Had my hemmorhoidectomy on 4/24/12, so going on 20 days now. These skintag-looking thingies down there are still present. I seem to be healing up fine but still have a really hard time wiping as it still hurts so badly when I touch those things! I've read that some people have them for a long time. I haven't been able to find anyone that has said they've completely gone away. Will these always be present? I remember my hearing from someone that they will be present as long as you're recovering but that that'd eventually go away. Anyone know?
It really depends on the size of roids cut. My surgery was 4/12/12, and my tags are getting smaller every day, but of course still there. I had 2 grade 4 and 1 grade 3 internals removed along with 2 externals. At my 4 week checkup, the skin tags was my only issue of concern I discussed with the surgeon. He said they will continue to shrink, but due to the large size of roids cut, my tags will never 100% go away.
Right now it's only a cosmetic and hygenic issue. They cause no pain or discomfort anymore (they still hurt a little bit 2 weeks ago when I was at your stage). Doc said in 6 months they should stabilize in size, and at that point he can cut them off if I want. The procedure is supposedly pretty painless.
Thank you so much oceanarcher. I've been monitoring them and just today started to notice them shrink in size. Still there, but a tiny bit smaller, which is progress! They're hurting a little less too as time passes. I actually don't know what size they were. All I know is that I had 4 external ones removed. I had an internal one that they banded several weeks prior to my surgery. Yeah, I've read that for some the tags stay permanently and for others they go away completely. I'm curious to know what grade mine were. I think I'll email my dr and ask him so I know what to compare to since I know what yours are now. I read somewhere that someone went back to have the procedure done to remove their tags and I believe it was as soon as a couple of months. Did I read that correctly? It seems too soon because they may continue to shrink, right? Also, one of mine still looks like an open sore. I'm sure that was the one responsible for all the oozing I had the first two weeks. That open sore (also looks like a tag) has also shrunken (is that a word? lol) in size so I feel better about that. It also has stopped oozing. Ugh. I can't wait until I'm fully recovered.
External hems aren't big tissues (compared to internals). They're not separated into different grades. They're either thrombosed or not. Since you only had the externals removed, hopefully your tags aren't that big? Just a point of comparison, a couple of my tags were the length of my thumbnail.
But you said you had 4 externals removed. Since everyone only has 3 internals and 3 externals, I wonder if that 4th 'external' was a prolapsed internal that only appeared to be an external. If that's the case then it's a grade 3 or grade 4 internal.
Hmm. you're probably right about that. I haven't gotten around to emailing my dr to ask him what mine were. On a brighter note, my tags are almost gone yay!!! :) I was so concerned about them initally because I felt they were kind of big but that could have just been my paranoia. They were the size of a pea and I had two. One may have been a bit smaller than a pea. They hurt so bad to the touch. The smaller one is gone now and the other one is really small by now so I feel so much better about that. What I'm wondering is why for some those tags stay and for some they disappear? Why don't they all just go away?
Congrats! Mine are almost gone. Only one left. Half a pea size now. I wonder why my tags didnt hurt and yours did.
Yeah, that's weird. That's awesome that you only have one left. Hopefully that will go away with time so you don't have to have it removed down the road. My small one is getting tinier but still hurts. I wiped earlier after going to the bathroom and when it was touched I jumped a little from the pain. I can't wait until it's gone and over with! :)