To want to get this thing out of my bum?

[beckyohecky]

Spoiler alert - this post is about piles. Or rather, one bastard of a pile in particular.

Since giving birth (about a year ago) I've had piles on and off. It's no longer unbearable, but it is mildly uncomfortable.

Anyway, I made the mistake of looking at my bum (you know, properly) a few weeks ago and nearly passed out. Reader, it was not a pretty sight (stop reading now if you're easily grossed out). Let's just say... external, dangly, and roughly the size of a large blueberry.

I've just come back from the Drs who've told me that I HAVE TO LIVE WITH THIS. Apparently surgeons won't do anything unless it's bleeding (I totally get that, there are far more important things to be surgeoning on) but for some reason I thought the Dr could just, you know, snip it or shrink it, or... freeze it off like a wart? (Medical issues are not my strong point). She basically described it as a massive round skin tag. Nice.

My Dr did suggest I could try going private but wasn't sure whether they'd be able to do anything either. Before I shell out £200 odd quid on a consultation, has anyone had success here before? (Or, more daringly, has anyone tried the old apple vinegar method that the wise people on Dr Google have suggested..?)

I know it's not THAT BAD in terms of all the things, but I would quite like to have sex with my husband with the lights on one day.

All suggestions welcome. Thanks. And sorry.

I’ve tried loads of creams to get rid of the pile that appeared during pregnancy and nothing works. The pain has stopped but the lump is still there. GP said there’s no way to get rid of it, surgery is a waste of money because they just grow back.

Hi OP

I’ve had 2 children and remember having to go to docs after DC1 as I couldn’t sit down they were that sore.

I also had them occasionally before I had children. It also seems to run in the family and my mam had hers removed. My poor aunt did too but it went wrong and she’s had bother ever since.

My kids are a lot older than one. My youngest is 8. The pain is awful. It’s like toothache in your bum. Constant nag nag nag in your arse and it can last a couple of weeks per episode/flair up.

Now I got some strong cream from the docs and some suppositories. As much as the ones over the counter can work, they aren’t as strong as the prescription ones!!

I don’t tend to get them often now but a few years ago, as I said, even before childbirth- I got them. Sometimes they would bleed.

They seem to have settled down now though but I never ever push hard or strain when I’m on the toilet for a ‘poo’. I make sure I drink more these days too so it’s softer. Only go when I’m ready and it slides out - sorry if you’re eating lunch.

So I’ve had them quite bad but they have calmed down. So I would say paying thousands to have them removed when they might come back and the recovery won’t be pleasant at all- is a big pointless.

Obviously it’s your choice but I can say from my experience, it does get better. It’s not to say it won’t flare up now and again but I can bare once/twice a year for a week or so.

But I agree it’s absolutely awful- then when they’re on the mend- the itch 😤

So you have my sympathy. Get yourself on the phone for some strong ointment.

@LakieLady

If, as the GP said, it's actually a skin tag, maybe the old wives' remedy of tying a thread tightly round it till it drops off might work. My mate did this to a skin tag on her neck and it worked a treat.

Mind you, tying a thread round something on your arse would be tricky.

Mind you, tying a thread round something on your arse would be tricky

😂 that gave me a giggle

Surgery not a magic answer, can make things worse and painful recovery.

I also have a dangly little friend. It doesn’t bother me (or DH) really.
No pain or anything so as long as he doesn’t bother me I won’t bother him
Yes it is a him,

I had mine surgically removed for medical reasons. Recovery is awful and horrible because you have to poo through a wound. I ended up drinking wine and shitting in a warm bath for months after - I kid you not - it was the only way I could poo.

I finally got rid of mine with a steroid cream. I think the way it works is that the excess skin forms a kind of skin tag though and it can keep coming back. Mine was herniated but did eventually go, it took MONTHS to shrink completely and now I use germaloids after I go to stop it coming back again

OK, there are a couple of things that can be done depending on the severity......You can have an elastic ring put around them that cuts off the blood supply which prevents them from coming back. You don't need a general anaesthetic, just an enema as pre-treatment and what feels like a BBC camera crew up your arse directed by a colorectal surgeon.

The other option for more severe piles is a halo procedure. Google it, but this will need a GA.

Creams in my experience don't work, even the steroidal ones.

Have the banding, or the Halo, and they won't come back.

I had an open haemorrhoidectomy. 10/10 would NOT recommend

I was left with a massive skin tag and still have piles. And a heap of trauma from the excruciating and unusual pain (2 x 10lb+ babies were nothing on it)

I had a huge skin tag removed, partly because it thrombosed, which was horrendous, very painful and upsetting. The GP took one look and referred me for surgery, you absolutely do not have to put up with it. The surgery was a bit grim and the recovery ok, not as bad as it could have been. A couple of years later I'm so glad I had it done, that hideous thing is gone.

No advice, but you’re very funny OP.

Surgery is not just unpleasant (very painful) but it is quite dangerous due to the nature of the area - you can’t “rest” it. (One must void one’s bowels, and it stretches the area and the vein re-fills with blood, increasing the risk of hemorrhage. It’s rare, but it can happen.) Then for obvious reasons, there is a rather high infection risk as well. I would definitely go to the GP and let them know that you have tried multiple OTC medications and it is still prone to inflammation and you are uncomfortable and embarrassed by it. More to the point, you want it gone!

I went the surgery route and was warned by the consultant that the recovery period was very painful. When he said I would be signed off work for a minimum of 2 weeks I thought he was being overly cautious. He wasn’t wrong, I was in agony. Of course you have to poo and clean the area afterwards, which is the last thing you want to do. I ended up being off work for 3 weeks in total and tbh only returned then because I work from home.

I don’t regret it now as my piles have gone, but I certainly did then. My advice would be only use surgery as the last resort. In my case it worked, but it wasn’t pleasant.

DH had 2 removed at once. Was completely grim. Agonising afterwards for weeks, he gouldnt dit down, move or fo anything much. They leave the rather considerable excisions as ooencwounds as stitches would cause infection so they take ages to heal. Was really horrible but no chance of them growing back due to the amount they removed 😬😟it can be gone if its really bad, not pleasant bit will never bother you again!

Theres always this method if all else fails

@Jenasaurus

Less painful than a thrombosed haemorrhoid 😂.

How something so little can cause such pain, I do not know.

It was the itching as well as the pain from my memory of them. I always seem to have a flare up when abroad and spend half my time in the loo making ouch noises. I thought I was discreet until my adult son (who I didn't realise was in the hotel room listening) mimicked what he heard...I told him if he had had a smaller head then maybe I wouldn't have had piles!