Anal skin tag surgery. Frightened. Any experience?

[Minime85]

I'm due to have a large skin tag removed in October. It has been making me miserable for about a year. When it's swollen it feels like I'm sitting on a golf ball! It's large enough to pull the inside out sorry TMI. It's more worse than it isn't if that makes sense. But the surgeon told me how bad the recovery is and I'm really worried about it being so painful afterwards and maybe creating other problems. I already suffer with IBS so last thing I need is to make things worse. Has anyone had this op done? Thank you

@Busybee222 This is what I discovered using Google.
The health benefits of magnesium citrate include:
Digestion Regulation. Magnesium citrate causes the intestines to release water into the stool. ...
Muscle and Nerve Support. Magnesium is needed in order for muscles and nerves to function properly. ...
Bone Strength.

I'm not sure, but it does make my stool soft. I guess things affect people differently, so I'll keep using it. I take only 1 tsp poweder with a full glass of water.
I used to take flax seeds, but they didn't do much for me. It's a trial and error situation, so I don't think we have much choice except to try new things.

Thanks a lot @Sumeety I was looking at h&b website.

On my second of the day visit
to the toilet
I did not strain as per your advice, and I was in a lot less pain. So thanks for that also!

I wanted to mention that I read on this thread that wounds with no stitches are meant to be healing better.

@Busybee222 I'm glad the advice helped you! It's really reassuring to be able to share your experiences with others who are dealing with similar problems. It makes me feel less anxious lol.
Yes, I've heard that open wounds heal better since there are fewer risks of infection, but open wounds also cause more stinging and are more readily irritated, thus I'm guessing they take longer to heal 🙄

Hi @Sumeety and others. How are you all doing?
I am 5 weeks post op and despite keeping it soft, there is a bit of blood and pain at every BM… I’m really worried I developed a fissure :((. I have my check up app with the consultant next week… I am quite crossed with them as I was not warned about any of this… and I’m starting to wonder if I should get second opinion.
Magnesium was a great tip 👍. It really does help. I no longer have to use laxatives.

I had my surgery almost 2 years ago. If you go back far enough you will find some of my posts. Some people seem to recover quite quickly but it took quite a time for me. My surgeon told me to take a day off work which made me think something was very wrong when I was still in considerable pain weeks later. When I went for my 8 week check he said it takes about 3 months to heal. All I can say is that it does get better even if it takes a long time as it did for me. At times i thought i would never get back to normal but i did. I am sure you will too, it got me down at times but i still made it in the end. I also wondered if I had a fissure and asked when I went for my check. He said it hadn't finished healing and looked as he expected. I hope this helps.

Thanks so much @N172C it really helps to read it.
I really miss my normal diet involving meat and chocolate 😩 but as long as there is an end to this eventually, and not another treatment!

Hi @Busybee222 you should definitely go for a second opinion if you are still experiencing Pain and bleeding. I am 4 weeks post surgery and I don't have pain or bleeding anymore its just that i feel a mild irritation after defeacation but it tapers off in a while and when i look at the wound it looks more like a scar now because there is no discharge or bleeding from the wound it is slightly tender and pinkish I think It is still healing so I will wait for another 4 weeks. My surgeon told me time and patience and keeping the stool soft is all you can do so I will wait till the area fully heals as long as it is not causing any pain or discomfort. Also my tag was somewhat attached to my internal fissure according to my surgeon so it can take a while to heal

@N172C Thanks for sharing your experience. Yes, some lucky people heal faster than others. I also read online that wounds can take 3 months to fully heal, and wounds in the anal area do take some time, so I am hoping things will finally get better someday.

I do feel so off some days. I miss my younger days when I didn't have any such problems 😞 ever since I developed this issue, I feel anxious going to the toilet. Does anyone else feel the same? What do you guys do to reduce your anxiety and stress level? I badly need some tips.

Thanks for your advice @Sumeety
My biggest worry when I go to toilet is to finish by the time my daughter realises I’ve gone and comes crawling to the bathroom trying to get in 😭
I had her by CS which was so much easier to recover from than this!

To anyone who is reading this thread, preparing for this op, I would strongly advise to get on high fiber diet before going into the hospital and even more so after the operation. The first BM was probably the worst experience of pain in my life!

Hello, I am 8 weeks post op today and now experiencing pain and bleeding with bowel movement this last week. 😞 really painful just before passing and with passing stool.
I have to soak in a little bidet tub afterwards. 😞 hope you're all doing okay this is such a hard recovery mentally.

Hi all of you who have recently posted. I don't want to scare you but I did have quite a bit of pain for some months i am only telling you so that you don't feel something is wrong if you end up being the same. It does get better though eventually. I had to make a conscious effort to relax every time I went to the loo and breathe deeply. It is hard if you don't feel you are making much progress. I got really down to be honest as the medical team didn't give me any clue what to expect. All I kept thinking was why am I still in pain when the surgeon only told me to take a day off work!

Thanks for sharing your experiences ladies. It helps knowing what I’m going though is “normal”, in the absence of information given by the medical staff.

This may not be related but in week 2 or 3 of recovery I developed very itchy dry patches on my knees. When I looked up the symptoms, it turns out to be a form of lichen. Causes of this condition are not know but believed to be linked to overactive immune system. There is no treatment for it, it goes away by itself after a few months.
I wonder if it’s anything to do with what I’ve been going through… Anyone else had it?

