Diet after removal of hemorrhoids helps the patient recover faster and avoid recurrence of the pathology.
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Hemorrhoids have become proverbial because of the unpleasant moments that they cause to a sick person every day. Pain, burning, and difficulty in cleansing the intestines cause not only physical suffering. When conservative treatment does not bring results, surgical treatment is used.
After surgical removal of hemorrhoids, the diet is equated to medicine - its adherence is necessary to restore the natural cleansing of the intestines after surgery, healing the mucous membrane, preventing relapse of the disease,
The importance of dietary nutrition in the postoperative period
After removal of hemorrhoids, an open wound surface (Milligan-Morgan method) or sutures (Ferguson method) remain. In the first days after surgery, it is very important to prevent damage to them from feces. It takes time to allow surgical wounds to heal.
The quality of bowel movement depends on the quality of food, quantity and frequency of its intake. Nutrition after removal of hemorrhoids should help ensure that the stool is regular and has a soft consistency (but not runny!). Constipation and diarrhea are the patient’s worst enemies. The former can disrupt the integrity of the sutures, damage wounds, and provoke bleeding. Loose stools will cause irritation, inflammation and possible bleeding.
However, the menu must be complete and the diet must be balanced. After hemorrhoidectomy, it is important for the body to quickly regain strength and replenish lost energy. The diet (especially after hemorrhoid surgery) should provide the body with the normal intake of vitamins, proteins, micro- and macroelements. At the same time, it aims to reduce the load on the intestines.
You can find out how surgery to remove hemorrhoids is performed using the Milligan-Morgan or Ferguson method by reading the material from our expert.
A qualified proctologist talks about the indications and contraindications for the removal of hemorrhoids.
You should also be sure to familiarize yourself with the peculiarities of hemorrhoids after surgery, the principles of the recovery period and medical advice.
Why is diet after hemorrhoid removal important?
Recovery time after hemorrhoidectomy varies somewhat. With open surgery, the patient will have to lead a “gentle” lifestyle for approximately 6-8 weeks. If the intervention was closed, then 3-5 weeks are enough for rehabilitation.
If the intervention was closed, then 3-5 weeks are enough for rehabilitation.
During this entire period, it is important to eat properly for hemorrhoids, since the body needs strength to regenerate tissue. In addition, an incorrectly selected diet can lead to blood flow to the pelvic venous accumulations, and this is fraught with:
- ruptures of sutures and healed tissues;
- the flow of blood from damaged areas of the mucosa;
- infection.
Similar complications are caused by poor nutrition after removal of hemorrhoids and the inclusion of prohibited foods and dishes in the diet.
Problems with bowel movements (constipation or diarrhea) adversely affect the mucous membrane of the lower digestive tract, prolonging the recovery period. Following the nutritional rules that the proctologist will tell you about will help you avoid unwanted consequences.
Constipation adversely affects the mucous membrane of the lower digestive tract, prolonging the recovery period.
Basic principles of the diet
The postoperative period can be shortened and tissue healing accelerated if you follow a few simple dietary rules.
- Small meals (5-6 meals a day should become the norm).
- Moderation of portions (portions should not be large, it is advisable to reduce the usual amount of food by half).
- Complete rejection of aggressive foods (salty, spicy, smoked, fatty – avoid!).
- Complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages.
- The menu has a predominance of first courses, pureed, steamed and stewed dishes for the second course.
Cooking technology is also very important. You will have to give up fried, grilled foods, raw vegetables and fruits. Food should be pureed, chopped, without coarse fibers.
All these rules and principles must be taken into account when drawing up a menu in the first one and a half to two months after surgery. The development of hemorrhoids or its recurrence can be avoided by adhering to these principles in the menu throughout your life.
Nuances of nutrition on the first day
Nutrition in the first 24 hours after surgery is completely excluded. After excision of hemorrhoids, hours of rest are needed for primary wound healing. A pause in nutrition for two days (the preoperative day is also considered) prevents the possibility of bowel movements.
It is important to carefully observe the drinking regime during the first day. During this time, you need to drink at least 2 liters of boiled or mineral still water. Every hour you need to drink at least 60-90 ml of liquid to avoid dehydration.
