Recovery Time For Hemorrhoid Surgery

Hifty, I am so sorry to hear that! I know you had your surgery just right before mine and you've encouraged me through my recovery. I am at 6.5 weeks post-op and I'm feeling better every week. Up until a week ago, I too started having difficulty using the restroom. I started to eat what I had right after surgery - lots of fruits and veggies and it seems to be helping. I haven't gone back to my doctor for another checkup, but I do still have a bump back there from where the surgery took place. I'm hoping that will go away, but no shrinkage down there - I don't think. Although I do have difficulty passing large stools - smaller softer ones are relatively pain free now. I feel 90% back to normal. Hang in there... this wasn't an esay surgery. Try to relax and use softners if you have to. Remember to continue to eat right and no straining! I hear shrinkage is a common side effect - but 1/4? I'm so sorry you are still struggling. Keep us posted!

It sounds like you've got anal stenosis which most likely is attributed to your stools being too soft. As my doctor told me initially, it's important to keep the stools soft, but not too soft. The sphincter needs to pass solid stools to keep it from shrinking.

I think because of the pain associated with BM's after a Hemorrhoidectomy it's a common (and understandable) for people to make their stools as soft as possible to lessen the pain. Unfortunately, the side effect of this is anal stenosis.

I'm 4 weeks post-op and still have mild to moderate pain during BM's. For me the worst is the burning after the BM. I always take a bath afterwards that helps a little but the pain/irritation lasts for a few hours afterwards. And heaven forbid I have to take two BM's as that just makes it worst. After the first week I've more or less gone back to my normal diet. I take one Colace with dinner and that's it. My stools are soft enough to pass while still stretching my anus. I wait until I absolutely have to go and I'm usually on the commode for no more then a minute.

I see my doctor on Thursday for the first time since the surgery. Aside from the pain I still have puss drainage from the fistula repair which doesn't appear to be healing as it should by now. So it'll be interesting to see what he has to say.

Interesting. Sounds like that could be it. Although, with the post-op experience i made sure to not go too crazy with the laxative as i did on the first day as it was hell >;)

Do you know of any way to treat it? My op is due to go ahead this Tuesday but i'm a bit apprehensive as the surgeon doesn't quite know what it is as he's never seen it before.. At the moment, without lactulose, i'm going 6-7 times a day without much success. With the lactulose, i'm going 4-5 times a day with my stomach turning all day long.

Not good :'(

I'm thinking of cancelling this op, leaving it for another week to see if it gets any better. I'm always preferable to a natural method rather than getting put under. And surely, over time, it'll stretch out again? But don't know whether this will cause any damage in the long run..

I will of course keep you updated, and thanks for the kind words Gustivo. I'm glad your feeling better with it :-)

I had hem surgery on FEB 12.2010. I am 33 yrs old, mother of two... thru a gen surgeon recommended by my OBGYN. He is supposed to be good. I have had a hell first few days. I am on day 5 of recovery. I feel ok as long as I take 600mg of Ibphrophen every 6-7 hours. I am sick to my stomach since day of surgery.
First day they gave me local pain meds. Then they hurried me into taking perkasaid and that make me sick. I have not felt good tummy wise since. . :$

I did not know what I was getting into when doing this dumb surgery. I say this because I was dumb in thinking I was going to be back to normal like after you ripp when giving birth.. 2 weeks then fine... I hate that the medical field finds this surgery a something of an easy peasy thing.. WTF!! 8-|

I have my hems from pregnancy and this last one caused my old hem to blow up big and finally went down after birth of my 2 month old son.. I went to the doc (OB) to have her see if my hem had left. the blood did but skin tag was there and I had several other tiny skin tag/hems sticking out.. so went to the gen. surgeon to get it looked at... He said it was fixable by surgery, so dumb me.. didn't find this site till today. Had I known the horror involved and recovery I would have waited till my youngest child was 6 and in school.. ! o.O

So setting aside my being a complete id**t and believing the med field docs again.. I am home with 2 kids a 4 yr old and 2 month old. My hubby has helped me for the past 4 days after surgery which is a blessing but he is going back tomorrow to work o.O I am not sure how to get over this stuff sooner.? I have to help do floral designs for a wedding on saturday and one next saturday.. Am I going to be able to do this????

I can say the first day of surgery I had to have a bm. I was unable to.. It was soo painful, my fast labor and childbirth was easier than this.. I had too big of a poo, so grossly I had to do something about it. I tried unsuccessfully to get the bm out but nothing worked.. I strained, cried, and screamed. Lucky, no one was home at the time, they would have thought i was in labor.. which I should have named it too LOL.. not really funny but it is what is keeping me going..

