Hemorrhoidectomy Operation

[yogafoodtravel]

I'm looking for some advice on if I should have a hemorrhoidectomy. I've read some horror stories on recovery. I'm not sure now if I should go ahead. My surgeon says I would be back at work within two weeks and back exercising after a month. But reading stories the pain is very bad for weeks.

I currently have a grade 4 pile which is external. Looks like a huge tail hanging out. This drags further when I have a bowel movement. My partner says it's not that big.

I got it after a trip to India and very bad food poisoning. It's got bigger over the years externally. It is never painful.

But over the last couple of years it bled about 50 percent of bowel movements to the extent the water in the loo was red. Sometimes they bled randomly through my clothes.

This has been going on for a couple of years thus the trip to the surgeon and the waiting list for the op of a year.

The thing is I'm now more informed about pain levels and recovery which he played down and I now have a poo step and I have reduced the weight of the weights I have been using. This means since Christmas I have had 5 poos which have resulted in blood in the bowl. Apart from when I had a tummy bug caught off the kids. 20 plus trips to the loo one day caused a flair up which took two weeks to settle down.

I know the piles are not going to heal and they used to bleed 50 percent of the time. I've now found a way to manage them.

I'm thinking given they are never painful and the bleeding is massively reduced I should not have the op. But then I'm worried they might get worse in five or so years and the NHS may not fund the op or I could be ill with something else so I can't have my op. For example Dad can't have a hernia operation because of his Parkinson's.

I should also say I would be more or less on my own in recovery as my mum is my dad's full time carer

Interest in what people would do. Op or not.

If I were you I would get it done. They have great painkillers now for both during the procedure and afterwards.

Thanks good point. I'm just worried that the recovery is very drawn out so coping with that

so I have spoken to the consultant again today with regards to the potential recovery times etc. I am going to think about it more as he didnt sugar coat the recovery and I think it could be tough. I am still thinking of postponing mainly because of mt dads illness and the fact I have split with my partner so it could be solo recovery with minimal support, I will just have to hope they dont get worse for the next few years

Following as I’m in exactly the same boat. I hate it but not sure I hate it “enough” to go through the op.

DH had it done last year. He'd not been given much in terms of what recovery was like etc but told he'd be back at work after two weeks.

We read on the Internet (big mistake) how awful it was for recovery etc. To be honest, it was much better than we anticipated. Obviously painful but definitely recommend eating lots of fibre to help you 'go'.

Oh and he'd had the snip two weeks prior too 🫣

I had it done a few years ago (2017) and yes it was uncomfortable but not as bad as i was expecting. A lot of it was mind over matter, i made the mistake of checking out the surgeons work squatted over a mirror, the thought of a bowel movement after seeing that was 😬 I was given tramadol as pain relief as it doesnt have the constipation as a common side effect, so they helped massively. The first couple of days are naturally the worst as you dont realise how much you use muscles in the area. I was glad i had it but then got pregnant accidentally a year later and most of the work was undone, which i was informed could happen even without the pregnancy.

I had this operation in 2019. Had one internal and two external piles removed. Recovery was tough going. I had 12 weeks off work. I survived on paracetamol and ibuprofen for medication. No codine based drugs as didn’t want to get constipated. Was also prescribed lactulose to keep stools soft. I have taken this every day since my op, so 6 years! I found that for the first 2 weeks after the surgery straight after a bowel movement was to have a warm bath and sooth the area.