Common issues to expect after hemorrhoidectomy
I went through a traditional hemorrhoidectomy with electrocautery pen/knife. During recovery, I encountered a few issues that, according to my research later, are rather common after this procedure.
I thought I would share them here so my readers can avoid being as panic as I did when I encountered them. I will also include my experience-based “two cents” on how to address these issues. This following list does not in any way imply you will experience every issue. Most of the issues occur in the first two weeks post operation.
- Urge to poop – Some of us feel the urge to go every few minutes while standing. In my experience, it was caused by not emptying feces because my body didn’t “want” to push fearing for the pain. I ended up emptying myself while sitting in a hot bath. I first read about this approach from some online posts. When I finally tried it myself, I was happy with the results. There’s another type of urge that’s simply caused by muscle spasm from the trauma. Some patients, including myself, dealt with it by taking hot bath and lying horizontally to queer the urge. Pain medicines would help as well.
- Urinary incontinence – Very few may experience this symptom either immediately after the procedure or some hours afterwards. Without other underlying issues, it is usually caused by muscle spasm (muscles not loosen up). However, loosening-up may be easier said than done for a post-hemorrhoidectomy patient. Hot bath, pain medicines, and mental distraction could help, but may not fix it all up. This happened to me. After five hours of not being able to urinate, I ended up using a catheter in an ER, which provided immediate relief. I slowly regained control of my muscle after that. My doctor said it almost always only happens to senior males.
- Constipation – The last thing a patient wants after a hemorrhoidectomy is constipation. Unfortunately, it can happen more often than you think. Most narcotic pain medicines are constipating. That’s why this is extremely important to take stool softener, fiber supplement, and drink more than 64oz (8 glasses of 8oz) water, together with a high fiber and vegetable abundant diet. For some people, a mild laxative is needed, in addition, to keep stool soft. What many patients, including myself, found is it is extremely beneficial if a patient can try out this diet two weeks prior to the operation and understand what it does to the consistency of his stool. This helps the patient take control of his BM immediately after surgery. Read my post to learn More about diet and BM control.
- Diaper rash – Frequent sitz bath can leave the butt cheeks damp. With thick clothes on (winter especially), the red, slightly itchy and stingy bumps/rash will show their ugly heads. So it is important to tab dry the skin in the vicinity of the anus. I used blow dryer once, although I don’t recommend this as a regular practice. The last thing you want is to accidentally burn yourself or over dry your surgical area (wounds do generally heal faster if kept clean and damp).
- Swollen bumps – Many patients felt (or saw with the help of a mirror) the alarming bumps at their incision sites or anus opening. They almost look like thromboses hemorrhoids, except that they are red/pink, instead of purple. These are the swollenness your doctors probably already advise you not to worry as it is very common and normal. They will shrink as you continue to heal. Some may have a bit of loose skin left when completely healed. Read my post on swelling to learn more.
- Healing is not a straight line up – The recovery from hemorrhoidectomy has not been a straight upward trajectory at all for me. Just as you were feeling healing well, a bad BM would send you back where you started. One thing I’ve found it our body is more resilient than we typically think. In fact, my body surprised me at how quickly it rebounded after each and every setback.
- Skin tag – I noticed a small “pink” growth slightly inside my anus opening at one time when I was swollen and more internal tissues were showing. The “pink” growth was later identified as a “skin tag” by my doctor, who actually said “skin tags” are commonly seen after a hemorrhoidectomy (What else can hemorrhoidectomy creat?!). Since it is small and completely painless, I am not interested in doing anything about it. A few online posts have mentioned large skin tags can be surgically removed.
My husband has always suffered from hemorrhoids, and he’s looking for advice on what to expect after getting a hemorrhoidectomy procedure. It’s interesting to know that he’ll get a strong urge to go to the restroom, and will get a diaper rash, and will have swollen bumps. He’s been thinking about getting a hemorrhoidectomy procedure done, so we might start looking for a reliable place where he can get it done.
I just had the procedure. Pain hasn’t been as bad as expected. I’m just going with Tylenol. Lots of baths, and yes, I’m getting a rash now. BMs aren’t fun but neither is having hemorrhoids. I do think I may have a small tag but too early to tell. I’m 3 days post-op.
(now on day 7 post op)
I done little research prior the surgery so had little knowledge what I was heading for..
Day of surgery before I was put asleep the surgeon decided to inform me on how painful the BM would be and ran anxiety through me I was second guessing the procedure as the needle was being put through my hand!
Day 1 2 and 3 where surprisingly smooth with little pain and bowel movements seems manageable I was taking coloxyl for softening
Day 4 and 5 seemed more painful this was a combination of being overly confident by not taking as much pain medication and not eating as often trying to avoid BM but also consuming too much high fibre (this can have reversed effect and make you more constipated) so I resulted in hard stools I couldn’t pass(sorry for too much information) I ended up buying dulcolax which worked and treat within 8 hours!
The softer the bowel movement the better….
lots of water (2/3 litres) high fibre diet along with regular foods .. avoid bread rice pasta cheese ect
Sitz baths lots of them the better, a bidet to clean area and soft cotton pads to dab dry (not rub)
Rash after a week mine appeared I have been using sudacrem…
but yes definitely a roller coaster but nowhere as scary as what you read on some threads…
Each bowel movement you have is one less painful one and take each day by each day
Just had procedure myself I had a thumbrose/prolapse hemorrhoid grade 4 I’m 44 yrs old have had a total hip replacement and I can tell you this surgery cause so much pain I almost ended up back in emergency room..
I really believe it depends on the type of hemorrhoid you have and yes there is a grade scale for them with 4 being the worse so before you listen to someone on here that says they just took Tylenol ect.. check what type you have with Dr if he says grade 4 be prepared for the worst pain of your life for the first week after that it becomes manageable..
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