I got drastic and will only reveal this to the forum for the sake that I am not the only one out there afraid and desperate to keep from ripping my stitches out.. so the next line is gross but I had to do this.. I felt like pooing again and had to use a latex glove and dig the poo out so as to not ripp myself.. it was way gross and will never do that again!! I felt like vomiting.. I did do that later.. I got most of it out and was relieved.. I soon started to fear bm.. like everyone else. but I didn't keep from eating foods, I just couldn't because of the narcotics they gave me made me soo sick.. I am still sick today..

As for the next day, I made sure to take lax, fiber tablets, soup, water, etc. to help get a bm out again.. It was extremely painful again, but I was able to push it out this time.. can't believe I had to do the last thing as described above, but I find it less gross than bathing in poo.. for weeks on end.. being a women, I just can't allow my girly parts to get infected by bathing in poo.. maybe this is easier for guys..

I am now on day 5 and have not had a bm today but gas is ok, and does not hurt.. It does however look like I have a little fissure or a skin tag I thought was gone but I am not sure what the doc exactly did to me, so I am seeing him tomorrow to have him make sure it is not.. as this is the part that is the most painful.. if it is, I will have to hold off on anything till years down the road..

I have found that the soups, fiber, and hot baths.. ( I have not tried the salt, as my doc recommended no salt, just warm water) ibphrophen and water.. that seems to be good.. only problems come up is when I have to have a bm. I sit really forward on the toilet to pee so it doesn't go back to my bum and burn it.. I also use bactine spray on my anal area after bm and hot bath and sometimes after peeing.. I use cotton baby wipes when going to the bathroom each use and lay on my side not on my bum directly, which is good. but I can sit on my bum if needed, not much pain.. I just don't want to put a whole of pressure on it right now so it will heal faster.

I am not sure if my hems are as bad as described in this forum, but I am in hopes in 2 weeks to 4 weeks, I can go on with life. this is not what I was wanting and wish that I had waited.. so that I could have done it at a more convenient timing...

I am not sure why these docs act soo sure that people will be fine in 2 weeks.. why is this? is it because they want money and know that if they really tell us how awful it is that we would never do it..??? I just wish docs were more trustworthy, they are like politicians wanting to be re-elected.. LOL XD Why is there no real good science out there to fix this in a less invasive and painful way.. I mean they can kill certain cancers with a laser beam.. and fix varicose veins with no surgery, but they can't fix a bulging vein out my butt??? with out causing me pain like in the movie "Little Nicky" where they shove a pineapple up Hilter's butt every day???? I am soo upset that this was soo hush hush that I feel like I was scammed in a way into doing something and was not told the whole story.. isn't this the surgeons job is too tell you this..

I will be giving my surgeon a piece of my mind tomorrow but as for now, I am stuck with this damn recovery and so I will have to suffer through it and hope one day it will be just a bad memory, which I will eventually forget about %-) if I am lucky...

I am sorry but after I heal, I can't continue this liquid, soup, high fiber diet,, I will starve to death. I am already skinny as it is and so losing more weight would be bad here.. :-)

This is my story and I will update when I am fully recovered as I have only read one story of a full recovery.. where are all of you at..???? don't forget about us who are still suffering... Please.. we need all the help we can get right now.. I would rather die than do this again..

Hope your recovering well Texasmom. If you have i'm sure you would reword some of your previous post. Quote:

Rather die than have the surgery again?

pfft !

I'm still having troubles unfortunately. On my 6-week check up my surgeon told me my anus canal had shrunk/tightened (As Myassisonfire suggested, anal stenosis). He rearranged surgery for 4 weeks after that. I decided not to go ahead with it after my surgeon said 'hmm.. i've never seen that before, i have no idea why it's done that. Let's book you in for again'. That was 8 weeks ago, my BMs were still terrible. Was going about 5-6 times in a day for 15-20 minutes at a time. Try explaining that one at work!
So, i rearranged the surgery for today. I'm now sat back at home after having an EUA (Examination under anaesthetic) aswell as an anal diflation (Who could imagine they'd ever have a procedure like that? ). I'm feeling more or less exactly the same as i was. Not sore at all, just normal discharge and black craps with what feels like nails in them

I wish i could tell you guys how to avoid getting this condition. But it seems my surgeon doesn't have a clue. It's been suggested that if you overdo the Laxatives post-surgery you can get it, but if anything, i under did the laxatives. Seems it's a rare condition anyway so i guess i'm just unlucky on this one!

