Anal skin tag removal following pregnancy

[Smoochie85]

I’ve had 2 babies and having suffered with piles during the pregnancies it has left me with a large skin tag which is so uncomfortable! I’ve seen a consultant who has said I will need to have it operated on under GA. I am so scared! I’ve read horror stories online and was wondering whether anyone had their own experience they could share?? It’s got to the point where it is too big to leave so surgery is the only option. TIA

No advice. But I'm currently pregnant and I'm pretty sure I'm going to be in the same situation.. Very interested to see what others say.

I was hoping they would vanish but no such luck.. I’ve put up with it for 7 years after my daughter and had my last baby in December and it has gone worse! I’ve scared myself with google🙈

I am in the same boat OP but haven't yet been to the dr's as assumed they'd say nothing they can do, desperate to get it removed

My dr has been fab about it, tmi I know but I explained to her how it’s uncomfortable, I have to use wet wipes after the toilet, it’s sore etc and she sent off a referral to the hospital. I saw the dr there yesterday and he said it’s in the way, causing issues and he’s happy to remove it. He did offer to do it while I’m awake but he advised for comfort to go to sleep. He’s said that they don’t stitch the wound due to healing it will be left open and it’s going to be sore. It’s got so much worse in the last few months I’m too scared to leave it any longer in case it grows again

Yikes, how long does healing take?

I don’t know 😬 I’m guessing it will be a few weeks to heal properly

I know its scary but I would probably take the op, i know I really need to get myself to the dr about mine as I'm totally fed up

They are horrible things aren’t they, definitely get it checked at your 6 week app after baby is born. I’m just going to have be brave and get on with it, I can’t stand it there anymore

I had one removed in December. It was ok and very quick but I found the entire recovery quite long and tedious, mainly because whatever they have to do to get rid of the tag left me with horrendous 'normal' haemorrhoids (which apparently I have anyway, but are never normally problematic). It took me ages to clear them/calm them and I now take Triphala (widely available herbal - avurvedic - supplement) daily to help. But the recovery from the actual op was fine and I'm glad I had it done.

I’m having mine removed, 12 years after 2 big babies. I’m having the ‘halo’ operation. The extra skin is pulled up and stitched inside, so there is no wound by the, er, hole. Also removing the varicose vein inside.

Can’t wait to get it done!

No advice I'm afraid as I'm on pregnancy number 2 and battling piles once again, fairly sure I'll be in the same situation. One thing I find helps re the wiping is wet toilet paper or cotton wool followed by a final wipe of cotton wool with witch hazel on. I swear the fathers have it so easy!! Hope your surgery goes well.

Thank you for your comment, I’ve read people saying that it was worse than going through labour (the recovery) which has made me super anxious! Is there anything you would recommend to aid the recovery? I’ve read about Sitz baths to use after going to the loo... it sounds bloody awful I’m dreading the whole thing but can’t carry on with this horrible tag it’s a nuisance

Miniloso good luck! I hope it all goes well for you! I’ve not heard of the halo op he is literally just going to cut mine off and leave it as an open wound🤢

Toasterstrudle thank you, these men don’t know how good they’ve got it, I have to do that now with the wet wipes to get clean (sorry tmi) it’s a pain in the ass! Literally! Thank you I hope yours go and you don’t need an op after the baby

Can you fill us in on the recovery? I need this done too. Eldest is 15 and DTs are 13. Basically feel like I’m sitting on a bunch of grapes.

