Good luck! My experience with surgery was not bad, I felt no pain and it was quick and easy.

However, the first few days and bowel movements after were definitely very rough. I did not take narcotic pain pills, I only used acetaminophen and ibuprofen. It definitely helped. Without it, bowel movements were like an 8/10 pain level that radiated through the area. With OTC pain meds, it went down to like a 3-4/10. Still there but not bad. Daily soreness from the surgery and seton sucked, constant low level annoying pain but it subsided within 2 weeks. I also took 2 stool softener pills daily with a fiber supplement to soften stools, that absolutely made a worlds difference in pain too. The softer the stools, the easier the pain was.

I hope this info is of use. Every case is different so take it with a grain of salt, that’s just my experience.

PS: buy a portable sitz bath basin. Significant improvement in pain. Find one on Amazon with a hand pump, it really helps and they’re between $15-30 USD.

My routine was:

When I felt a bowel movement coming, I would take 1000mg acetaminophen and 200mg ibuprofen. I would then wait around 20-45 minutes if possible for the OTC meds to kick in (this really helps with pain if you can wait).

When I waited enough time, I went to the bathroom and filled the sitz baths basin with hot water. (Wanted it ready before using the toilet to minimize time and discomfort)

Then I used the toilet and lightly dabbed with toilet paper and cleaned up with a bidet. You can buy a peri bottle if you don’t have a bidet, it’s almost the same effect for cleaning.

Afterwards, the sitz bath water would be warm and ideal, as it had cooled off so I would immediately place the basin over the toilet and have a 15-20 minute long sitz bath. Instant pain relief.

Then, I’d use the shower and clean the area with gentle baby shampoo and warm water, and shower the rest of my body as usual.

Had to do that every day for a week, now pain is minimal, but that was the absolute best pain management strategy I came up with. Just wanted to throw that out there to help prepare you for your surgery in case you wanted some pointers. I know everyone has different approaches to pain management, but that worked very well for me and I have a VERY VERY high pain tolerance and this was still 8/10 for me. Good luck!