How bad is bad?

Hello Boston Girl,

By your call name I assume your in the US and if that’s the case then you will be happy to know that the surgery is no big deal.

Now that being said, because you have three external hemorrhoids there will be some pain and discomfort after the surgery but if you do your research it should be very minimal.

I was very similar to you in that I had stage three internal hemorrhoids and two large external hemorrhoids.

I waited five to six years and then I finaily had enough and went to see a doctor.

I did a lot of research and found the right, qualified doctor and it wasn’t any big deal. I was back to work in nine days and there was almost no pain.

I put all the information you need on my website, it is all free! Use it and find a qualified colorectal surgeon, you can search for them on my website as well you can educate yourself as to the different procedures so you know what to expect and what your doctor is talking about!

I can’t believe all the fear I had and it was all for nothing!

I wish you all the best and feel free to ask me anything.

Brian McMullin

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Hi brian,

Thanks so much for the reply. I was looking at your site as I found it some other posts I was reading.

About 5-6 years ago I went to a rectology guy (not a GI guy). The PA examined me and said you have a hemmroid externally... Stuck her finger up my butt and pressed on the internal part and said yeah you have a fisure.

Here is some oitment put it on your external part of your anus so it will relax the muscle so the wound can heal.

I did that... It idid not work...

She told me she did not want to look inside because it would hurt and said the doctor would do that anyway when I visit him at my next visit.

I said fine. Went back the doc open my butt cheek said yeah you have an external hemroid... I told him the bleeding and pain was not getting any better. He said keep doing the treatment and come back in a month.

Spent a total of one minute examining me. No poking up inside just physically looking at the exterior part of the anus hole.

I said okay and then if it is not okay you will fix it. And he looked at me and got upset... Told me no that if it wasn't better at that time he would then schedule surgery and told me you know surgery will be painful. That it would be another 3-4 months to get surgery.

I said look... I have already seen my GP about this several times... I saw your PA about this. It is not better been dealing with it for 3 years now... Something needs to be done.

He got more upset and said well what do you want to do. I said schedule 2 appointments one for next month for a rexamination and one for surgery. If the examine goes well we cancel surgery. If it doesn't go well we proceed ahead with surgery..

He said fine....

After I left and later that week. I thought about it and said you know if the guy can't take the time to examine me rectally how the heck is he going to know what to operate on... He hasn't even seen the inside yet.

Which is where it hurst majorly...

So I canceled both appointments and gave up. Since then i been put on other meds for various health related issues that cause diherea and constipation. And needless to say I been going from one extreme to the other. So, it is made it even worse.

I am very leary of doctors...How do you find a good doctor?

I know what people say in the US about US healthcare being #1 in the world during this whole healthcare debate..

But I have been suffering for x years with many issues and doctors refuse to do their job....And suppoedly Boston is the hubba of the medical industry in the US.

I would love to be able to rate those doctors so they can have it stuck on their permament record.

I am a white colar working professional with good insurance with my hubbys employer and us shelling out close to $1400 a month to cover him and I.

For what so a doctor can charge 250 for 1 minute worth of time and still not help you with your problem?

Sorry for venting... But i have tried to research on the web before for good doctors..

Are you suppose to goto a GI person first to get examined and the to the rectal surgeon?

How do you find a good doctor?

Thanks again for your site and response,

BostonGirl

Bostongirl70,
I had Grade-3 internal hemorrhoids that bled and prolapsed with each bm for the past year. After reading the posts on this site I was reluctant to have surgery, so I was leaning towards starting with the least invasive, Ultroid, first, and then possibly DG-Hal (thd) as a backup. I called the Ultroid phone number from their website, and they gave me the names of Doctors in the Chicago area that do the procedure. I had an initial examination with the Ultroid Doctor and then scheduled the procedure. He said mine were large, and there were no guarantees it would work, but I was willing to give it a try. The day of the procedure, I did an enema prep 90 minutes beforehand and then went in. The process took 10 minutes, and it was uncomfortable mainly from the anoscope, but not too painful. I went to work after, but made an effort to remain seated most of the day. It has only been 3 days, but so far I have already noticed an improvement with less bleeding and prolapse. I have 3 hemorrhoids total, and they only do one at a time, so I will be going back in 3 weeks for the next one, and to see if the first one has diminished. I'm not as familiar with external hems, but it may be worthwhile to look into this approach. Good Luck!

