what is the recovery time for hemorrhoid surgery

torture is a better word for it i had my op. on 2/5/07 and am in constant pain .
if we want info from terrorist this is a very good way to get it .
i have walked on a broken hip and thought i could handle pain
. what a joke i can't seem to take enought pain killers am am scared to death of my first bm . this has to be something cooked up by a sadist god the pain is eminse
:-) :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-(

Hello!

Had traditional hemorrhoid surgery 12 days ago. The procedure went smooth (epidural, 10 mg valium as premedication + 2 shots valium in the vein during the procedure). The biggest minus was that they forgot to give me an enema before and I was feeling anxious that the first BM would come "too" soon and be very painful (unfortunately I was right about that).

The idea was that they would remove during the surgery only ONE prolapsed hemorrhoid. When I was on the operation table the surgeon said: "Theres alot of hemorrhoid tissue that we didnt spot before. Shall I also take that away ?". Of course I said: "yes" in my numbed state... :-P

And the pain bit. After operation I got a terrible ache in my upper stomach. Well they didnt operate anything there. Maybe some pain reflected "upwards" when the epidural began to vanish ?

5 h after the operation I was admitted home. Got some anti inflamatoric Naproxen + Paracetamol. Needless to say; these medications are quite placebo in their effect. First week the BM was just horror. It felt like some pest demon was thrusting a rusty dagger in my rectum. The worst part is that you simple cant wait with the BM. It just comes with the force of a ton of bricks. The only thing that helped after a BM was showering the rectal area with freezing water. Thank God its winter time over here.

Some improvement was feeling felt 8 days after the operation. And I'm feeling some better now 1.5 weeks after the whole thing. Have been cutting back on the Naproxen from using 3 tablets/day to 1/day. Using yet full amount of paracetamol, though.

I have used no stool softeners. Drinking fluids like crazy and my stools are soft and firm. Halleluja !

Some nutrients I've used:

!please consult your surgeon/doctor before using any of them!:

- Multivitamin pill
- Colostrum (enchances healing, may have laxative effects)
- Probacteria (enhancing immune system)
- Bromelain (reduces swelling, enchances healing, may enchance bleeding)
- Extra C-vitamin (doses of 100 mg during the day)
- One carrot every day (extra A-vitamin and fiber)
- Cat's claw extract to enhance immune system (not during first week)
- Spraying Chamomil water on rectum after the freezing showering and then some Lidocaine gel + baby Zinc Oxide creme. Helps with the itching and wound "weeping".


Best regards & hold on comrades,

M.

I posted this elsewhere, but it seems to fit best here. I hope it might be helpful to someone.
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My wife had this procedure done 2 weeks and 2 days ago. Just yesterday, I drove to the doctor's office to get a written prescription for a more powerful pain reliever. She was taking Vicodin, we've now moved up to Percocet. And, she's supplementing that with ibuprofen.

As the "caregiver", I'm convinced this is the most painful surgical recovery I have ever watched.

First of all, I don't think this should be done on an outpatient basis. We were up for about 36 hours straight after surgery trying to ease her pain. We called the hospital back at 1:00 AM, and they gave us some tips on managing the pain and said to bring her back if she couldn't manage. She didn't want to ride in the car, so we made do, but it was awful.

This might be a two week recovery if you just have the rubber band thing, but with internal bleeding 'rhoids, this is one wicked recovery. My wife can't even stand to have someone walk across the floor near her.

Follow your doctor's orders on the BMs. Our doctor had a little formula. If you don't go at all one day, take one Tbs of Metamucil and one Tbs of Milk of Magnesia. If you go 1-2 times, take one Tbs of Metamucil. If you go 3 or more times, don't take anything. It's really important to go. In my wife's case, she went on the fourth day after surgery, but then shut down after another three days and then had tremendous pain and couldn't go for like a week. That was bad. Now, things are moving again and she seems to be feeling a little better.

Her experience with the pain during BMs has not been that significant.

My recommendation to anyone considering this surgery is that you should only have it if you are having some other related medical problem like the bleeding is making you anemic. Or, if the hemorrhoids are really prohibiting you from living a normal life. This is not a decision to take lightly. My wife is really having her regrets right now.

For my wife, I predict this will be a 6-8 week recovery. So far, the pain level hasn't changed much since about 48 hours after surgery. That really wears on a person. May I say it's hard to watch, too.

I'm sleeping in my son's room (he's away at college) because my wife can't stand any movement around her. It probably doesn't help that I'm the size of an NFL player and she's the size of an NFL cheerleader.

