Terrible piles please help

[Rainingagaininseattle]

Hello I have developed an horrendous pile overnight. It's the size of a large grape and very painful. What can be done? AIBU to be completely desperate?

Can anyone advise me? What can I do?

You need a steroid ointment and suppository OP - any possibility of getting to a late chemist? Anusol HC is about as good as you can get OTC

Witch Hazel on a cotton pad might help.

Ice cube in a tea towel

Christ OP - awful business.

Frozen veg in a sandwich plastic bag, rolled like a sausage. It will numb it.

I'm using germolene and witch Hazel, do you think the doctor will remove it if I go on Monday?

Okay here goes (passing Consultant Colorectal Surgeon- yes really)

Take paracetamol and codeine and an anti-inflammatory like brufen maximum dose for all
Add in laxatives now- over the counter ones and something gentle like laxido or movicol as you don't want to get constipated and the next time you have a poo it will be painful and codeine will make it worse.
Ice is really helpful. If you have any latex gloves in the house fill one with water after knotting the wrist and freeze it. The frozen fingers are particularly good.
Bath- add handfuls of table salt or Epsom salts
Topical local anaesthetics from the pharmacy can help a little bit
Small amounts of alcohol might help you relax
If you've thrombosed the pile the next 48 hours will be miserable- poor sleep, and unable to think of anything else.
After that it will get considerably better I promise
Rarely we do evacuate thrombosed piles but it is only occasionally beneficial
Good news is after you have thrombosed the pile it shouldn't happen again but might worth you getting a referral to band any others you have once you have recovered from this
I hope that helps

Also drink enough water and eat enough fruit/veg/fibre to keep things moving. Are you absolutely sure it's piles and not a boil/cyst/abscess? I appreciate it's going to be difficult to check... You can phone 111 if you're not sure what to do. I hope you can get some relief and medical advice soon.

Suppositories in this situation likely to make things very much worse and I would avoid.

i pushed mine back in....was the only comfort i had....then clench!

I find anusol 4way cream shrinks the pile considerably. Get the 4way if you can. There's 3way too. It's ok if that's all there is but not quite as effective.

Oh OP you have my sympathies as I've just come out the other side of this. Very very painful and uncomfortable for a couple of days. Anusol and witch hazel helped! Dr reassured me that it was okay to just leave to get better on its own. It's still there and flares up sometimes (First appeared about 2 weeks ago) but it is generally reducing. Hope you feel better soon.

@CushionsandCandles

Why would suppositories make it worse? At the first sign of a flare up I’m on the Scheriproct like a ferret and it seems to minimise it - is that wrong?

It depends what stage we are talking here. If the OP is in agony they are likely to no longer be internal and but thrombosed external piles.
Suppositories are not beneficaila jd she'd be in too much pain to use them.
Suppositories food for much more mild symptoms with internal piles

Thank you so so much. I can't believe my luck getting advice from a colorectal surgeon! How can I tell if it's thrombosed? It's external by the way

I am sympathetic OP. If it is bad enough it could be worth considering more permanent measures.

It's not agony but very painful. It seems to be bigger than a large grape and is external. I've tried pushing it in but not been successful.

Many thanks @CushionsandCandles

If it's like a blue/black external grape-like lump- it's a thrombosed external pile.
Suppositories will cause you pain and be of little benefit. Some merit in a topical local anaesthetic if you can get some tomorrow.

Thank you so much cushionandcandels can you recommend a good topical local anaesthetic please? I'm so grateful

Order Germoloid cream and apply it. U can get that cream in Asda/Tesco. It will definitely relieve the pain and shrink it.
I have piles and they flare up now and then as another poster has said so always have the cream in the house!

I mean CushionsandCandles

Germoloids probably the easiest to get hold of. Talk to your pharmacist though about what they have.

Germaloids has lidocaine in it which is a topical anesthetic.

It will get better in a few days, I promise. Spend as much time sitting on ice as possible (make sure it's wrapped in a cloth so you don't get ice burns).

Thank you. I've been using germoloids. Do you think the doctor could /would remove it?

@cushionsandcandles sorry to hijack thread but everytime I have piles and I use cream it makes it feel worse! Is this normal? The only thing that works for me is paracetamol!

Try not to stress about it. Think to yourself that it will reduce in size over the coming days. Get some of the creams suggested if you can get to the chemist tomorrow. For now, put some witch hazel on a cotton wool ball or pad and place it on the area for a while. Avoid getting constipated. Ice is also soothing. I just wrap it in kitchen roll and hold it in place for a few minutes. It'll numb it for a short while. I went sea swimming last week - was numb all over so it was a bonus not to be able to feel my arse!
I've used anusol - probably not the most effective so it took a few days to shrink it. Hopefully you will get a stronger cream tomorrow. I'm not sure a gp will have a quick fix to remove it so don't pin your hopes on a visit to them. They may just prescribe something not available over the counter.

They are awful and upsetting but they do go. Have a look at your diet, water intake and exercise to help keep your bowels moving regularly without needing to strain, if you feel it was caused by that.