Hi all, I have a question. Did anyone use any ointments on the wound or not? I have heard Zinc ointment is good for healing but not sure if it should be used in the anal area 🤔

@Busybee222 no I did not experience any rashes on my knees. You should consult a dermatologist if you still have those patches

Hi all, as you saw I had this surgery around 8-9 months ago. My back tag had completely gone but I’m convinced the surgeon didn’t take away enough from the other tag as it is healed but I seem to still have a tag there which is smaller but still very much visible and more on the outer. When I went to my follow up he did say it wasn’t healing as well as the back one but to me it seemed he didn’t do much but cut it in half.

I still am very self conscious about it and contemplating re-booking with the surgeon who did it. My only peeve is… I really don’t want general anaesthetic again, I would much prefer local and quick in and out because I spent hours in the recovery room waiting for the catheter line out of my hand which I just hated. Has anyone returned to have this fixed or the tag properly removed and did it work? Has anyone had local over general? The recovery was fine for me once I got routine it’s the actual procedure of GA which I hated.

Cannula! Silly me! I meant. I hated it so much

Boy am I glad I found this thread!! It is so nice to hear people having similar experiences to myself. I am a week post op and starting to think have I made a huge mistake as the pain at times is on par with child birth 🤣🙈.

I know it will get better with time but my goodness this is not fun!! I sit at my desk at work on a hot water bottle which really helps.
I am taking stool softeners however doesn’t seem to be softening enough as going to the toilet is excruciating and feels like I’m passing a log 🤣 .

Should I move onto full on laxatives? Also does anyone have advice for something they will just numb the area?
a warm bath is the only thing they really helps after I’ve been to the toilet but that’s not exactly feasible when at work!

Hi, I thought child birth was better as the pain didn't last as long! I took paracetamol and ibuprofen regularly for a good 3 weeks I think and then started to reduce them. I also found warm water soothing. My GP suggested Vagisil cream but by that time it had healed although still painful. It helped a bit but didn't totally numb it. I don't know if you can use it if the scar has not healed but you could ask. You can buy it from a pharmacy. I hope you start to feel better soon. It took ages for me but it did get better eventually.

@CoralMay

Hi I am also glad to find this thread; it reduces my anxiety to know that I am not the only one suffering. Can you mention the stool softeners you are taking? For the local pain, my surgeon prescribed me a xylocaine ointment to numb the area. I don't know what your surgeon suggested.

hello, do you mind sharing how you recovered and how long it took you to get back to normal? i am 3 weeks post removal of 2 tags - one large one small. i look SO MUCH worse than i did prior to surgery. i look like i have numerous tags in the place where there were once 2 relatively small (in comparison). this new lump / bump is about an inch long. my confidence has plummeted, i'm recently single and cannot imagine dating again. i feel so, so depressed and hopeless that i'm going to look like a freak forever. i feel fine and am no longer experiencing pain but i dont know how i'm going to live with this. please tell me it gets better and i didn't just ruin my life over this procedure. i can't stop crying. and i just want to know that i am healing and that i will look normal again. i am scheduling a follow up with another doctor (thursday) who is female as my first has not been comforting at all.

@n172c hello, do you mind sharing how you recovered and how long it took you to get back to normal? i am 3 weeks post removal of 2 tags - one large one small. i look SO MUCH worse than i did prior to surgery. i look like i have numerous tags in the place where there were once 2 relatively small (in comparison). this new lump / bump is about an inch long. my confidence has plummeted, i'm recently single and cannot imagine dating again. i feel so, so depressed and hopeless that i'm going to look like a freak forever. i feel fine and am no longer experiencing pain but i dont know how i'm going to live with this. please tell me it gets better and i didn't just ruin my life over this procedure. i can't stop crying. and i just want to know that i am healing and that i will look normal again. i am scheduling a follow up with another doctor (thursday) who is female as my first has not been comforting at all.

@Dm846 hello, do you mind sharing how you recovered and how long it took you to get back to normal? i am 3 weeks post removal of 2 tags - one large one small. i look SO MUCH worse than i did prior to surgery. i look like i have numerous tags in the place where there were once 2 relatively small (in comparison). this new lump / bump is about an inch long. my confidence has plummeted, i'm recently single and cannot imagine dating again. i feel so, so depressed and hopeless that i'm going to look like a freak forever. i feel fine and am no longer experiencing pain but i dont know how i'm going to live with this. please tell me it gets better and i didn't just ruin my life over this procedure. i can't stop crying. and i just want to know that i am healing and that i will look normal again. i am scheduling a follow up with another doctor (thursday) who is female as my first has not been comforting at all. i can't bear looking like this forever.

@girlgirl hello, do you mind sharing how you recovered and how long it took you to get back to normal? i am 3 weeks post removal of 2 tags - one large one small. i look SO MUCH worse than i did prior to surgery. i look like i have numerous tags in the place where there were once 2 relatively small (in comparison). this new lump / bump is about an inch long. my confidence has plummeted, i'm recently single and cannot imagine dating again. i feel so, so depressed and hopeless that i'm going to look like a freak forever. i feel fine and am no longer experiencing pain but i dont know how i'm going to live with this. please tell me it gets better and i didn't just ruin my life over this procedure. i can't stop crying. and i just want to know that i am healing and that i will look normal again. i am scheduling a follow up with another doctor (thursday) who is female as my first has not been comforting at all.