I'm sure we will look back on this in a year or so and be glad that she doesn't have the bleeding and pain of severe hemorrhoids that she has put up with since our kids were born. However, right now the cure seems worse than the disease.

I sure feel for your wife-please tell her I prayed for her today. I know how painful it is and agree that the pain is too often minimized by doctors and staff. It is very debilitating and can lead to desperation if not treated.

I hope she is starting to feel better. I think it would be great to find a CRS that has had the surgery before but maybe if they had it themselves they wouldn't be able to perform it on anyone. I am surprised it is an outpatient procedure too. I had mine during Christmas break so my husband was able to take some time off but with two kids and no family around here it has been tough especially when he has to travel.

I think she needed the surgery though-it sounds like it was controlling her life too much and was suffering from the hemorrhoids for years. These babies can sure do awful things to the pelvis!

I am 6 weeks post-surgery but developed complications from getting a fissure so my pain is still pretty constant. I think if I had not gotten the fissure on top of things I would be doing much better!

What has helped me is to find a meal plan that helps with going to the bathroom and I eat it everyday. That way there are no surprises about going to the bathroom (usually). Fiber is so important-both insoluble and soluble and probiotics too. I hate to recommend a product because I don't want to sound like advertising but I am having pretty good luck with Andrew Lessman's Fibermucil capsules from HSN. They have both kinds of fiber and acidopholis to help promote the right balance of flora in the intestines. You could probably get the same results from Psyllium capsules and acidophilis from the health food store. I also take flax seed, and fish oil to help keep things lubricated.

I know she must be going through such a rough time and you are worried about her enough to post here. I feel for you guys and pray for strength for both of you and quick healing and an end to her pain.

Lecia

Lecia,

Thanks for the reply.

The product you mention sounds interesting. My wife has had a problem in the past with Candida, so we are well aware of probiotics. If there's a candida category on this discussion board...well, I could write a book. She has been taking probiotics all along. She generally takes the kind with multiple strains of bacteria, and we even switch between different brands just to "spread new seed" once in a while.

Thank you also for your prayers. Our life revolves around our church, but we are very public people there. We have been very quiet about this, thinking that she would miss a couple of weeks and be back and no one would notice. Yeah right. At this point, I think everyone's convinced she's had a boob job and they are looking forward to her coming back to church looking like Pamela Anderson. Boy, will they be disappointed. Anyway, we are getting a lot of prayer from friends at church, but they don't have any idea what surgery she had. Not even our closest friends. We just didn't want to make anyone responsible for keeping a secret. My wife is just very shy about this stuff, and, since we're "up front" people the news would probably spread fast.

On the recovery front, tomorrow will be three weeks. We have seen progress since my last post. Strange though. She still has a lot of pain, but she gets "breaks" where she has no pain at all. Not what I would have expected. But, we'll take it. The best thing about it is that it really brightens her spirits.

So glad to hear your wife has some good moments. That is so encouraging! One thing I noticed with recovery is that I can have a good day and then the next day feel bad. They say two steps forward and one step back is how people tend to recover and not to get discouraged if you have a bad day after feeling good for awhile.

It sounds like you are on the right track for probiotics so you probably don't need to add anything else but I do find the combo of the fiber/acidopholis makes things more predictable in the bathroom.

It is hard to talk about this surgery. Besides my family and two friends (one is a doctor so telling her was easier) I just tell people I have had pelvic surgery and noone seems to want to go there!

I wish it weren't so hard to talk about though! You would think with 50% of people having problems with this that it would be discussed more.

The pain is incredible and I am so glad she gets some breaks for the pain. I have gone through natural childbirth twice, burn debridment and a severe kidney infection that ended up with removal and this by far is more painful than any of those!

Tell her I said Hi and more prayers to her today!

Lecia

This is such a drag. Have to keep such a strict diet all the time. After almost 2 weeks of soup and fruits I decided I was healed so much that I could eat some ice cream. What a stupid idea.

Got constipated later that same day and got that feeling of an immediate BM. This dreaded feeling came and went for almost 4 h before it really happened. It was bad. Went to sleep 3:00 am.

Other bad foods to avoid are sunflower seeds and pop corn. Stay away from the booze also.

:'(

I have found great comfort in the 9 pages of post I have read so far. I have a story similar to others.

I was in Mexico on vacation when I developed thrombosed external hemorrhoids. It had occured in the past, got laced years ago in the office by a colleague - no big deal. So I took my chances, visited the American Embassy in Mexico City for advise on a surgeon and showed up at his office. A few hours later, with some minor bleeding and a 4x4 between my cheeks, I was feeling better. So far, the thrombosis only involved 1 of the 3 possible hemorrhoidal columns that can become a problem. Unfortunately, the minor operation in the Mexican surgeon's office prompted progression of new clots throughout both the 1st and 2nd hemorrhoidal column by the following morning. I was uncomfortable, but (in retrospect) OK with some ibuprofen. It was time to cut the vacation short and return to the States.