On the second day, doctors usually recommend eating a few spoons of liquid pureed oatmeal porridge for the first meal, and pureed lean soup for lunch. It is allowed and recommended to drink green tea, dried fruit compote, rosehip or chamomile decoction. The volume of liquid, including first courses, should be about 2.5 liters.
On the third day, you can carefully switch to a fractional and gentle diet. It cannot be broken for several weeks.
Nutrition in the first period after surgery
Pain in the anus disappears within a week. The critical period after surgery is considered to be the first days after surgical removal of the nodes. You need to eat in fractional ways - the food you take per day is divided into six small portions.
After a two-day fast (the preoperative day and the day after the operation), do not rush to eat whatever you want in unlimited quantities.
You need to eat slowly - saturation signals arrive in the human brain later than food in the stomach, by 15-20 minutes. You need to chew slowly so as not to overdo it with food.
In the first week, the patient can independently, by analyzing his state of health, decide on his diet and the amount of a single serving. During the first week, new products are constantly introduced into the body. The patient learns what food is suitable.
Sample menu
The diet after surgery to remove hemorrhoids is not fasting, although many note the effect of losing weight. You need to eat right to form regular bowel movements.
Doctors do not recommend skipping meals, increasing the intervals between them. This leads to the fact that you can eat much more at the next meal. Overeating is contraindicated and should not be tolerated.
Even before surgery, you need to think through the menu. Postoperative diet is not difficult at all. The sample menu can be adapted to suit your capabilities and taste preferences. Knowing the basic principles, you can replace any dish on the list. Diet after hemorrhoids can be not only a healthy necessity, but also a delicious meal.
Breakfast options are very varied and nutritious:
- liquid or viscous porridge (rice, buckwheat, oat flakes, barley, pearl barley, wheat - in water without sugar);
- omelette in a water bath or in the microwave;
- boiled egg.
In addition, you can eat a banana and drink unsweetened tea.
Lunch
For second breakfast, a light snack is suitable:
- steam omelette;
- boiled egg;
- a piece of low-fat cheese.
The snack will be complemented by thin jelly with berries (strawberries, cranberries, raspberries).
Lunch break
Lunch should be complete, the first course is required:
- vegetable soup with cereals;
- meat (beef, chicken) broth with egg;
- fish and potato soup;
- fish soup from lean river fish.
For the second it is allowed:
- steamed chicken or fish cutlet;
- boiled chicken or fish;
- stewed potatoes with chicken or beef;
- potato, meat, fish casserole or soufflé.
As a side dish - cereal porridge, mashed potatoes. Bread – in small quantities (1-2 slices). It is better to choose bran or yesterday's wheat. For the third - tea, dried fruit compote, berry jelly.
Fermented milk products are suitable for an afternoon snack:
- fermented baked milk;
- low-calorie kefir;
- natural yogurt.
Dinner doesn't have to be heavy. Ideal for an evening meal:
- boiled or steamed fish;
- steam chicken;
- oven-baked cutlet (meat or fish).
For dinner, it is advisable to prepare a decoction of chamomile or rose hips.
Last meal
1-2 hours before bedtime, it is advisable to drink a glass of compote, herbal decoction with crispy bread, homemade oatmeal or biscuit cookies, bran loaf crackers (1-2 pieces - no more!).
Rules for creating a menu
The first rule of nutrition after surgery that you need to remember is that the rehabilitation diet is not fasting. There should be enough food to satisfy the body's needs. The menu in this case is compiled either independently or by the attending physician. The sample menu provided by the attending physician can be adapted to suit you and your own tastes. However, it is important to remember that radically changing the diet suggested by the doctor, overeating or undereating is strictly prohibited, as this may lead to disturbances in stool and bowel function. Each meal has its own rules and recommendations for preparation.
First meal
For breakfast, it is best not to eat too heavy, high-calorie foods. In fact, doctors and nutritionists offer quite a variety of food options for the first meal:
- steamed omelette or in the microwave;
- liquid porridge, oatmeal with kefir or water;
- boiled eggs;
- fruits;
- sweet green or boiled tea.
