I've had hemorrhoids for maybe 8 years of my life now. Started when I was 19 years old and am 26 years old now. They have always been just that annoyance down there and the occasional bleeding has made them more so. I've never had them become really painful except for when I received some bad medication from a useless doctor as relief for them, but made them all the worse.
Right now they are just slightly annoying after a BM but that goes away and other than that, don't really affect my every day life. I have a couple external ones, maybe 4/5 and some internal ones according to the doctor. The doctors here recommended I remove them, but I am wondering...
I live in Japan and as far as health care goes, its not the best where I live. The painkillers seem to be pretty terrible compared to the US or any other 1st world country and after reading a lot of posts in this forum, more and more I am thinking this is a big mistake to have these removed. I have surgery booked for the end of June which is still a little away so I can change my mind.
Has anyone had the mild hemorrhoids I have described and decided to remove them and if so, would you say it was worth it, or should I try other remedies before I go for this seemingly extremely painful operation.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Half scared to death reading other peoples accounts.
Oh also, I live alone and have no one I can really depend on during the healing phase which is also a big deal it seems.
I would go ahead and take care of them, they will only get worse as time goes by. I suffered for years, but even though its a very painful recovery, two weeks of anxious insanity when having a bm, the result has been life changing for me.
I took care of myself too! With pain killers and not wanting people around me when i am unwell anyway, i managed it, and found myself forcing myself to go out for short walks etc.
There's a lot of anxiety anticipating the pain, but get yourself stocked up on the following items so you will have them immediately available.
A sitz bath, you will sit in it just for pain relief from the throbbing, its like a headache up your butt for a few days and nights after surgery and after bm's.
Small hot water bottle to sit on on the couch/sofa just to help with pain relief and it helped numb the area i filled it with boiling water.
Plenty of stool softners, and high fiber food, whole grain bread, fruit, vegetables, keeping the stool soft is a lifesaver.
If the Dr will prescribe Valium or something similar for the anxiety get it, (just in case). I found myself practically hysterical pacing back and forth when the bm was coming. I wouldn't sit until the very last second.
Hardline painkillers will make you constipated, try and get off them quickly and take advil or something similar to avoid it.
Plenty of panty-liners, believe me you will need them.
Doughnut cushion for sitting on.
If you have a bath in your place, have it filled ready when you have a bm, you will want to get in it for relief. Use the sitz bath first, then get in it. believe me you will want to get in it immediately.
Epsom Salts, for bath (buy plenty), sounds girly but if you get a lavendar or nice smelling one, it helps you relax besides the fact that its good for your butt too.
I hope i haven';t terrified you but it's best to be prepared.
I was home for two weeks, and spent most of my days keeping that area heated with baths, and hot water bottle constantly on that area. I went back to work after 14 days, and managed fine.
You are young too, you should heal quickly!
I took care of myself too! With pain killers and not wanting people around me when i am unwell anyway, i managed it, and found myself forcing myself to go out for short walks etc.
There's a lot of anxiety anticipating the pain, but get yourself stocked up on the following items so you will have them immediately available.
A sitz bath, you will sit in it just for pain relief from the throbbing, its like a headache up your butt for a few days and nights after surgery and after bm's.
Small hot water bottle to sit on on the couch/sofa just to help with pain relief and it helped numb the area i filled it with boiling water.
Plenty of stool softners, and high fiber food, whole grain bread, fruit, vegetables, keeping the stool soft is a lifesaver.
If the Dr will prescribe Valium or something similar for the anxiety get it, (just in case). I found myself practically hysterical pacing back and forth when the bm was coming. I wouldn't sit until the very last second.
Hardline painkillers will make you constipated, try and get off them quickly and take advil or something similar to avoid it.
Plenty of panty-liners, believe me you will need them.
Doughnut cushion for sitting on.
If you have a bath in your place, have it filled ready when you have a bm, you will want to get in it for relief. Use the sitz bath first, then get in it. believe me you will want to get in it immediately.