I have read every single post from 06 to current and it seems the general consensus is that for several weeks post op it hurts like hell!
I have not yet gotten removal and will be exploring options and different surgeons with my GP this coming friday. I have 2 internal hemmroids that prolapse, one is very large and the other is small. About a week ago I went out to the bar and put quite a few drinks down, I was fine before I went. I got a ride home don't worry. Next day I wake up and my butt kind of hurt and having a regular BM was excruciating, but no blood. I have been terrified since that day and have used all kinds of creams and suppositories which have helped. It doesnt hurt anymore but they do still prolapse and it's just downright gross and hard to deal with. I've known that I have had them since I was about 18 years old, i'm 20 now and I think I am finally tired of them to the point of asking for the surgery.

If they are prolapsing but not causing pain should I let them go or should I get it out of the way now? I'm terrified of knives and needles and such but I wonder if going for it now since I'm so young would be the better option instead of waiting until it's so bad that I HAVE to have it.
And I don't mean to get too graphic but being that I'm a bisexual male with very loving boyfriend, if I get the surgery will I ever be able to have sex again?
That is something I'm terrifying myself wondering about.

I hope all of you are recovering well and I envy the strength and patience I have seen in all the posts that I have read here, it's a real eye opener. Thank you so much.

Hey Gang...

Just went in today for removal of both internal and external. They told me the same thing. Mainly 10-14 days I will be in discomfort. Its been about 12 hours since surgery and the pain is not that bad. I'm a male, 41 years old, and eat poorly. I'm scared about having my first BM post surgery and have not taken a hot bath yet but will do so in a few to remove the packing and tape (ouch...remember I'm a guy).

I'm worried about recovery time but what is troubling me more is my fear to have a BM.

Otherwise for the last 12 hours my pain is pretty mild about 3 (scale of 1-10), and trust me I'm a wimp when it comes to pain. Maybe I'm lucky or maybe I will feel the wrath tomorrow.

I think I'm going to switch to a liquid diet for the next few days to lesson the worry and additional BM's.

Any suggestions would be great. I'm taking Tordal and percocet for pain and I'm laying on a ice pack. I'm using a pad to absorb the extra blood. Should I get some 4x4 gause? Will the pain get worse tomorrow? Its too late to 86 the surgery but its not as bad as I thought.

I hate to be the barer of bad news, but it's just the beginning. The first 3-5 days are going to be hell. The worst pain will be during and after your BMs. But if you can get yourself regulated after your first BM as soon as possible (meaning one BM per day around the same time) you'll be able to start the long recovery process. At this stage there is nothing wrong with keeping your stools as soft as possible. But you don't want to over do it with fiber, etc. to the point of having multiple BMs. That will only cause you unnecessary pain and prolong the healing process.

Obviously lie down a lot and take lots of baths/sitz. They are the best thing you can do at this stage. After about 1 week you'll hopefully be on a schedule and feeling better after BMs. You'll probably have burning after your BMs that will last several hours. It's how you deal with that discomfort that will dictate your activity level i.e. going back to work. After about a month you should be pain free. You'll just have to wait for the drainage to stop which will be around Week 8.

All I can say is go with the flow right now. Don't fight the pain or the healing process. Let your body take over and help it the best you can with my advice and the meds. It's a long and painful recovery but in a couple of months you'll be glad you did it.

Myassisonfire is correct!!
Day 3 will be hell!!
One other thing is DON'T push !!! if you need to go to the toilet for gods sake take a laxative or some castor oil 1-2tbls will do it and it will clean you out without having to push. The best way i found is to take some laxatives every 2nd day to clean your bowels out this will give you one day of hell and 2 days of recovery without worrying about going to the toilet again.

If you have pain meds make sure you take some 1-2 hours before going to the toilet otherwise you'll pay for it. DON'T use any toilet paper just go to the toilet and then straight into a hot shower to clean yourself then into a HOT salty bath. Psyllium Husk and Slippery Elm Bark (Fibre Cleanse) is a good alternative to be taken once a day and is a good alternative to the chemical blends. You know the ones that taste like orange that you put into water YUK.

Good Luck any other questions just ask!!

