Guide To Getting A Hemorrhoidectomy

Diet Tips After Surgery

A patient who has a hemorrhoidectomy can help prevent complications, pain, and discomfort by keeping to a diet of clear liquids. A clear liquid diet helps prevent constipation, nausea, and vomiting following a hemorrhoidectomy. Soup, juices, carbonated beverages, gelatin desserts, and popsicles are some common components of a liquid diet following surgery. An individual who has had a hemorrhoidectomy should stay well hydrated by drinking at least eight full glasses of water every day.

They can begin to eat a regular diet of green leafy vegetables, whole grains, and fruits around forty-eight hours after their procedure. All foods consumed within the first week after a hemorrhoidectomy procedure should be easy for an individual to digest. Easy to digest foods can help prevent complications associated with straining and irritation at the site of the incision. Foods such as red meat, frozen dinners, cakes, pastries, drinks with caffeine, dairy products, pizza, pasta, pies, and doughnuts should be avoided for the first couple weeks after a hemorrhoidectomy.

Exercise After Surgery

Most patients have moderate pain levels for between a week and ten days following a hemorrhoidectomy. This pain may naturally limit their physical activity levels, preventing them from getting back into their normal exercise routine. Most individuals who undergo a hemorrhoidectomy are told to rest during the first ten days following their procedure regardless of the pain to help promote healing. A patient who has had a hemorrhoidectomy should begin their exercise routine with short walks that increase in frequency each day.

If a patient is in pain when performing any physical activity or feels tired, they should stop what they are doing and rest. It is natural to feel pain when exercising for the first month or so following a hemorrhoidectomy because physical activity increases the amount of blood flow to the pelvic area. Any type of vigorous exercise regimens should not be resumed until cleared by the patient's physician, and it has been a minimum of six weeks since the hemorrhoidectomy.