Yes, sometimes it is not that painful like other are saying and sometimes I am feeling lucky because I don't have that kind of pain that everyone else have. I had colonoscopy and I can say that this is one of the ugliest things that I had in my life! Really bad experience, but I would do anything to prevent or stop this. What to do about hemorrhoids relief was the first question that I asked my doctor. 

A lot of things, but I should do them on the time. But I was waiting for this to go away by itself, I don't know why.

The truth is that this can be very bad and it is different for anyone who has this experience, especially if those hemorrhoids are larger. That means that you are in the bigger pain. 

Good luck!

Hello again,

I can really sympathize with you on the care that you have received so far. I am sure that if you go to the American Board of Colorectal Surgeons you won’t find that doctors name listed there as an accredited Doctor. If you do by chance it is with them that you should file your complaint!

You don’t know how many people I talk with who don’t fell like they can go against what there doctor tells them, it is nice to hear you tell your doctor what he is going to do!

Now, I am with you, this doctor doesn’t seem like he is interested in going any further so I would just go find a better doctor who understands your situation.

External Hemorrhoids are taught to be inconvenient and not something that doctors NEED to anything about. Ten years ago the philosophy was to treat the symptoms not the problem.

Well, most of the doctors practicing were trained under those premises. So, in a lot of instances you have to demand treatment (especially form insurance companies)

Go back to the website and look under “hem101 for Women” then click on “What type of doctor should I use” in the right hand column. It is outlined there with a link to the ABCS where you can search for a Board Certified Colorectal Surgeon near you. There are nine in Boston and three are women. I would start there if I were you and forget this other doctor you’re seeing.

Also make sure to go over the pain regiment with your doctor PRE-op as you want more then Tylenol! Pick one of those Dr. who are ABCS Certified and you shouldn’t have any pain during your recovery.

I hope this helps and please let us know how it goes!


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What is with these doctors???? I have never been lied to so much, by so many dr.s who dont know what there doing...one will say one thing then another will say something else, also stating "I don't know why the other dr. would tell you that". Its bad when you cant even trust the dr.s in america now!

Here is my situation. I hurt my back on July 23rd slight bulging disc. I took two rounds of pain meds but I spent a week or two between refills. I don't have a gallbladder so I usually have a bowel movement every day so I didn't really pay attention. The next thing I new I was constipated (thinking) so I strained for hours and then developed hemorrhoids the size of quarters on the outside. Never could go and finally went to the ER and the did a soapy enema. I had about 5 babies. Now my problem is the are a little bit smaller but I have them inside too. Now, when I try to insert the Preperation H into the rectum I have to feel with my other finger and push a little so the rectum will open up to even find it. This time it was a lot harder to insert it and that is worrying me. I went to the ER on Tuesday the 20th and today is 26th. I can't do much of anything had to take off work and mine to is going to the vigina area also. Help pleae.

So my situation is extremely similar to bostongirl70. I have yet to see a doctor, and I'm not quite sure what type of doctor im supposed to see. for this. But I've looked online and most people respond with a little bit of a blood and a little bit of pain, but NO my pain is excrutiating!! I absolutely dread trying to make a bowel movement I break down in tears everytime I try, and most times I give up before Im done because I can only get a few little pebbles out just for never ending misery and a toilet ful of blood. I havent had it confirmed as a hemroid but my daughter is 12 weeks old and I know a lot of women get them after birth. Yesterday I started taking a stool softener I had in my medicine cabinet that my obgyn prescribed when I was pregnant but it is not helping... I wipe with baby wipes because toilet paper hurts and I can feel my stool right at the surface of my anus and its hard as a rock. I've tried to just relax and let it come out but even then I find myself clenching my anus shut becuase it feels like a ball of thumb tacks tryng to come out. I don't know if surgery is really nessicary. I dont really want to get surgery because like I said my daughter is only 12 weeks old I am a single mom, I have no family, and no one to help me take care of her. But I cant stay in this kind of pain it hurts to sit, bend over, stand, walk, everything!! It's just on going, no way for me to have relief. It's hard enough to take care of her when I'm like this. Any suggestions to make it easier to poop or something to numb my anus (if a such thing exists) rather than seeking medical attention? Also do hemroids this bad ever just go away on their own or do you hve to get medical treatment?