Thankyou all for your posts on this thread. I have been reading for the past few weeks.
I had 2 internal hems and one internal prolapsed hem banded 2 months ago. Didn't have much pain associated with the banding although BM the next morning and for the first week felt like I was ripping myself a new a**hole each time, but did settle after a sitz bath afterwards. About 1 1/2 weeks after the banding, I developed a thrombosed external hem (which I think was actually there beforehand but not too bad). The pain from this one is excrucitating to the point where after a BM now takes me 2 hours for the pain to settle with the help of sitz bath and a heat pack, and I can only stand for about 2 minutes before the pain is too much to bear. Driving myself anywhere has become a no go, doing grocery shopping or anything much else is also now a no-go.
My son or daughter-in-law have been doing my shopping and other errands. I have a stool to sit on at the sink.
At my follow up from the banding, the surgeon gave me the bad news that I need a hemorrhoidectomy. This news was not unexpected.
He examined the external hem and confirmed that it was thrombosed and also said that where the internal hem was/is banded is actually rectal prolapse. He feels that he can remove the external hem and the prolapsed area with the one incision. He is a general and vascular surgeon. I am very happy with him, he will explain to me anything that I ask about, he was honest about the pain (well, as honest as he could be without scaring the c**p out of me) and said I would be looking at 4 weeks to heal.
So, I am scheduled to have my hemorrhoidectomy next Monday. I will get to see the surgeon and anaethetist this Friday to further discuss my op.
My biggest concern is pain meds - I have IBS diahorrea predominant. The only pain meds that don't make me sick are panadol and to a lesser degree nurofen (upsets me a bit but bearable), anything else like codeine causes horrific nausea and cramping that is worse than the pain that I'm trying to kill, thus I take the pain rather than the nausea and cramping.
Can't take metamucil, it gives me bad nausea and cramping and violent and explosive diahorrea.
I do take a fibre supplement called Heather's Tummy Fibre made from Acacia. This is the only one that doesn't give me nausea.
I eat a high fibre diet, rye bread, oats, oatbran, goat's milk, oat milk, chicken. I don't eat wheat, cow's milk, red meat. I love my veges, but have to eat these in moderation cos they give me the runs as well.
Even with the IBS I do have a regular BM every morning that is usually formed but very soft and sometimes not so formed.
Not sure about any stool softeners for fear of them causing nausea and diahorrea, but also am very concerned about not getting constipated after the surgery. The best thing I have found as far as fibre goes that suits me is the oatbran.
So my plan after surgery is to take a small dose of coloxyl (colace) and increase the amount of oatbran I eat to help things along.
Very concerned about any sort of narcotic pain killers because of the nausea they will cause me and also the side effect of constipation.
Any suggestions would greatly appreciated.
I am in Australia, so I will be admitted to hospital and be staying in for 2 nights for pain management, etc.
Will get to see the surgeon and anaethetist this Friday, so any suggestions of questions to ask re medications, pain management would be greatly appreciated. Thankyou.

One question I'd ask is if there is problems (and as you see from this site, there usually is), who can you call and will your calls be returned in a reasonable amount of time.

Ask if you can start taking stool softeners (non-laxative) and fiber laxative pills (gentle ones ... compare to FiberCon which is NOT gassy). That way if you start taking them soon, when you have your first BM, it won't be as bad (and will be soft).

Also, drink lots of water. I drink between 6 and 8 glasses a day. It makes everything work better. Of course, you know to eat fruits and vegetables. DON'T eat lots of red meat ... more fish, chicken, and seafood.

I had the THD April 9. I might have to have a deflated hem banded (on outside). Since you've had that done, what can I expect?

I had my outpatient hemorrhoid surgery on Friday May 14th. It was not too bad right after surgery but by Friday night I was so sick from all the meds I was on I had dry heaves all night.
I had a spinal with general anesthesia and I had the worst low back and upper buttocks cramps to go along with my dry heaves Friday night that the actual pain from the surgery didn't even figure in.
I had many external and internal hemorrhoids and even had one internal that was hanging external, my anus looked like a cauliflower.
I work in the medical field and as a warning you really should ONLY HAVE A COLORECTAL surgeon do your surgery, not a General surgeon. Would you take your new mercedes to any mechanic? Treat your butt as if it a new mercedes. You want to go to someone that does this surgery all the time, not just a couple times a month, so they know all the latest technigues.
I had my first BM last night and the pain was just as bad as labor with no pain meds. It took about 2.5 hours to get it out and there was a lot of screaming and blood involved. Make sure you take your stool softeners and take pain meds before BM and the hot bath really helps. Had another BM at 4:30 this morning and it was really painful also but did not take as long only about 15 minutes of crying this time.
Can't walk too well, I think i am too swollen and it really is hard to go pee. I have to really concentrate and be in a standing position.
Would i do it again? I think so because they were pretty painful before but OH MY GOD I hope this pain goes away soon.

