So I had posted a little while ago about contemplating this procedure. Elphie and Frustrated graciously gave me their experienced oppinion! (THANKS ladies!)
To recap I did not have pain from the tags. I've had them for several years and I am newly single and find them to be embarrassing and a cramp on my love life. (I had 2 big and 1 small external tags)
The colon/rectal Dr (who I love! He is so knowledgeable, sweet and makes me feel very comfortable about this embarrassing situation) told me I had 3 external tags but that he saw I have some internal hems (Can I get rid of the internal hems by keeping my stool softer and more regular without surgery??)
Today when I went to the Dr.'s office he told me he could only remove what was external in the office and it may be painful. He asked me again if I was sure I wanted to do it in the office and that I can change my mind at any point if I don't feel comfortable.
I said I wanted to do it at the office...though I was nervous.
So he and the nurse prepared for the removal.
He said the most painful part would be the numbing with the needle. He said alot of people find that to be quite painful. So I braced myself for the pain.
He would tell me he's going to give me the needle before every time he did it. He and the nurse asked me like every second if I was ok. :)
But the truth is that there was hardly any pain! It was like a slight pinch and that was it. He cut them off and then sewed me up.
I asked to see the skin tags afterwards....they were GROSS! I was glad they were gone.
The Dr. told me he is shocked how well I took the shot and told me I was strong. lol
After it was done, they gave me water and said I had to lay down on the bed for 15 mins before I could leave.
He gave me a perscription for 25oxycodone/apap tablets for the pain and told me to use colace stool softener and up my fiber and drink A LOT more water.
Well I took the painkiller as soon as the perscription was filled about 3 hrs ago. Right now I feel mild to moderate stinging. The pain is bareable....for now! I'm terrified to death about having a bowel mvt! I didn't take the stool softener yet because I had a bwl mvt before seeing the dr today and I don't believe I will go again today and also I'm afraid the stool softener will induce a bowel mvt. (Should I take the stool softener asap or can I wait until tomorrow?)
He put a tightly packed dressing on the site and told me not to remove it for 24hrs unless I have a bwl mvt. If I do I will have to clean up well and replace the gauze.
He said I need to shower or sit in warm water after a bowel mvt to clean it well. He said I should sit in warm water 3 times a day.
He said some possible complications are infection from feces or fissures from hard stool putting pressure on the stiches during bwl mvts.
I will have to go back to work in 11 days and I'm hoping that I will be quasi healed by that time and able to function some what normally. He wants me to come back in 14 days to see how I'm healing.
I'm just bracing myself for the terrible pain that is to come and the DREADED bowel movement! I will continue to post any new developments in the process. Any words of wisdom or encouragement will be GREATLY appreciated!
Thank you for reading this LOOONG post! -Bummer

you are brave bummer!
but on the upside, you got thru the worst part....
now take your pain meds at least for the first 3 days or so as prescribed. if you feel pain free by day 3, then maybe you can ween off and by day 5, if no pain present or something you can easily manage, then just get off them.
important will be the hot water soaks. add some epsom salts.
i had 1 skin tag removal but lots of other excisions due to hpv on the anus so i guess you could say i had the equivalent of 4 or 5 skin tag removals.
in addition to the vicodin i was given, i got a prescription for toradol. those combined, helped me feel like i never had anything done down there! the only thing that was anxiety-driven the first 3 or 4 days was the first BM to happen!
i think u will do great.
i don't know where your skin tags were located but my skin tag was right on the site where my ass stretches to let a BM out so it took about 3 months for that sucker to close!
however, you have stitches in; i didn't have any....so you may be closing up sooner than me!
good luck.

Today is day 2. I feel very little pain. And the pain med is so strong it knocks me right out for HOURS!! So far so good... I haven't taken off the gauze yet, I'm going to wait a few more hours. So I have no idea what it looks like down there! I'm sure it's a scary site!
I am afraid to eat solid food though cuz I really don't want to have a BM. Between the dr telling me hard BM's cause fissures by ripping the stitches and how you all describe the pain,,, I hope I don't have a BM for a month! (slight exaggeration :) )
Happyass thanks for your response! What is the epsom salt good for? My tags were right at the opening too.
If only I could continue like this with no BM until I am completely healed!