Hello again. Yes, when I was considering this op I found some old threads on here incredibly helpful. I was so grateful that I wrote a little diary of everything that happened in the hope it would be of use to someone else one day. Here it is (with some TMI in places I'm afraid!). I didn't use a sitz bath but did have regular normal baths, with salt in, which were very soothing. Please feel free to ask anything else - I found it a daunting prospect but it was ok in the end.
The diary:
When I was reading up about this operation I found some old threads on here incredibly helpful and I am so grateful to all of you who shared your stories. I hope that I will help someone else by sharing mine.
I had one very large (all the doctors who saw it were impressed. I wasn't sure whether to be proud or mortified!) external skin tag left over from awful haemorrhoids during pregnancy. The main problem with it was that it thrombosed twice (from things like mowing the lawn) which was painful and miserable. The GP was very understanding and referred me immediately. Because it was a growth I had to go down a cancer pathway which meant a sigmoidoscopy (like a mini colonoscopy) which was pretty unpleasant but bearable. I had polyps which turned out to be completely benign. So then I was booked in for day surgery. I had to have the operation under general anaesthetic because - they said - it would be too painful under local. As it was large I had to have dissolvable stitches. They also did some sort of examination but promised not to do any other procedure. I was glad of this because although I have some internal haemorrhoids they don't cause much trouble and I think the recovery from dealing with those is pretty unpleasant. I was given lactulose, paracetamol and ibuprofen, which I took strictly on rotation, not being a fan of pain. They didn't give me codeine because it is constipating. The other two have been sufficient. I am also taking milk thistle to flush out the anaesthetic, turmeric and plenty of vitamins, as well as drinking lots of water, cinnamon tea and prune juice.
I was fine when I woke up and for a couple of hours after, then felt exhausted, shaky and weepy.
The next morning I was absolutely fine, just had to get on top of the pain relief again. Main problem was a delightful new crop of haemorrhoids, I assume because of all the prodding around. Hopefully they'll disappear without further problems. First poo was ok but not as soft as I was hoping. Lactulose takes a few days to work so I'd advise starting it before the surgery.
A couple of weeks post-op I realised that any remaining pain and discomfort was definitely due to the haemorrhoids they caused by their 'examination under anaesthetic', or, a nurse friend tells me, possibly by the insertion of a small balloon to tighten the area for surgery. They then got mind-blowingly itchy but luckily I found some ointment I'd been prescribed previously (Scheriproct), which really helped.
Three weeks post-op I'm still using lactulose, although it's only sporadically effective. The new haemorrhoids have calmed down. The wound from the actual operation is still there and a bit raw, but it doesn't hurt. The main annoyance is that it is still weeping a little, although I'm sure it's not infected as there's no pain. The wetness has caused my bum cheeks to chafe (surprisingly painful at times), so I'm using a tiny bit of very fine milled talcum powder (M&S) and that's helped, although you have to be careful to keep it away from the wound. I've stopped showering every time I go to the loo (not practical now I'm back at work!) but am using moist wipes. I'm really pleased that everything is much cleaner - the skin tag made it hard to keep clean.
Eight weeks in and it's only now that I feel everything has settled down - it's taken much longer than I anticipated. I'm still taking lactulose but I'm ready to start cutting down on it.
About six months later now and things are fine. I stopped taking Lactulose and started on Triphala (brand - Pukka), which has been wonderful. It seemed to have some sort of healing effect as well as stool softening. Apparently it's safe - even beneficial - to take long-term, so I've got it on repeat order from Amazon!
I'm glad I had the operation but it took longer than I expected to get back to normal.

Thank you very much for that update you have helped to settle my nerves! I’m booked in for a pre op on the 11th June so I’m guessing the op won’t be too long after that. I will update how it all goes 🙏🏻

Good luck!

I have this issue too 🙈

Not caused by pregnancy but definitely exacerbated by them. I doesn’t really affect my life currently but it’s good to know that if it worsens in the future, I could sort it out 👍

Good luck OP.

This thread has made me realise I need to get mine sorted too

Thank you all

Hi guys
I have suffered with piles for 7 years had two previous operations to remove everything from inside. My 3rd operation was to remove skin tags left over on the outside. It is true they remove the skin tags and leave it as an open wound no stitching involved! I had my surgery a week ago, I’m not going to lie I am starting to regret going through with it. I have had constant pain since having the procedure which was a week ago. I have been to the doctors today and have been given antibiotics as the wound is now infected. I have been taking laxatives because my first stool felt horrendous the pain honestly was awful. Every time I go to the toilet I have to jump into the shower and wash as I can’t wipe the wound as it’s too sore and is still bleeding. Just a waiting game now for these antibiotics to kick in then hopefully I will start to see an improvement although my surgeon did warn me that it could take up to 3 months to heal! After taking a look myself I don’t think he’s removed them all i am really hoping I don’t have to go through this again. I have had to take two weeks off work I haven’t been anywhere this first week plenty of rest is defiantly needed as I forgot to mention I did faint day two after operation due to pain. I will keep you up to date on my progress.

@Lisa199 oh god I hope you start feeling better soon! I had my pre op yesterday and I honestly don’t know what to do for the best. The skin tag I have is really big and is a nuisance but when I think of all the pain after the op it makes me feel ill thinking about going through with it! My worry is it will get bigger and bigger if I leave it untreated. Have you found it easier to go to the toilet after using the laxatives? I really hope you are on the mend soon it sounds awful

How are you doing now ?

Bumping this thread.

I am in the same situation that I have an anal skin tag I would like removed. I've read of others having them done so didn't think it would be a big deal, but I saw a doctor who told me that the scar tissue left behind won't stretch and that I would have trouble using the toilet.

Anyone able to shine a light on if this is true?