After waking up, the body is still in a relaxed state, so the first meal should be as light and low-calorie as possible. It is also recommended to drink at least 2 glasses of clean water on an empty stomach.
Afternoon snack
Light foods, vegetables and fresh fruits, washed down with a sufficient amount of liquid, are suitable as an afternoon snack or snack.
Light snack options include:
- low-fat yogurt or compote;
- a piece of low-fat cheese;
- kefir;
- boiled egg;
- berry jelly;
- banana;
- steamed omelette.
It is best to avoid at first the consumption of the usual bran, rye bread or crackers as a snack or for making sandwiches.
Dinner
Lunch is considered the most important meal of the day during the recovery period, so it should contain the most calories and nutrients. Among the lunch options, there are quite a few variations of familiar and diet-friendly dishes.
First you are allowed to use:
- vegetable soup or chicken broth;
- fish soup, fish soup, yushka;
- soup with lean poultry and potatoes;
- low-fat borscht without spices.
The second course for lunch can be:
- steamed meat or fish cutlets;
- stewed vegetables with fish;
- vegetable salad without salt;
- casserole with potatoes, fish or chicken;
- boiled chicken fillet;
- cereals and porridges;
- mashed potatoes.
As a side dish for main courses, you can additionally add steamed vegetables, a slice of bran or rye bread. For drinks, it is better to give preference to unsweetened herbal tea or fresh dried fruit compote.
Dinner
Dinner, unlike lunch, should not be too heavy and filling. Only one main course is allowed. Maximally rich in vitamins and easy on the stomach.
Among the options for evening meals are:
- steamed or boiled lean fish, chicken, turkey;
- vegetable casserole;
- steamed vegetables;
- meat or steam cutlets;
- kefir porridge with dried fruits.
It is advisable not to drink green tea or berry compote in the evening, as they do not create a diuretic effect. It is best to give preference to herbal infusion or chamomile decoction.
Authorized products
To correctly and competently create a menu, you need to know what you can eat. There are not so few permitted products; the diet is quite varied:
- cereals (Hercules oatmeal, barley, wheat, buckwheat, pearl barley);
- low-fat fermented milk products (ryazhenka, kefir, Varenets, yogurt, cottage cheese, soft or hard unsalted cheeses);
- lean meats (beef, chicken, turkey, rabbit);
- low-fat varieties of river and sea fish (pollock, tuna, haddock, carp, pike perch, pike);
- bread (bran, stale wheat);
- vegetables (potatoes, beets, carrots, cucumbers, pumpkin, zucchini, cauliflower);
- fruits (banana, baked apple);
- berries (for making jelly or compote in small quantities);
- drinks (green and black weak tea, jelly, chicory coffee, compote, herbal decoctions);
- dried fruits (for making compotes and infusions).
You can eat all the foods listed, but do not forget about the measures of their consumption. Any of these harmless foods in large quantities can cause intestinal problems.
List of Accepted Products
In order for the diet after hemorrhoidectomy to be effective and contribute to the improvement of tissue condition and regeneration, it is important to choose food wisely. The list of products that doctors recommend is quite extensive, so you can create a complete and varied menu.
Acceptable products include:
- fruits and dried fruits;
- whole grain cereals;
- fermented milk products (kefir, low-fat cottage cheese, yoghurts);
- lean fish (tuna, pollock, pike perch);
- low-fat meat;
- berries;
- vegetables (potatoes, carrots, beets, cabbage, pumpkin);
- bakery products (bran bread, black bread, coarse wheat bread);
- green tea, jelly, compote, juice.
There are many foods that need to be added to your recovery diet, but don’t forget that they need to be consumed in moderation.
Prohibited Products
The attending physician warns you not to eat during the recovery period. He will advise you to exclude foods that cause increased gas formation (flatulence), intestinal irritation and loose stools, constipation and slow intestinal motility.
Prohibited products include:
- sour, coarse-textured, spicy vegetables (tomatoes, cabbage, radishes, radishes, onions, garlic, eggplants, hot peppers);
- milk (cow, goat) and dishes made with milk (porridge, pancakes);
- legumes (chickpeas, peas, lentils, soybeans, beans, green peas);
- sour fruits and berries that cause fermentation (apples, apricots, plums, melon, watermelon, citrus fruits, cherries, grapes);
- fatty meats (goose, duck, lamb, pork);
- fatty fish (trout, salmon, catfish);
- bread (fresh wheat, whole grain, rye), buns, cakes, pies, pastries;
- chocolate, coffee, strong black tea;
- carbonated and alcoholic drinks, natural juices;
- spices and herbs, herbs.
