife & I we change my meds for pain and more importantly muscle relaxant - within hours there has been a remarkable change. whilst I can still feel that there is swelling and stitches etc, I don't have this constant urge that I need to have a BM. I also have more control on when I need to have a pee. Must be honest I am very nervous for the next BM despite taking softeners. No pain no gain.
Whilst the doctor/surgeon warned me of the post op discomforts i certainly wasn't expecting this experience. The one night in the hospital was of no help. I feel an pamphlet with info similar to what you have described would be a big help to both potential patients and doctors plus hospital staff.
once again many thanks.
John - South AFrica PE

Hi ,
To all I feel your post hemorriodectomy. Dave from the UK. I'm post op 12 weeks. This operation takes up-to 6 months to fully heal. There are some rules I would love share with all who experience this operation. Tips I guess to help. That really has worked.

1/ Ask the hospital for instillagel. Local anesthetic in a syringe. Prior bowel movement. Post movement for two weeks post op.
2/ Have a shallow bath. Add a little salt to the bat water, bathe Straight after BM. As your muscles down there are relaxed. Soak 20 minutes.
3/Use Fibrogel, sachets 2-3 a day. These are a god send. Bran sachet . They help to keep your BM formed but soft. Not runny. Which will cause more prone to infection if your BM are liquid. After week 6-8. Drop down to 1 sachet per day. Drink at least 3 pints of water through the day.
4/ You will experience a yellow discharge. Some poop leakage too. Don't be alarmed. Your muscles have been opened to extreme. Lol. Anyway. When you feel this leakage. You must try to clean up straight away. Little water, soap etc..
5/ So take a dip in a warm/hot bath for 20 mins after BM. Plus have another bath at night before bed. All this helps with healing the area.
6/ I get all the degrading leakage, one thing I forgot to mention. If your a man. Be glad of lady monthly pads. There another god send. Helps to suppress the leakage. Change 2-4 tines a day. Happy days. the pain is hard mentally, physically drains you in and out the tub. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. Use the items, make a list. You won't go far wrong.
7/ Don't sit on your butt for any long periods for the first 8 weeks. Try an walk when you can, not to much. Little by little. This operation will take up-to 6 months. Due too the area. It's a roller coaster of 1 step forward. Two steps back. Blood, tears, anxiety, frustration. But listen. Use the things above with a good diet. Bingo you will come through this. It's a long one. Good luck to all. Feeling your pain and discomfort. Dave. England. UK.
Reply

Thanks for your story... I'm 4 days in, a 45 yr old female, had 2 internal hemrroids stapled and 2 external ones cut out ... I researched, have a great surgeon, and friend who had it done a few months before me, I have high tolerance of pain and I'm still in shock of the pain and exhaustion .. I'm taking it minute by minute hour by hour and day by day .. reading others stories is the biggest help mentally.
Thanks, G

Thank you! I am 2 weeks post op, I am also a physician and followed your routine to the letter. You are 100% right in everything you said. Cannot thank you enough.
One question, what post-op day did the discharge stop?