Epsom Salts, for bath (buy plenty), sounds girly but if you get a lavendar or nice smelling one, it helps you relax besides the fact that its good for your butt too.
I hope i haven';t terrified you but it's best to be prepared.
I was home for two weeks, and spent most of my days keeping that area heated with baths, and hot water bottle constantly on that area. I went back to work after 14 days, and managed fine.
You are young too, you should heal quickly!
This board scared me to death before my surgery and I understand your anxiety. Our situations sounds similar. I had my roids (internal and external) for years and they very rarely bothered me. My doctor suggested I have the surgery because they would only get worse, especially if I decided to get pregnant. I figured I get it done on my own schedule, why wait until I was in terrible pain?
I'm not going to lie, I was very uncomfortable for about 2.5 weeks and a couple of times I cried like a baby. I was given painkillers and took them for about a week and half, my doctor insisted. It was a double edged sword. I don't think they helped with pain that much but they did help me sleep through the worst of it. I didn't have my first real BM for over a week (thanks to the painkillers) despite laxatives and stool softeners. The anxiety about the BM just made it all worse. The pain from pressure to have a BM was worse than the pain from the surgery.
I lived in the bathroom. Baths and sitz were my best friends. I stayed home for 4 weeks but was basically OK after 3. I wasn't in a rush to get back to my 1.5 hour commute in the car.
You'll do OK alone and if you're like me, you won't be in the mood for company anyway. Make sure you eat! I had no appetite for the first couple of weeks and lost a lot of weight. Stock up on everything you will need so you won't have to go out. As the previous poster mentioned, pantyliners are a must! You cannot have too many. I also used a lot of medicated wipes - you'll want to avoid toilet paper for a while.
I had my surgery 7/7/10 and am getting ready for my one year check up with no negative after-effects to report. Get it over with - once you're well into recovery you'll be glad you did. Don't let all the horror stories freak you out too much. It will suck, there will be pain but it WILL get better. You'll do great, good luck!
I'm not going to lie, I was very uncomfortable for about 2.5 weeks and a couple of times I cried like a baby. I was given painkillers and took them for about a week and half, my doctor insisted. It was a double edged sword. I don't think they helped with pain that much but they did help me sleep through the worst of it. I didn't have my first real BM for over a week (thanks to the painkillers) despite laxatives and stool softeners. The anxiety about the BM just made it all worse. The pain from pressure to have a BM was worse than the pain from the surgery.
I lived in the bathroom. Baths and sitz were my best friends. I stayed home for 4 weeks but was basically OK after 3. I wasn't in a rush to get back to my 1.5 hour commute in the car.
You'll do OK alone and if you're like me, you won't be in the mood for company anyway. Make sure you eat! I had no appetite for the first couple of weeks and lost a lot of weight. Stock up on everything you will need so you won't have to go out. As the previous poster mentioned, pantyliners are a must! You cannot have too many. I also used a lot of medicated wipes - you'll want to avoid toilet paper for a while.
I had my surgery 7/7/10 and am getting ready for my one year check up with no negative after-effects to report. Get it over with - once you're well into recovery you'll be glad you did. Don't let all the horror stories freak you out too much. It will suck, there will be pain but it WILL get better. You'll do great, good luck!
Thanx for the replies and suggestions. I think though, that I have semi made up my mind to put it off for a little while in search of alternative solutions. Perhaps its the horror stories on this forum that put me off, but I think I am just not comfortable going through with the OP in a foreign country where so much is unknown to me. It just seems like a nightmare that could perhaps be made slightly less painful/more comfortable if done in an english speaking country.
Likely I will have to do the op sometime in the near future, but for now I am thinking of trying alternative methods (rubber ligation?) or just putting up with it till summer is over at least so that I am not dying and sweltering and can enjoy the beach for a bit before I go through hell.
I will speak with my doctor again and see what he says but since nothing has really changed for me in so long, I don't see the urgency in getting them removed now when I have choices.
I initially said ok to the surgery not really knowing what I signed up, thinking it was not a big deal. Now I think very much otherwise :p