A similar diet is indicated for hemorrhoids and after their removal. The attitude towards it should be unambiguous: a prohibited product is taboo. After two to three months of strict dietary restrictions and after consultation with a doctor, you can gradually, in small quantities, include these foods in your daily menu.
Compliance with drinking regime
To prevent constipation, you need to not only eat right, but also drink enough fluids. To swell the fiber that enters the intestines with food, water is necessary.
Strong drinks, carbonated water, natural sour juices, cocoa and coffee are excluded from the menu. They lead to bloating and irritation of the intestinal mucosa.
The volume of liquid should not exceed the permissible norms (2-2.5 liters per day). This can lead to unwanted swelling. You need to take into account not only water, but also the tea, jelly, and liquid in the first courses.
You can learn about the rules of nutrition for hemorrhoids and the basic principles of a competent daily diet by reading the recommendations of a specialist.
In addition, it is necessary to study the rules for creating a diet for hemorrhoids, the lists of prohibited and permitted foods in the event of the development of a pathological process.
Diet of the first month
In the first 24 hours after surgery, in order to prevent the appearance of stool, the patient is recommended only drinks.
On the second day, you can eat more often (6 times a day), but in small portions: vegetable soups, porridge cooked in water (oatmeal, buckwheat, rice), fermented milk products, steamed meatballs (cutlets) and cottage cheese. A week later, stewed vegetables and meat (fish), as well as baked apples, are added to the diet.
Eating six meals a day after removing hemorrhoids ensures a soft stool consistency and facilitates easy bowel movement.
It must be remembered that the patient should not push himself into too strict limits: protein deficiency will affect the immune system, skin and hair will become dull; lack of carbohydrates will reduce performance; lack of fat will cause metabolic disorders.
What can't you eat at 1 month?
For a month, foods that cause flatulence are prohibited. These are fruits and vegetables rich in fiber: apples, cabbage, radishes, turnips, beans, spinach, peas, sorrel, gooseberries, raspberries, dates, lentils, citrus fruits, as well as nuts, raisins and wholemeal bread.
Strong coffee, tea, carbonated drinks, kvass and vegetables that irritate the intestinal mucosa: radish, onion and garlic are prohibited. The list of exceptions includes alcohol, any smoked, spicy, pickled, spicy food and canned food.
It is better not to include heavy proteins in the patient’s menu - lamb, pork, geese and duck meat, and mushrooms. Simple carbohydrates (baked goods and confectionery) are also undesirable.
The wound heals completely within a month, and if nutrition after hemorrhoid surgery is organized correctly, the patient does not have to worry about complications: suture rupture, bleeding and wound infection.
Find out more about the types of operations to remove hemorrhoids from this section.
One month after surgery
A month later, everything is the same as immediately after the operation; the diet should not contain foods that contribute to gas formation in the gastrointestinal tract. This is black bread, kvass, raisins, fresh milk. In addition, the ban on all legumes continues to apply. It is worth refraining from smoked products. There is also a taboo on any pickles.
Vegetables such as cabbage (white cabbage), radish, turnips and radishes are considered by nutritionists to be food catalysts for flatulence, so they should also be excluded from the menu. Heavy varieties of meat (pork, lamb, waterfowl) are also prohibited. Not critical, but undesirable due to the stimulation of increased appetite, garlic, onions, apples, dates and gooseberries, raspberries.
Nutrition after a month
After a month after the operation, the menu can be varied, but to prevent constipation you must adhere to these recommendations :
- The dietary table should provide strength to restore the body during the difficult postoperative period: food must be not only healthy, but also balanced.
- You cannot starve and you cannot overload your stomach with large portions - you need to eat every 2.5 hours.
- The rectum should also not experience discomfort from the food you eat so that the sutures are at rest. Forget about foods that cause gas.