Bummer...one thing that helped me in the beginning of healing was to poo in a toilet seat sitz bath. It was a bit messy but the skintag site was submersed in water while the BM came out and it didn't hurt as badly. Then I would empty it and refill once to cleanse the area before jumping in the tub. Sometimes the toilet seat sitz can hurt by spreading the area open too much, but if that happens just don't stay on it too long.
If the colace doesn't work well, switch to miralax. It is important to poo because the longer it stays inside you the drier it gets. But for lots of us the miralax takes care of that.
Soak in the tub lots...I was taking 5 baths a day until this week. Now I am down to 3.

Today is day 3. I think I was too cocky the 1st 2 days. Today I feel more pain. I took the gauze off and showered yesterday. I also rubbed witch hazel at the removal site. It is red and swollen. It feels hard when I touch it. I feel like I have Frankenbutt! (You know like Frenkenstein the monster..?? At any rate, it looks hideous! Not very sexy..) It definitely feels irritated but its got to get cleaned right!?? Today I see there is more blood. I thought it was from because I am on the last day. But I realize its coming from mybum. I hope its just blood though. Its doesn't look like its pure thick red blood. I don't think it is mixed with pus...but not sure. I'm also very paranoid after reading other posts about infections!! Frustrated I like your idea of the sitz toilet seat. I sent my sis to go buy me one and some epsom salt a few minutes ago. I still haven't had a BM but I will work on having one today ( ) by eating my granola cereal this morning and drinking a butt load of water. I also took 3 colace pills. (I have 5 more colace pills left. After they are done I will switch to miralax) I have stayed mostly in bed and have been laying on my side. I feel more nervous, scared and anxious today! I just don't want to have more complications! I hope I won't regret getting this done later! I haven't even had children yet! Will my bum problems be worse when I'm ready to have kids!!?? I'm freaking out today! It is only DAY 3!!!

Bummer, I am pulling for you. I hope all goes well.

Hey Bummer - I'm really sorry you're in pain today ... and, of course, anxiety doesn't help (we all know what that's like!). But don't worry too much. Pain is normal, I'm sorry to say, and things will look pretty scary for a while, so don't fret too much about how things look just yet. The tissue will need time to settle down. I'm wondering if maybe you should not put witch hazel on the excision site. I don't know what your doc told you, but I would avoid making the area too dry (or keeping it too wet). I think for cleaning, just do a thorough job with warm water (no soap either!). You body has natural secretions that are meant to keep the tissue healthy, so you may not want to mess the ph levels up too much ... that's just my opinion. I'm just keeping my skin tag excision site clean with warm water and letting it heal as naturally as possible and so far it hasn't given me any trouble that I've noticed. Others with more experience may chime in with better advice.
I know it's easier said than done, but try not to worry too much - as I said, the pain and scary-looking butt are both pretty normal for what you had done. Just keep an eye on things to watch for infection and pamper yourself as much as possible!
When do you go for a follow-up, btw? I think you'll find that the pain will settle down over the next week or so.
I hope you feel better soon!

I agree with hope...I haven't been using anything but warm water. Just soap near the area not directly on it. If you soak enough it'll stay clean and you will find the sitz bath does a good job of getting rid of cling ons. I don't know about witch hazel or epsom salts...I am too afraid to use anything. I had my follow up with the surgeon a couple of days ago and he said it was looking as good as he would like for 4 weeks post op.
I am still having some pain but it is minimal now and the swelling has gone down considerably.
He also told me that it'll be a month or two before it's healed and that my body is "remodeling" done there.
Don't worry too much about infection...the pain is normal and just keep soaking. I had alot of pain for the first two weeks and was freaking out a little too, but the nurse assured me that it would get better and it has.
I also spent those two weeks in bed, on my side, watching a lot of TV and movies.

Thank you lost.
Hopetoheal! Frustrated! That is vital information! My dr did not say anything about witch hazel I just figured it would disinfect the site! AND I definitely used soap on it in the shower! No wonder it is more sore today! Ok I will just sit in water...that is enough to keep it clean? Can I atleast use a baby wipe to rub it in the water??
My next follow up is in 13 days.
This forum has been sooooo helpful to me because I am truly clueless!

When I had my skin tag removal, I just showered off after a BM, then jumped into a bath with Savlon (a mild disinfectant) or just plain kitchen salt. I don't think it's a good idea to rub it with anything, it might aggravate it.
Sorry you're feeling so sore - hope you feel better soon.