THD Post Procedure Recovery

For prolapsing internal hemorrhoids this is the best procedure.

I am 6 months post op. Very pleased at this point.

Awesome to hear! thank you!

I am a 39 year old female and just had THD on Dec 12, 2011.  My doc had done about 20 of these procedures and explained that is was fairly new in the states.  There was only one other doc in the area doing this procedure.  I have had internal stage IV roids for about 8 years - mainly due to childbirth, but they never went away and gradually got worse.  He said I was a perfect candidate. 

Wow! hope everything gets much better for you

Amen! I was told I could go back to work in 48 hours...are you kidding me it is lasting over a week now. I am weak, nervous and in constant pain. Run away from this procedure......the truth needs to be told and I am in a medical family....Told to take advil for pain...still have the hemmies looking at me with their vicious smiles. Please someone tell the truth about this procedure.

Hi all, Thanks for the great dialogue. I had the THD procedure done one week ago. I had stage 4 internal hemmys for several years..tried the banding several times, but mine were too large for the banding to work. I was very worried about the recovery after reading many of the posts. i am a serious ultra-runner and was concerned about not being able to run for a while following the procedure. I am happy to report that the recovery has gone very well. I was sore the first few days, but it was definitely bearable. I was given percocets, nueronton, and oddly enough, celebrex for the recovery. I took the meds for the first few days, but am off them now. The worst part is the bowel movements...they continue to be extremely painful, but the pain subsides quickly once things pass. I am taking stool softeners and fiber, in addition to an otherwise healthy diet. I went for a moderate run this past saturday, 5 days after the procedure. Had my follow up today, and the dr said things look great. He said the bowel movements may continue to hurt until the stitches dissolve. It is unbelievably amazing to go to the bathroom and no longer have a mushroom cloud of protruding hemmoroids hanging out. I am very glad i had this procedure. I hope more people post their positive experiences so that the fears can be mitigated....i live in nc

I had THD 3 years ago. I was in outpatient and left as soon as I could urinate. I took Advil now and then - not constantly- and after a few days I took 1/4 Vicodin at night. No longer needed any pain meds after 10 days. Really no "pain" at any point, just discomfort. Was able to drive 5 hours on day 7. It just kept getting better from there. I've returned to all the activities I had to give up, like hiking, gardening, etc. The only problem I had was the initial BMs. It was as if the lower part of my intestinal tract wasn't able to contract to get it out so my entire abdomen involuntarily contracted. It was scary, but nothing bad happened as a result. I imagined that the pressure would burst the sutures. I was on stool softeners.
The previous poster was correct in saying that THD only addresses the internal hems, NOT the externals, that are visible. I had stage 3 - 4.
I have taken psyllium religiously twice a day, as well as prunes and plenty of water. I have always had IBS.
I was searching here today because I had some discomfort after BM and can see that at the top of one of my skin tags (which is what you are left with after an external heals) is purple at the top. I am wondering if the discolored area is considered external or perhaps confluent. I have an appt with my original surgeon next month. I sure hope that it isn't a new internal.
Anyway - the THD was a breeze for me and gave me back my freedom these last three years. I wasn't able to stand up more than 10 max without spontaneous bleeding before.

Hello,

Just a postscript - this procedure worked for my internal hemorrhoids only - I had stage 4 internal and external - he told me it would work for both and it doesn't. All of my external hems are still there and it is very hard to get clean - I need another surgery. The surgeon tried to tell me they were all skin tags, but I got a second opinion and they're externals. I'm really upset that not only do I have to go thru another procedure that will take 4-6 weeks of recovery, but that I have to foot another very expensive surgery. Very, very frustrating - I don't think I had a very honest surgeon

I don't really know what I had, but it must have been some sort of massive hemmaroid, I had the operation about 4 days ago, I got to 101 hours without using the toilet, thought i was going for world record or something, wish i'd continued, it is excruciating going to the toilet! And just sore when i'm not. When I use to go like a huge red almost like half tennis ball would come out, and i'd have to push it back in after finishing the toilet, now it doesn;t come out but that's partly i think because i'm to scared to push, as i don't want it to happen again, will it happen if i do push? Will what I had have shrunk? will it fall out in time? will i never see it again?! I didn't speak to a doctor since the surgery which isn't ideal... Really just want to know from any doctors/surgeons reading these posts how long until I can do normal things, like going for a run or going to the gym, I don't want to undo whatever i've had done, I can put up with the pain, but in fairness alot of people who get this procedure probably wouldn't be able to handle the pain, so i agree with all the posters who say a 48 hour return to work is ridiculous. 

further to the last post, is it normal to push when you do go to the toilet? or do you sit there and it simply falls out? It's been over a decade with this problem and kind of funny but i don't whats right when i go to the toilet...

Hi Tim,

I have had my issues for about 2 or 3 years.  I think some pushing is normal.   I am on day 5 of my THD recovery.  I have bowell movements daily, sometimes twice but it's very soft.  I'm taking Colace and alot of Miralax.  The pain is still there but getting slightly better. 

Its nice to hear that the surgery DID work for most peoples internal hemmroids.   I'll take that as a good start.  I may not even go back for the externals.  The THD removed some of the excessive tissue but not all.   If they have to actually cut it off, I am thinking the recovery would be too much.  As long as the issue is mainly cosmetic, why go through it? 