- Eat only foods that promote regular bowel movements.
- Place the main emphasis on vegetables – fresh and stewed. It is better to exclude fried foods, replacing them with boiled, stewed and steamed ones.
- In the fight against constipation, your allies should be fermented milk products, wholemeal bread and high-fiber cereals.
- Place taboos on strong and carbonated drinks, sweets, strong coffee and tea, and fatty meats.
Prohibited Products
During the rehabilitation period, there should be no products on your table that contribute to increased gas formation and fermentation in the gastrointestinal tract:
- The list is topped by black bread, kvass, grapes, raisins and milk. Next come legumes - peas, beans, beans and lentils.
- Carbonated drinks, alcohol, smoked foods and pickles are also contraindicated.
- Vegetables - white cabbage, radishes, radishes and turnips - are considered catalysts for gas formation.
- Mushrooms and proteins that burden the stomach (lamb, pork, waterfowl meat) are prohibited.
- To avoid feeling constantly hungry, avoid onions, garlic, raspberries, apples, gooseberries and dates. These plants provoke the formation of excess gastric juice.
Authorized Products
For those who have undergone surgery to remove a hemorrhoid, doctors advise paying special attention to the following products:
- Loose millet or buckwheat porridge - these cereals are extremely nutritious and do not burden the gastrointestinal tract. To prevent the grains from sticking together during cooking, the grains are thoroughly washed with cold water. At the end of cooking, turn off the heat to allow the cereal to infuse and absorb water.
- Wholemeal bread will help you gain strength after surgery. It contains many microelements and B vitamins.
- Fermented milk products also promote good digestion. They are distinguished from milk by their high content of microorganisms, which accelerate the absorption of food and further emptying of the intestines.
- A week after the operation, fish and light meat (veal or chicken) should be gradually introduced into the menu. These are proteins necessary for the body - the source of its energy and strength.
- Every day you need to eat vegetables with delicate fiber - pumpkin, lettuce, cauliflower, carrots and beets. Preference should be given to baked and boiled vegetables: try raw ones with caution, observing the body’s reaction.
- Among the variety of fruits, you should limit your choice to bananas and kiwi. Instead of apricots and plums, it is better to use their dried analogues: dried apricots and prunes. These dried fruits will ease the work of the intestines, but in case of an “overdose” they will cause flatulence.
Infusions of nettle leaves, mullein inflorescences, yarrow and knotweed are shown. Based on these infusions, you can make lotions to apply to a healing wound.
Allowed
Patients who have undergone surgery to remove hemorrhoids are advised to eat foods that do not overload the gastrointestinal tract. The most nutritious and healthy porridges are buckwheat and millet.
Before cooking, the cereal should be rinsed well with cold water to prevent the grains from sticking together.
It is advisable to choose bread from wholemeal flour; it contains many microelements and B vitamins.
A week after the operation, you can start adding fish to your diet.
Fermented milk products (kefir, fermented baked milk, low-fat cheeses) will help improve the digestion process after hemorrhoid removal. After about a week, you can start adding fish and lean meats to your diet.
After removal of hemorrhoids, vegetables must be present in the patient’s diet every day; it is better if they are boiled or baked.
For fresh fruits, it is recommended to prefer bananas or kiwi.
You need to be careful with other fruits, because they can cause flatulence and unnecessary irritation of the mucous membrane on the postoperative surface.
After removal of hemorrhoids, the patient is recommended to drink more fluid, at least 1.5 liters per day. You can drink herbal teas and still mineral water.
Menu sample
In the initial postoperative days, the patient’s intestines must be freed from stress, so for the first 24 hours the patient receives only fluids. On the second day after surgery, the patient begins to feed, fractionally and in small portions.
Your daily diet might look like this:
- Breakfast – buckwheat or oatmeal with water.
- Lunch – light vegetable soup.
- Afternoon snack – kefir or low-fat cottage cheese.
- Dinner – steamed cutlets.
This diet is maintained for the first 7 days after surgery.
The recovery process largely depends on what kind of nutrition the patient practices after hemorrhoid surgery, so we advise you to listen to the recommendations of doctors and create your diet in accordance with them.
