Recovery after Sphincterotomy and Hemorrhoidectomy

I just had a lateral sphincterotomy a week ago.  I only took the pain meds for 4 days, since I hoped to run an errand on the following weekend. Well, I was hurting pretty bad, so my husband drove me.  It was pretty bad.  I took a pillow in the car, which I still use to drive.  It helped.
I had an anal fissure, and he also had to cut the muscle.  I didn't want to be on the pain meds too long, in case I needed to drive.  I am taking 2Extra Strength Tylenol for arthritis (what I usually take 2x a day) and 2 advil every 4-6 hours.  However, yesterday was my husband's first day back to work, and I didn't eat well.  Consequently, I had a pretty hard bm this morning that was very painful. 
I started having problems with this fissure at the end of the summer, Aug. or so.  After one big flareup for a month, and then adjusting my diet, and eventually using baby powder after each bm, it wasn't too bad.  However, having this procedure right before the holidays was NOT a good idea.  I have so much to do, that my 2 teenagers just aren't picking up the slack!
I too had years of constipation and hemorroids, so I need to change my diet completely.  Since the weekend, I can't use Tucks medicated pads (although I have used them for years), because now they burn the surrounding area.  A wet kleenex (the soft kind) seem to help after each bm, and of course, baths throughout the day. At least I am home during the day (I don't work outside the home), and I have a huge bathtub, which really helps.  I just wish I felt better.  I drove my daughter somewhere yesterday, 20 minutes away, and back home.  Then, a few hours later, she needed a ride.  I felt good, but had a very restless night sleep, the pain was excruciating.  I see my doctor tomorrow for a one week post-op, so I can talk to him then.  Unfortunately, I can't have a 1 month post op exam, because my doctor is having surgery (I think prostate cancer), and will be out for 2 months.
Thanks to all who have posted.  It gives me hope.

I just had a sphincterotomy and had the hemmorhoid and skin tags removed after months of pain that they thought was a result of a fall that damaged my tail bone. The pain after the surgery was and is incredible. The first day I dont even remember opening my eyes because it hurt so bad. I had the surgery on Monday and its now Thursday and I still havent had a BM. I am terrified. I still have some rectal bleeding and my husband inspected it and told me its very badly bruised around the whole rectal area. So glad to see a place that I can see I am not being abnormal or being a sissy. I am taking stool softeners and am going to try Miralax as well now that I see you all posting it. I cant work, no way I can endure this pain and work. Sitting too long even with a pillow hurts and I notice thats when I have more bleeding than when I am laying down or walking. I am on Norco and Valium right now and really hope I wont have to be on them long. I have mostly stuck to a pretty much liquid diet and that goodness for sugar free fudgecycles lol. I am really hoping that it better soon but I am starting to see that this is going to be a process and I have to be patient. Thank God for my great husband and family for being there for me right now. I will update to let you all know if it gets better, or hopefully not worse.

My hemorrhoidectomy was 5 days ago, Thursday, its Monday now. A fairly uncomplicated proceedure rectifying three bleeding hemorrhoids that travelled inside and out.

I make no bones about it the pain on recovery is horrendous !  But there are things you can do that will help and each day is one day closer to recovery.  So here's some things that will help alleviate the pain and aid your recouperation.

Use all the pain killers in hospital that you are allowed to have.  Every hour when your pain killers are due tell them you want them. They are there for you -  USE THEM !  I was able to have Valium (6 hourly for muscles spasm and to help sleeping) Endone (4 hrly for pain) Panadol (liquid, given intraveneously and an absolute godsend and knocked the pain on the head for 6 hours) panadol tablets x 2 every 6 hours. Coloyxl (with senna) for stool softeners x2 twice daily.

Get your prescriptions filled before you go home because by the time you get there you are going to need a dose of something. Organise your tablet regime and stick to it weather you need it or not for the first few days (I'd say a week).  You do not need to be a hero and the pain is not worth well.... the pain... when you have tablets to help. I have Valium, Endone, panadol and Coloxyl.

I also used this gel that they put on your skin when about to insert tubes its a local anasetic type of stuff, I had to ask for it at the hospital though,  Lignocaine 2% Gel with Clorhexidine gently put on the fissure whenever you want, it lubricates and deadens the area a little and every little bit helps, right?  I managed to get four tubes of this to bring home from the hospital because I don't think you can buy it from the chemist. One tube, with caution can last 2 days. You don't need much.

Lots of showers and I am lucky enough to have a bidet for bum baths but others could use a plastic bowl that they bought in preparation before the op.  I use stacks of salt. $7.00 for a large bag from the swimming pool shop.  Hey, we swim in it right? So how unhygenic can it be? And its cheap so you can use heaps.  Sit in that thing for as long as you can.  Each day it will get easier.

Now pooping is way scary.  But there is light at the end of the tunnel.  Your poop will be soft because you have been taking the stool softener Coloxyl regularly and for at least 2 weeks prior to the operation you were on a high fibre, low fat diet, and you still are on that diet and you are drinking loads of water, right ?! So your stools are soft.