Can anyone comment on how long it takes to get back to being fully healed up internally?  When do the stitches normally dissolve and when will I be back to normal?

Hi again... so a stitch just came out... i don't think should happen if they are meant to dissolve, worrying? And now it's kind of like pretty much the same as before, where it comes out alot at any BM. BM's about 5-10 times a day! So I could be back to square one, except with pain everytime i go to the toilet for the next 2 months? Anyone with expertise reading please give advice.

Many thanks,

Hi,

 My experience is negative so far.

I would like to first say that this is a great forum, I learned more from here than from my doctor. I am a 25 yr old male who suffered from hemorrhoid since teen. Whenever I have a bowel movement my rectum would slightly prolapse and will be uncomfortable for about 20 minutes until it automatically slowly goes back (or I physically push it). Some times, one of this "prolapse" would remain there and form a painful thrombosed hemorrhoid which usually resolve in about a week to 10 days. I do not strain for BMs nor push hard yet my rectum still prolapse and will still get those hemorrhoid. My doctors tell me that the thrombosed hemorrhoids are external.

 

Last time I decided I am fed up and after reading about THD I thought this is a good option for me. I went to an "experienced" doctor with this procedure (according to him he did about 200 THD operations). At the time of the visit I had a throbmosed hemorrhoid which was in the "shrinking" stage. It was no longer painful. Upon examining me, he said that I have three hemorrhoid. One internal (which I never knew about, as I never had bleeding), one external hemorrhoid and one internal/external hemorrhoid as he called it which is the recently thrombosed one. He recommended the surgery to avoid having the problem and he told me that he can "lift" the rectum as well.

 

I did the procedure and today is day 8. After the operation he told me every thing went well and he is quite happy with the result. The post operation recovery was very painful and uncomfortable. I have very vigorous spasms (involuntary contractions) during BM's. On day 1 after taking liquid Lactulose, it provoked those spasms and allowed passing some stool but the pain of straining was extreme to say the least. I stopped taking it since then because I thought, my body is forcing those spasms on me anyway. I wasn't sure how bad my constepation was. During the later spasms/BMs I don't pass stool but pass pieces of blood/clots. Some times small pieces of blood coated dark stools are passed. However, I did not have a decent bowel movement until day 6. 

One the first week I did feel what could be a new external thrombosed hemorrhoid forming. When I say my doctor on day 4 he told me that this is not a hemorrhoid but rather a thrombosed hematoma which is supplied by a different network of arteries. He offered to lance it to remove the clot which will help relieve my pain. He did and that was taken care of. He told me that the reason I had it is that I am unlucky.

After that, as my bruise-type pain started to slowly ease, I started feeling like a foreign object is always in my anus. Before the surgery I would say this would have been a stuck stool ready to fall. However, obviously there is no stool. I did not put my finger to feel what is in there.

 

On day 6, and this is the important part, after getting really uncomfortable because of the constipation I decided to take a tablet laxative called Senokot. That did help with my constepation and allowed me to have a better BM on that day. During the night after a heavy dinner I sensed the urge to go and watched a video on the best position to pass stool while consetpated and applied that which helped in allowing a decent BM that night. However after that BM I felt like a decent size tube is prolapsing from my anus. It was very scary! I looked at the mirror and it was what I think is a new prolapsed internal hemorrhoid.I put my finger in and followed it along to about the second joint of my finger. It feels like a vein tube inside the wall of the rectum running from about 5 cm or more all the way to my anus and protruding. It is a very uncomfortable feeling but because I have been having all types of pain I can't tell when did it form.

This same prloapsed vein was seen forming in the next two BMs about 12 hours apart. Last seen, few minutes a go.

I went to see my doctor the very next day to express my deep worries about this new internal hemmerhoid. He examined me and said he could find any thing. I told him that I see it only after BMs and he told me that he can't find out for sure until he does a full colenscopy. 

 However, according to him he does NOT think that this is a new internal hemorrhoid. He thinks that this is a rectal swelling because of the operation. he told me that during the operation he lifted the prolapsed rectum and since I am still recovering this is likely to be a swelling rectum that will ease as I recover down the road and adjust to position. He says he can't confirm any thing until three weeks after the operation or even after by doing full colonscopy. I asked if he is wrong and it is indeed a new internal hemorrhoid how come it formed when he stitched the artery? He assured me that he stitched the main classical artery but told me there is a lot of arteries in the anus and he can't stich them all. It is possible that this one is supplied by different artery.

 

MY QUESTION is: Should I believe him in thinking that what I am seeing is just a post operation swelling or is it a new internal hemorrhoid that has formed which means this operation has in fact caused a new never existing before hemorrhoid despite?

 

On the positive side, my pain is easing to mild. The only pain I get is during BM. My other hemorrhoid seem to have "deflated" to a skin tag. It does swell a bit during BM.

 

P.S since the operation until now I am still bleeding. I see drops of blood every time I have a BM.

hi, im on my 3rd POST recovery from THD and itching,,lets just say, i can be a dog at times and rub my buttocks across the carpet,,i've gone thru PREP H, w/aloe for itching,,,IT HELPS..now im good,,3rd tube,,,Sorry but its well worth it.

I no longer have itching and tube is still 1/2 full.