Natasha: The doctor prescribed me a special diet after hemorrhoid surgery, since I had minor complications. I had to switch to liquid food and greatly limit my food intake - I mostly ate boiled and pureed food, and so on for 3 weeks. Now everything is fine, nothing worries me.
Egor: This is an ordinary fractional diet - nothing special. Just eat everything lean, soft, without seasonings or additives.
Olga: My diet menu after surgery to remove hemorrhoids consisted mainly of lean vegetable soups and porridges with water; in the first 2 days I didn’t eat at all - I drank only water. As a result, in a month I not only got rid of hemorrhoids, but also lost 5 kg.
Removal of hemorrhoids requires compliance with preventive measures. What kind of nutrition after hemorrhoid surgery is considered correct?
Surgery to remove hemorrhoids is an extreme, but often unavoidable, measure. In the postoperative period, to prevent exacerbations and quickly recover, it is important to follow a diet and eat the necessary foods.
The diet after hemorrhoid surgery is prescribed to prevent the inflammatory process and relapse of the disease!
Meals on the first day
On the first day after surgery, the patient is not allowed to eat. This is done to prevent stress on the intestines and irritation of wounds. But drinking a lot of water is beneficial.
From the second day you should strictly adhere to the doctor’s recommendations regarding nutrition. Food should be easy to digest. It is recommended to eat liquid porridge with water. For example, buckwheat, oatmeal, barley. Drink weak herbal tea with chamomile or nettle. Use dogwood infusion and compote.
On the third day, you can switch to an expanded dietary menu, which will become the main one for the patient.
Nutrition rules
The postoperative menu is prepared by the attending physician.
Medical nutrition and diet must meet the following requirements:
- Normalize stool and prevent constipation. Laxative foods include some vegetables, fruits, and fermented milk drinks. Vegetable oil improves intestinal function;
- Accelerate scar healing. The diet should be rich in proteins, vitamins and substances involved in tissue repair. Lean varieties of meat and fish, cheese, cottage cheese, buckwheat and millet cereals are healthy;
- Eliminate fermentation and gas formation processes. This problem will be solved by limiting the diet of legumes, cabbage, whole milk, black bread, nuts, eggs, carbonated drinks;
- Be gentle on the intestines and damaged tissues. Fatty, fried, smoked, pickled, and spicy foods irritate the digestive system.
It is important to maintain regular meals. In order not to overload the intestines, you need to eat often, but in small portions. Ideally, you should aim to eat 5-6 times a day. Cooking food is worth steaming. It is better to boil or stew.
Nutrition after diet
After the rehabilitation period, you need to follow the rules of proper nutrition so as not to provoke the re-formation of hemorrhoids. So, you should follow these recommendations:
- eat 4-5 times a day in moderate portions;
- include plenty of vegetables in your diet;
- bake, boil and steam meat and fish, but do not fry;
- give up white bread, pasta, baked goods and chocolate, as well as spicy and smoked foods;
- use fructose instead of sugar;
- include fermented milk products in your daily diet;
- do not drink coffee, alcohol and soda.
After surgery for hemorrhoids, you need to follow a therapeutic diet to give the body the necessary resources for tissue regeneration. In case of improper nutrition, it can cause suture rupture, blood flow from damaged areas of the mucous membrane and infection. To eliminate such consequences, it is important to follow not only the general rules, but also individual recommendations prescribed by your doctor.
What you can and cannot eat
- vegetable soups, broths;
- buckwheat, pearl barley, millet or oatmeal porridge in water;
- wholemeal bread with bran;
- weak tea, compotes, natural juices with pulp, mineral water;
- cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, beets;
- poultry, veal, cod, pollock, navaga, and other lean fish;
- low-fat fermented milk products, curd mass;
- dried apricots, prunes, baked apples without peel, bananas.
- canned food, smoked meats, pickles;
- legumes;
- black bread;
- carbonated drinks, kvass, alcohol;
- radish, radish, turnip, white cabbage, onion, garlic;
- mushrooms;
- lamb, pork, goose and duck meat;
- milk;
- citrus fruits, pears, gooseberries, dates, raisins, grapes, cherries, strawberries, currants.