Hi bmayd10,
If you don't have someone like a general practitioner in your country, it would be a colorectal surgeon/ specialist that you would need to see. But in the meantime, if it is haemorrhoid, you could go to the pharmacy to ask for haemarrhoid-relief suppositories, which will help to shrink it. Also ask for laxative and stool softener to soften your stool, although you don't think it is helping. You also need to drink plenty of fluid, and avoid too much meat in your diet etc. Sitz bath also helps shrinking. and have you tried just taking pain-killers in the meantime?
I really hope you get some relief soon! Good luck and take care!
AL

Hey Boston Girl! What did you ultimately do with your hemorrhoid issue? I've got internal ones. Had three treatments of infrared coagulation to shrink it and it's done nothing so far. I keep going back to the doctor and explain to him that I can't get the poop past it. He says that's highly unlikely. Let me tell you, unless the poop is liquified I can't get it past the hemorrhoids. It's 3am here and I can't poop. I have the urge but when I go all I have is this massive hemorrhoid coming out, blocking the launch. The doc doesn't think it's a big deal but how can I sleep if I can't poop? I took a massive glass of prune juice tonight which usually does the trick but I could only get a little bit out. I'm thinking that I need to go to Boston myself and find someone who will take this situation seriously. I'm trying to get another appointment set up with him but he doesn't want to see me for another three weeks. So I'm wondering if you found someone good yet and if you got your problem resolved. Maybe you can drop the name of the doctor you ended up going to so I can see them. Thanks!

FYI...I'm new to this whole piles thing...but I find that it helps if I insert my finger into my vagina and push gently down toward my rectum...then the b.m. comes right out...still hurts..but no straining.

I have them both inside and out and a skin tag. A short while after I had my child a number over 15 years ago,I went to see a surgeon about removing them. The surgeon said that he could remove them, but the pain would be incredible. So I did nothing. Now it's horrible. I can't have bowel movements unless I am backed up for over a week. My stomach is always bloated. I use laxative sometimes when I have to. Liquid has even a hard time coming out. Then there is the burning and itching. The not feeling clean. The skin tag makes it hard to keep clean. The bleeding is bad sometimes. On some ocasions a hemorrhoid blows and I will bleed for a number of days, and I get this weird pain in my rectem by the hemorrhoid that hurts where it exploded. Not sure what to do. :/

I went 31 days Without pooping. I know you feel like death the first week. Stay hydrated. I know OJ and water is so hard to force down your throat believe me i can't go right now and wish i could. Metamucil grab that jar scoop it mix it in anything like water or Orange juice. Don't go as long as i had to go. You'll poop out soft ball's...literally dry big turds that destroyed me. Couldn't fight my MMA fight due to this. Laxatives take long to work but some help in 12 hours not 24-48 hours. 4 days isn't too bad but the hard piece has to come out. I'm 22 years old and gave birth to 6 softballs my girlfriend doesn't know how i do it but i deal with this every 2 months then 6 months. Fear of pooping from a young age. Get comfortable and honestly poop wherever you feel comfortable. My girlfriend thought i was going to die. She read 73 days is the longest a woman went. This is the worst pain besides kidney stones. Dont take any pain medication. None whosoever. Remind your loved ones what your going through. That's how bad bad gets. A softball hard as a rock is bad. Metamucil everyday mix it with a protein shake. Good luck to anyone.

I was wondering if your website was still up and what the address is. I am having the same problem, the pain is so bad I have been forced to quit my job. My loss of income is really handicapping my family. I need to get help and the doctors just seem to dismiss me like the pain isn't as serious as I say!