You can find lots of my posts on here under my name but I just had my surgery for 1 internal prolapsed hem Friday 5/14. Life was a BREEZE until Monday when I was so full I couldn't eat anymore so I took MoMagnesia. Six hours later, nothing. Took it again, nothing. Mind you I'd been eating from the recovery guide and taking a ton of fiber,fish oil, and colace. So yesterday (Tuesday) I got fed up and called my doctor. She then made me drink a bottle of magnesium citrate (YUCK! Try choking this down) and waited. And waited. Six hours later I felt the urge to go. I went in the bathroom and delivered a piece of poo the size of a dime. To make a long story short, the birth ( I say this seriously as it felt like delivering a hard bb the size of a lemon) came 4 more times and then the diarrhea started. While I tried to breath through it and didn't push it felt like my bowels were pushing themselves and now I'm terrified that I might have gotten hems again. I feel a little something back there (and no I'm not gonna look). Is this just something being swollen? Anybody else have this happen? In no way are they the same size hems as before, but teeny tiny. I hope it isn't those little boogers again! :-)

Oh, can I also add that I had no pain meds since I'd stopped taking them early Tuesday because I was tired of being constipated so the birthing process happened with no pain meds. Luckily, doing this in the bathtub (gross, but less painful) really helped.

I'm a newbie here. I had a hemorrhoidectomy on 4/27/10. So it's been almost a month.

Background info:

Male, mid 40's, with (according to my colon/rectal surgeon) level 4 hemorrhoids (some internal and 2 external) that had been bothering me for 5+ years. I've done the banding thing 2x, and healed a fissure without surgery. Decided to go ahead with this surgery out of frustration - I'd been losing weight while running and lifting weights - and the hemorrhoids were just too annoying. Looking back, I probably wasn't properly clenching my abdominal and anal muscles properly during certain weight training exercises.

Anyway, the 1st week is a royal pain. My 1st BM on day 3 was quite painful. The worst part was the spasms during the BM. My doc didn't say that you're butt is re-learning how to poo after having a good deal of flesh removed. Also, the number of BM's increased to 2-3 per day, up from my regular 1/day. I attributed this to the laxatives/stool softeners I was recommended.

The pain pills (hydrocodone) helped, but the frustrating thing was the constipating side effects. Prior to surgery, I'd been pretty good with my diet and had reasonably soft stools (with the help of a 1/day fiber drink). The surgery/pain meds ended my normal bowel routine. Having BMs directly in a warm sitz bath is helpful - but I know this is risky for the ladies out there.

Week 2 was better - the BM's became few but more painful. I had stopped taking the stool softeners/laxatives, which was a mistake. I went to straight stool softeners, and cut WAY back on the pain meds, suffering and taking way more sitz baths.

Week 3 was better. I cut my diet to mostly liquid to reduce BMs. I only go every other day, and the pain in minimal - thanks to the stool softeners and - since I'm better able to predict when I go - 1/2 a pain pill about 15 minutes before going. I had a BM today, was in some pain for an hour until the meds took over. I took a 4 hour nap, had a cold bottom bath, and have felt pretty good since.

I see my doc next week. I'm mildly concerned that I may have re-fissured myself with the spasms and straining during weeks 1 and early week 2. Looking back several years to my fissure, I think constipation caused by hydrocodone use following a wisdom tooth removal may have been a cause. I find it somewhat disturbing that there's not a warning regarding constipation on hydrocodone bottles.

Anyhow, that's my story. It's been a rough month. From what I've read in these postings, I've probably got a couple of weeks of painful (but improving) BMs (probably in sitz baths) to go. I'm back to work (mostly clerical IT stuff) part time - but may start full time next week. I don't want to poop at work - I have a system down at home to get me through BMs - but I'll have to cross that bridge sooner or later.

For anyone considering this surgery, get a good colon-rectal doc. If you've go substantial hemorrhoids, expect a month or two of recovery. Change your diet after surgery to soft foods you can easily pass. Don't eat meat - try protein shakes - or consult a nutritionist. Everyone's gut is different, but try to find a good medium between laxatives that make you go a lot (bad) and stool softeners that make you go more easily (good).

I think of myself as a reasonably strong guy - I've been through some rough infantry training. Once, after a 20+ mile foot march, I watched a medic take 1/2 my infected ingrown big toe nail off (with a local). I found it more fascinating than painful. BUT THE RECOVERY FROM THIS SURGERY KICKED MY ASS. Give it careful consideration.