The diet after surgery to remove hemorrhoids should be outlined in the rehabilitation and treatment plan. If there are no recommendations in the extract, then you must ask the doctor to include them.
Menu after surgery
In the first week, a sample menu for the day could be as follows:
- Breakfast. Semi-liquid porridge from permitted cereals, a boiled egg or steam omelet. Lightly brewed green or black tea is suitable for drinking.
- Lunch. Pieces of hard cheese of low fat content.
- Dinner. Light soup with vegetable broth, potato or meat casserole, compote or weak tea.
- Afternoon snack. Mashed cottage cheese or fruit jelly.
- Dinner. Steamed cutlets made from lean fish or meat. Carrot or beet salad made from cooked vegetables.
- 2-3 hours before bedtime, it is useful to drink a glass of kefir, yogurt or other low-fat fermented milk product.
Gradually the diet is adjusted! Other permitted products are added to it. An individual menu is created that will need to be adhered to constantly. It should contain dishes of varying consistencies to support intestinal function. When compiling the menu, concomitant diseases are taken into account.
Preventive measures
To prevent hemorrhoids from recurring, it is necessary to prevent constipation and not strain when visiting the toilet. To do this, the foods consumed must contain fiber. In order for fiber to swell and have a beneficial effect on the intestines, you need to drink a lot of liquid.
You can also resort to ready-made pharmaceutical preparations based on dietary fiber.
During the postoperative recovery period after removal of hemorrhoids, the “no residue” nutrition system is effective. That is, when food is completely digested. This reduces the volume of stool and ensures regular bowel movements without the help of insoluble substances.
Additional preventative tips:
- Don't sit on the toilet too long. The height of the toilet does not allow you to take a physiological position for a person. A tense, uncomfortable posture forces you to strain and provokes the development of hemorrhoids.
- If the nodes do not correct themselves, then after stool it is better to lie horizontally for 10-15 minutes on your stomach. Maintain anal hygiene. Wash yourself with cool water after using the toilet.
- Do not squeeze your stomach with a belt or elastic band, so as not to interfere with blood circulation. Buy pants and underwear one and a half sizes larger than required. If you are overweight, use suspenders instead of a belt. Loosen the belt when sitting in a car or at a computer.
It is important to understand that proper nutrition after surgery to remove hemorrhoids is the key to a quick recovery and the absence of symptoms of relapse of the disease. But the abuse of prohibited products always causes intestinal irritation and an increase in hemorrhoids.
Author of the article: Alexey Egorov, proctologist
Diet after removal of hemorrhoids helps the patient recover faster and avoid recurrence of the pathology.
Hemorrhoids have become proverbial because of the unpleasant moments that they cause to a sick person every day. Pain, burning, and difficulty in cleansing the intestines cause not only physical suffering. When conservative treatment does not bring results, surgical treatment is used.
After surgical removal of hemorrhoids, the diet is equated to medicine - its adherence is necessary to restore the natural cleansing of the intestines after surgery, healing the mucous membrane, preventing relapse of the disease,
Prohibited foods after surgery
After surgery, it is important to be able to refuse foods that can cause fermentation processes in the gastrointestinal tract. Products in the form of grapes or raisins, dairy products, kvass and carbonated drinks are prohibited. Any dishes made from legumes can also cause flatulence, which is extremely undesirable for injured mucous membranes.
During the postoperative recovery period, you should not eat certain types of vegetables, which at another time could only bring benefits. It is better to completely avoid white cabbage, turnips, radishes, and the like for a while. Protein products in the form of goose, pork, lamb or mushrooms are also prohibited from being eaten for the entire 1st week, and sometimes, depending on the patient’s condition, possibly longer.
Prohibited foods include foods that stimulate increased production of gastric juice, which causes increased appetite. This could be onions, garlic, any hot seasonings. Various marinades, smoked meats, and alcohol are not allowed in the diet after hemorrhoid removal. All of them increase the flow of blood to the pelvic area, which leads to longer healing of the sutures.
A variety of pastries and sweets are excluded from the patient’s daily menu.
Damage to the intestinal mucosa can heal completely within one month, but only when the patient adheres to the recommended diet and limits the consumption of harmful foods. If you follow your doctor’s recommendations, you can not only speed up your recovery, but also prevent recurrent illnesses.