I visited a Colorectal surgeon upon arrival back to the States. He was worried about my "minor" operation in Mexico and he took me to the operating room. There was not much talk about post-op pain or recovery time at that moment. I opted to receive General Anesthesia not wanting to be awake while surgeons were cutting away. This way 17 days ago.

I spent 2 days in the hospital on a "PCA" pump (patient control analgesia - you click a button and every 15 minutes you get some IV pain relief) and an NSAID (toradol, like ibuprofen but stronger; can only be used for 5 days straight before the risk of liver and kidney damage become a problem) Despite a bladder full of urine, I was unable to urinate - complications of both hemorrhiodectomy surgery and anesthesia. The nurses tortured me with catheters every 6 hours until I finally was able to urinate on my own. That experience in itself made me think twice about ordering catheter on my patients in the future.

I arrived home, feeling pretty pleased about the surgery - the hospital's pain medication had not worn off yet and I had not enjoyed the pleasure of the 1st BM. Again, not much advice or anticipatory guidance from the staff or physician colleagues at this point. The "high fiber" diet in the hospital left much to be desired and was not particularly high in fiber.

I knew the first BM would hurt. I did not realize that the pain would be unbearable. I had what has been describe already as a 15lb watermelon drizzled in sulfuric acid or little demon poking knife into my rectum. I ended up curled into a ball of tears for about 2 hours before the pain medication I took kicked in. This was post-op day #3.

I took a cocktail of Toradol (NSAID) and Lortab (narcotic) alternating every 6 hours. The Toradol would help the pain but I felt terrible. The Lortab would not do much of the pain but I felt better. I felt quite hopeless and helpless with each subsequent BM and that definitely make thing worse. I called the surgeon's office "why didn't you tell me it would hurt so much! These pain pills are are @#$*$@" The best words of wisdom the nurse gave me was "you will hate us for the next 2 week, then thinkgs will get better" In my particular case, she was right.

I called my hospital I told them to not expect me back for the next 3 weeks, minimum. I was so unbelievably lucky to be able to take the necessary time off work. I measured every food I ate for fiber content, I took multiple baths/day, I tried to remain mobile.

17 days after the operation (both internal and external hemorrhiods with some necrotic tissue that needed excision) I have the following advice - this will repeat what others have already expressed:

1. Water, Oils and fiber - I loaded up with high-fiber breakfast every morning without fail: raisin-brand cereal, glass of citrucel with 2 teaspoons of mineral oil and 2 glasses of liquids (water, orange juice, etc.) and some high-fiber bread as possible. I made sure that I got in AT LEAST 15grams of fiber from breakfast. The rest of the day, I would suppliment my regular diet with fig newtons, almonds, wheat bread, bean soups and if by the end of the day, I had not reached 30 gram of fiber - one more glass of citrucel. I forced myself to drink 8 glasses of liquids/day. This regimen guaranteed at least 1 BM every morning immediately after waking up. The fiber+water=bulk and the oil was poorly absord and hence lubricating to the intestine (and rectum)

2. Anal care - BEFORE each BM, I ran the bath so that afterwards, without even wipping, I would crawl into the tub. The heat of the water was sometimes the only thing that would alleviate the pain. I have a theory that pain fibers from the area and inextricably amalgamated with hot/cold sensing fibers such that heat overwhelms the pain sensation. Watch out not to over do it. It is amazing how much we are able to tolerate pain-wise ofter this experience and I would hate anyone to suffer 1st degree burns down there... When you reach the itching stage of this recovery, you are headed for relief. The pain gives way over time to itching (I have never been so happy to itch) Several options exist - small amounts of hydrocortisone cream, lidocaine gelly, aloe vera extract. Call me crazy - I actually used solarcaine aloe vera gelly -> worked great but I strongly recommend clearing that with your doctor first!

3. Mobility - I had not desire to move much after the operation. The nurses advice over the phone was to at a minimum walk back-and-forth down the house 3 times/day. Without moving, things don't move well. I got some longer-term relief after mobilizing.

