How I managed to get over very painful hemorrhoids

I had a baby last year and since then have been prone to hemorrhoids from time to time. These have usually been manageable and have flared up, but then gone over time.

However, recently I had a very bad episode, which nearly resulted in disaster on my wedding day! I went on a big night out, and the next day woke up with a terrible, large external haemorrhoid which was extremely painful. I was so distraught, it was so painful, there was no getting away from the pain and so I went to the doctor.

Immediately I was sent to the hospital, saw a consultant, who said it was possibly thrombosed and needed to be dealt with as soon as possible. There was talk of invasive surgery, with all the associated possible problems, and I was really worried that it might cause more problems than it solved. This is especially because it’s such a sensitive area, and is always moving and contracting.

I got a second opinion from another consultant, who agreed, but as my wedding was only days away I was really reluctant to go through a procedure that could cause even more short term pain, may not work, and may have ruined my big day!

I saw a third consultant, who gave me some brilliant, simple advice that amazingly enough worked really well. Basically the idea is to reduce the swelling that causes the pile and push the vein back into the rectum.

• Firstly I rubbed some anaesthetic gel (instillagel) on the external area, which numbed the area and soothed the pain
• Then I wrapped three or four ice cubes in a tea towel, pressed it onto the area for up to two hours, changing the ice as required. The area becomes completely numb, I applied more gel, then pushed the pile back inside the rectum, holding it in for a few minutes
• Then I tried to sleep through the night on my side

I did this a few times a day, for a few days. This succeeded in reducing the swelling greatly, which ended the pain I was in, and allowed the body to naturally heal itself.

I am so glad that I tried this before having surgery, as it has solved the problem. There’s still a small pile but it is far better and it was really quite severe at its worst.

I told my GP, who didn’t know about this treatment. She has since recommended it to several of her patients, who have also had good results.