I didn't poop for 5 days and I was getting worried of impaction (jees what could be worse?) so today I got a friend to get me some stuff from the chemist. 1) Anusol.  These are little tabs you put in your butt and it relieves the pain ( not eliminates the pain but every little bit helps, right?) Ya stick these supositories in after a bowel movement or when you can feel the pain coming back. 2) Microlax. These are little vials of liquid that you put in your butt (all the way, it does not hurt 'cos the tube is small) and then squeeze the bottle, squirting the liquid up there inside.  It only takes a half hour to work so be close to the loo when you do it.

I wont lie to you it hurts to poop but not as bad as you think it is going to hurt. The thought actually hurts more than the pain.  When you are pooping do not cut it off with a spinctre spasm, let it happen, you're half way there, you do not want to have to start again. Do you? Don't expect elephant poohs right off, just a couple of small ones will do to start. (If more wants to come , let it) the hardest part is knowing when you are finished because your rectum is aching and burning anyway.  The best thing to do it to step into the shower, if more wants to come it will (and you are in the shower)  if not, the pain will let up a little.  Thing is you don't not want to be sitting straining that spinctre muscle on the loo especially if nothing is going to happen, so go to the shower.

Now clean up with a shower and a salt bath afterwards the salt eases the stinging pain and speeds up the healing process of the stitches. Dry off. Take the tablets you are due to have and go to bed.  Put in an Anusol, put on some gel and slip on your ice pack. Get ready to go to sleep for an hour or two.

ICE PACKS - are manner from the Healing Angels.  Make a hundred of them before your op and put them in your freezer.  Two little ice cubes tied up in a cheap little sandwich bag (plastic).  Now get one out of the freezer, wrap it in a thin cloth (you cut up 100 of these squares too before your op, about 4-5 inch squares) and put it on your rectum. Right on the spot. The gel is a bit of a barrier so the cold ice wont burn and so is the plastic and the cloth. The relief is amazing. Sleep inducing amazing.

I take my tablets right on time, I stay in bed (take a five minute walk about every two hours to try to stop all those other complications from lying in bed) and I do all this above. 

Gees PS !  Do not ask visitors to come see you.  You will fart and you cant (and you don't want to) stop them.  They are absolutely putrid and the whole house smells of your farts (I am sure of it) you do not want poor visitors subject to that.  Even though they hurt a little the relief after a fart is wonderful. Enjoy it, you have precious little to enjoy at the moment.  Learn what created your piles in the first place and learn how to avoid doing that ever again.

Each day is a little better than the day before. I am surviving and you will too. I promise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a anal fissure removal and sphincterotomy 3 weeks ago. The first two weeks were painful with a lot of bleeding and drainage. However, this week the condition changed. My BM's are painless and I'm on the road to recovery. After a year of suffering, I'm doing much better.  I started work yesterday and felt fine. I see the surgeon for a follow-up in three days. This procedure worked well, and I'm glad I had it done.

Update. One month later. By the end of the first week most of the medication had ceased. I still take a panadol (x2) of an evening to help me sleep. I am tired and listless, from lots of bed-rest and taking it easy, but my stamina will build up slowly. I have healed and all the pain is gone, everythig is back to normal, I am pleased I had this op and I am pleased is is over now. Good Luck to you. I hope you have as easy a healing process as I did.

i had sphincterotomy and fissurectomy. Best stool softener I ever tried is called Everybody's Fiber made by Natures Sunshine. Great for easing the constipation associated with IBS also. A little pricey, but worth every penny!

So I had a sphincterotomy a month ago, and 2 skin tags removed.  The healing has been pretty good, and I have next to no pain now.  But I'm worried whether or not the incontinence will ever stop.  It's not severe, but there has been constant mucus leakage ever since the surgery. Not enough to get my underwear wet, but still siginificant. If I do anything physical (even walking a long ways) it leads to irritation and I get a rash.  Has anyone else had this?  How long did it last?  Is it permanent?

Hello friends, even I m suffering this pain since 3 years. It started after my chid birth. I can really understand your pain, it's horrifying. Used lot of ointments, creams and hours of seitz bath. But it came again and again. At last I got lateral sphincterotomy done with some tags removed. Today it is 5 days after my surgery. Released from the spasm but still have some amount of pain after bowel movement. Hopefully this heals in few weeks. I really recomand surgery for those with long standing fissure. For those who are suffering since long, drink plenty of water, eat as much vegetables and fruits as possible and also should take some vitamine supplements as it promotes healing of the fissure. Thank you. And all the best.

i have just had a sphincterectomy about 6 days ago and was wondering about the healing time. Your post gave me a serious case of the giggles - giving birth to a pineapple is the most perfect analogy! Thank you :)

hi, i looked at all the posts prior to my surgery (sphincterotomy fissurectomy) which happened 48 hours ago.