I cannot speak for anyone else, especially those that suffered fissures as a complication of the procedure, but I am very glad that I had the procedure done. Sure it was the most abominable pain I have ever suffered 3-5 days after the operation but now, with a new diet and 75% healed (according to my surgeon at 15 days post-op) I am glad that I no longer have hemorrhoidal tissue at risk for future problems. I will also be approaching my patient who experience pain very differently (not that I was a tyrant before, just that I can sympathize better now) and explaining EVERYTHING to my patients in the future.

I hope and pray you all recover as quickly as possible.

Hi all,

I said I would report back after going back to work last week and doing 2 shows so here I am.

WELLLL....... thursday night went just fine. I had a BM in the morning so I had all day to excrete the lingering last "little bit" that is my ongoing problem. Half way through the night I had to go to the bathroom as I still have this annoying "ooze" happening but apart form that all was well.

Friday night was a very different story. I had a BM about 3 hours before the show and at showtime there was still this "pea stuck in my butt" feeling which is very painful. 5 minutes before the show I told my people that I might not be able to go on but as you do in this business you just do it, paint on the smile and go for it. I very nearly fell over in pain in the first few minutes but amazingly I felt the "little pea" eject and I was home free. From then on all was fine although a little messy by the finish of the show. my wonderful fiancee had insisted that I wore panty liners which really saved a lot of embarrasment. I now have an even high level of respect and awe of women who go through this type of discomfort on a monthly basis (power to you girls). Frankly men could not cut any of that "girl stuff" if their lives depended on it.

Yes this is a very "two steps forward and one step back" recovery. The pain that this tiny amount of residual poo can inflict is incredible. If I could just find a way around this I would be just fine. the last few days have been very much up and down. I tried cutting back on laxatives and prunes etc.....BIG MISTAKE. I went back to keeping everything soft....BETTER but it still makes no difference to this ongoing problem of the "litle bit left behind". Once this goes away all is fine again. I spoke to the specialist and he tells me this will settle down. I think I then asked him if he used to pull the wings of flies when he was a kid.

BM's are now relatively pain free and the immediate time after is ok. Sometime later, maybe 30 minutes or so I get this "little bit still there" feeling and its onto the merry go round for somewhere between 2 and 6 hours until it finally ejects. I have a feeling that the surgery has left a little pocket or ridge that holds back some poo and it just gets stuck. My body makes this thick ooze and eventually pushes it all out and all is well again. what finally helps (although its really painful at the time) is vigoursely walking up and down the stairs and marching along the hallways etc. It seems to nstir it up and helps with the flow through.

I was supposed to go to China and Malaysia (Chinese New Year) this week but there is no way of enduring a plane trip while this is going on.

I guess I will just wait this out and see what develops.

Has anyone had a similar experience

Cheer

Graham

Thanks to the doc for posting! I think having a personal experience with pain is such an empathy builder!

When I first had problems with hemorrhoids after having a baby I went to a surgeon for an evaluation who had had the surgery himself. He was very kind and at that point with the delivery only having occured 6 weeks ago it was possible that they would have resolved or gotten better as the lingering pelvic congestion subsided. He told me he was scheduled to see patients 2 weeks after the surgery and ended up being out for almost 6 weeks. He was glad that he had gotten rid of the problem but he didn't really want to touch my "32" year old butt at that point.

I also have a doctor who had a bad experience with Lasik that set him back a year of pain and dysfunction. He is so sympathetic to those suffering and when I was telling him about my pain he told me about his painful experience and how getting better is like watching grass grow.

I think compared to the docs I have seen that haven't been in severe, untreated or undertreated pain they have been very comforting and I think it will defintely make you a better doctor for having gone through this ordeal. I know I am more intune with people's physical suffering now.

Graham,

I was trying to think of some ideas to help you. I have had problems in the past (not related to the surgery) with getting done with a BM before and it can be rather distressing. I don't know if you might want to use a cotton swab (q-tip) or try using a child size gylcerin suppository to get the urge to get that last bit out.

I am almost 2 months past surgery and still have pain everyday. I don't know how the pain would be had I not gotten a fissure on top of this though. This week was worse because my husband was out of town and I had more driving and 2 kids at home by myself and no family around. Of course I would have to get diarrhea and have really bad burning from that. I think it leaves a residue behind in the rectum that really irritates and burns.

Eating the same thing all the time can be such a drag-I did have some ice-cream this week and hope that wasn't the cause.
Well everyone, hang in there today and God's Blessings to you all,

Lecia

I had hemorrhoid surgery on Jan. 24. PPH Procedure, large vascular hemorrhoid removed, and rectal prolapse repaired. I was in the hospital for 3 days because my diabetes was out of control. I was given 2 Vicodin every 4 hours. It worked for me, if taken on time. When I came home I continued with pain meds every 4 hours and at least 4 sitz baths a day. The first week was the worst and the first BM a nightmare. The second week was better and I took less Vicodin until there was no need. By the end of two weeks I was pain free. My problem is trying to figure some combination of stool softener and mild laxative that will allow me to have a normal BM. I have a fear of constipation.

This may be a bit late, so you might have found some of this out already.



My doctor (his partner actually -- my surgeon was in surgery) told me the same thing: the oozing is just part of the process. And yes, you do tend to see the doctor's expression as way too cheerful when he's giving you bad news. ;)



I also get the feeling of having a pocket just above the spincter which collects up stuff. I expect that's from the reduced sensitivity from the surgical site during healing.



I've found that I have to reverse the normal advice. When you suffer with hemorrhoids, you're told to spend as little time on the pot as possible -- go and get off. But I've found that to reduce the residue, I have to wait. About four or five minutes after I think I'm done, there will be a bit more to go.



With all the reconstruction from a triple procedure, I find that the signals are all scrambled -- I'm having to relearn how to work the body functions. Sometimes I'll think I'm done, but then if I blow my nose, a bunch more comes out the back end. Weird.



I've cut back on coffee and I'm drinking 6-8 half litre bottles of water a day, but I have to vary the water input to keep the stools from getting *too* soft - runs are no fun.



It's getting progressively better, but I suspect that I should have gone for the redundant diet -- having the same stuff all the time, instead of varying the diet. The results seem somewhat random, and I have trouble matching them against the input foods. (Because I tend to get sleepy after eating, I was in the habit of eating only once a day.)



I got a bit worried when the skin on top of my right foot and around the ankle went numb after a bunch of sitz baths. I thought it might be a reaction from the skin moisturizer I was using to reduce the itching (in a very dry house), but it was only on the right foot/ankle and I used the moisturizer on both ankles. (I did suspect diabetes, but the sugeon didn't see any indications in the pre-surgical blood tests.)



After a bit of web research, I started back on the vitamins the doctor had told me to stop before the surgery. I think the numbness is starting to fade now. (I had substituted apple juice for the orange juice I used to drink, to reduce acidity of the digestive track -- but when I read the label, I found that the apple juice has all the vitamin C of plain water.)

To Newbie:
My doctor said that the surgery would result in "tags" on the outside which are permanent. Sorry. Days as a porn star are over.

I just had a hemorrhoidectomy done using an ultrasonic scapel. My doctor said that it was the best method because recovery is faster. It's been 48 hours and all I can tell you that the first day is the worst feeling of your life. You feel like your going to die and you regret having the surgery. You don't feel pain in the rectum until later on during the night or the next day. Than you get this burning/swelling feeling from the rectum.

The hardest thing right after surgery was urination. The doctor never told me about this. I had a full bladder but couldn't urinate, it was the worst feeling ever. Eventually after being in pain, droplets came out, I couldn't release my entire bladder for some reason. For some reason you can't feel control over your bladder.

My first BM was the day after surgery and nothing game out, just felt pain and gassy. The next morning, while trying to urinate, feces dropped without me knowing. It has been painful since than.

I would think twice about this surgery, seems like it might be worth living with the hemorrhoids than going through this kind of pain. Seems like none of the doctors who do this type of surgery tell the patient the truth about exactly how the post-op pain recovery will be. They just want to do the surgery and get it over with. I'll let you know if it was worth it as soon as I heal and start to feel my ballder and bowels. By the way, I also started getting numbness various parts of the body, just like others have mentioned, that was so wierd and non-related.

Well here we are, the start of week 7 of "recovery" and things are very much up and down. For people that have just had the operation and are questioning whether it was worth it or not I can only say that the glimpses I have had of being "normal" are so good that it will be worth it in time.

Most Of my problems still revolve around this "bit left over" thing that I have mentioned here before. I now call it a "butt nut" and until it expells it is literally a "pain in the butt". I also have a problem with getting the regulation of BM's just right and fine tuned. To be honest most of this is user error. I stop eating on the days when I have shows to do that night as I dont want to be running off to toilets at shows. We also moved house 2 weeks ago and I got out of my eating routine which resulted in constipation which put me in bed for 2 days.

BUT..... There have been several days when I just trot off to the toilet, sit down, have a BM and walk away, no pain, no fuss. It is heaven after 30 years of discomfort. So yes, it is worth it, once I get over this period.

Now another downside. I went to the specialist yesterday for my checkup and told him that I have been having some bad days. He took a look and the problem is that I have the infection back again that I had several weeks ago. So I am now back on very strong antibiotics and feeling like c**p.

Cheers

Graham