OK, so here is the update... it's been a week. I am definitively getting better but still not doing well enough to get back to work...
I go to the bathroom in the morning, go through excruciating pain, suffer for 2-3 hours (jumping into a hot bath after the bathroom), take percocet, lye on my side with a hot blanket and wait...
in the afternoon I am better. I still have to put pressure when I go to the bathroom, stool is soft, and I thought the whole point was that after the surgery you will not need to apply pressure. The pressure makes it worse of course.. so Doctor's visit tomorrow and see what happens... i'm not as optimistic as I was a day or 2 after the surgery (ironic, no?) but we shall see..
Be Well!
H

I had my Lateral Internal Sphincterotomy from a Rectal Surgeon. This was to resolve a fissure and a potential Absess. Before I get in t this too deep, I have to say, the 5 months of pain of a Fissure was God Hates me  awful, It is amazing that a 1MM tear can destroy lives. If we are to fight wars, all we should do is neek up to the enemy with an exacto knife and slice a 1MM chuck out their sphincter, guaranteed retreat!

Seriously, I tried the creams and the heart medicine and the opium suppositories...nothing, still a ton of pain. The pain was debilitating, to the point where I had to run home to crunch on Vitotin. It was out of hand. I couldnt sit down anywhere, couldnt drive...

Everyones telling me if I get the surgery, i will have no control and a poor quality of life.   

Found a top Rectal Surgeon, he put me at ease, and i went through with it.

No Pain, uneasy as there were sutures, and those lasted2 weeks.

I do have looser Gas and a mucus that is worth mentioning. I hear that is common and can persist for months

Given all of this. NO MORE PAIN AT ALL, NOT EVEN A HINT OF IT. Based on my experience with the alterantive means, this one works.

 

There is no way you could go back to work the next day after that kind of surgery. Tylenol only...? That's crazy! I was given a prescription for 325 mg percocet. I was put to sleep during my surgery (although it was outpatient). I am nearly 4 weeks post-op and have still have sphincter pain during bm's but it is getting better. I hope that by now your back to normal.

Hi Guys

Hello.  I guess I'm the "old man," in this thread.  My fissurectomy and sphincterotomy were twenty-two years ago.  After the operation, I stopped using toilet paper, as I never understood how it helped keep anyone clean, and opted for a portable sitz bath bowl after each trip to the bathroom.  I maintained a rinsing regimen for scrupulously clean anal hygiene. Even on the road, my bowl traveled with me.  I could tell some amusing stories. I had very few problems, for the next twenty-two years, except occasional irritation from eating things I shouldn't have, and a little constipation, every now and then.  I'm here, now, because I have had a flare up.  Once again, my anal sphincter is going into painful spasms.  There can only be one conclusion, as I see it:  After twenty-two years, the muscle that was cut has regrown enough fibers to complete a new ring that is capable of spasms.  Let me go back to the past, for a minute:  After the surgery I opted for no pain killers.  I am an anti-drug person.  My surgeon had stitched up the first incision, and I got an abscess.  I could feel it and could squeeze it to exude pus.  I went back and he told me that I needed to be operated on, immediately.  This was ten days before I started a new teaching job.  After the second surgery, with no stitches, I felt better, but moving my bowels was a lesson in absolute pain.  Each time I defecated, I saw stars swirling around my head, literally.  I was a new teacher, with five classes, and here I was, between classes, clutching the toilet in the teachers' restroom, to keep from screaming.  I made it through, but you need to know that this operation may cause you considerable pain, post-procedure.  If you are cool with pain meds, you may be OK.  Back to the present:  For the past few years, I have had occasional hard feces that have led to some pain.  Usually the pain would be gone in twenty-four hours.  The thing is, these episodes of constipation seemed to appear out of nowhere.  I could not put my finger on any new or different foods I had eaten.  Taking Magnesium Citrate, before bed, helped.  My stools softened and everything was fine.  Summertime brought more problems, though.  Even with Mg, I started having hard stools, again.  Then it hit me:  Most episodes of constipation, bad constipation, have been in the summer months.  I work outside and I sweat a great deal.  I even develop cramps in my feet and hands where I go into a claw.  Gatorade solves the problem.  Now, I think I know why I am constipated, to a bad degree.  I am not taking enough Mg, to offset what I'm losing during the day.  Since I only have been taking 200 mg, nightly, but surely losing much of it during the day, my constipation may be a result of this loss.  I am now starting to take another 200 mg. around Noon.  I will avoid all spicy foods and make a bland diet my goal.  I am vegan, FWIW, and have been, most of my life.  I will update, in here, as the week goes by.  Today was the first day I took Mg, at Noon.  I will drink a great deal of water, as I always do, outside.  In no way do I want to have another sphincterotomy.  If you have questions, please post them and I will endeavor to answer them to your satisfaction.  I'm sorry that I jumped around, in this post, time-wise.  I'm eager to get into meaningful dialogue, in here, so I am surely rambling on, a bit.  Hope to hear from others.  Thanks!