Food as medicine
Poor circulation (venous congestion) in the vessels of the rectum provokes the formation of hemorrhoids. The patient's food addictions are one of the factors in the occurrence of pathology - spicy, heavy, difficult to digest food, alcohol, which causes stagnation of blood in the perineum, and overflow of blood into the veins of the rectum.
In order to avoid such a process, the diet of a patient with hemorrhoids should completely exclude provoking foods. The diet that a patient with hemorrhoids should follow should counteract constipation and bloating - soft stools will help avoid injury to the hemorrhoidal areas.
A patient with hemorrhoids must eat properly throughout his life, otherwise the disease will recur. Allowed foods allow a person to receive all the necessary nutrients and have a tasty and varied diet.
Existing methods of surgical treatment of hemorrhoids allow the patient to recover quite quickly - after a few days he can leave the clinic, but postoperative symptoms remain, the elimination of which will take 4-5 weeks. In the first days, the pain is most acute, then, by 10-14 days, the painful sensations disappear. During this period, the rate of healing of postoperative wounds will depend solely on the patient’s nutrition.
It should be taken into account that even with the highest level of surgery, the patient will inevitably encounter:
- pain syndrome;
- fear of pain during bowel movements;
- in rare cases - with cracks and bleeding from them (the reason is too hard or bulky stool).
Diet after surgery to remove hemorrhoids will help avoid postoperative complications and complex treatment.
Diet in the first three days after surgery
Before surgery, patients are often interested in what they can eat after hemorrhoid surgery?
The first day after the intervention should pass without eating food.
You are allowed to drink liquids - still mineral water or regular clean drinking water is best for this.
Compliance with the drinking regime is important for a patient with hemorrhoids and involves drinking at least two liters of water per day. Such nutrition will allow the body not to form feces in the first 48 hours after surgery.
Diet after hemorrhoid removal 24 hours after surgery should include drinks without added sugar:
- weak tea (preferably green);
- herbal tea (chamomile, chamomile with nettle, chamomile with mint, chamomile with lemon balm and nettle).
- dried fruits (apples, dried prunes).
By the end of the second day, you can include liquid porridge with water in the menu:
The porridge must be well boiled and liquid; adding milk, sugar, and butter is prohibited. If it is difficult for a patient to eat unleavened porridge, it can be sweetened with half a teaspoon of honey or fructose.
Food can be taken every 2.5 - 3 hours (at least 6 times throughout the day).
On the third day, the menu after the operation becomes closer to the main one allowed before the operation. The patient’s diet should not only be varied and complete, providing the patient’s body with all the elements a person needs. The patient can be given fermented milk products (low fat) - fermented baked milk, kefir, yogurt.
The drinking regime must be maintained. During the postoperative period and beyond, the patient needs to drink a glass of liquid every three hours.
The menu in the first week after the intervention gradually expands, supplemented by steamed meat and fish dishes.
Nutrition of the patient in the first 14 days after surgery
The correct eating behavior of a patient who has undergone surgical treatment is determined by rules, the purpose of which is to create the most gentle conditions for the healing and renewal of the rectal mucosa.
- Food should be taken at least 6 times a day.
- Portions should be small (fit into a handful).
- After eating there should not be a feeling of a full stomach.
- Alcoholic drinks should be excluded from the menu.
- No smoking.
- The menu should consist of high-quality, nutrient-rich food; dishes are selected in accordance with the patient’s taste preferences.
- The menu should include olive, flaxseed, sunflower, and hemp oils.
- Use laxatives only in rare cases; normal bowel movements can be restored only by changing the foods consumed. You can use Duphalac (or other lactulose-based laxatives) once.
- It is necessary to give the body a small load 2-3 times a day - exercises in the morning, walking at lunchtime and in the evening are good.
What can you eat in the second week after surgery? The menu can be composed of steamed or boiled vegetables with milk sauce. Throughout the week, the patient can be given soups with vegetable broth, porridge with the addition of meatballs or steamed cutlets with milk sauce. You can add baked apples as a dessert. The amount of sugar should be limited - no more than a tablespoon of honey or fructose per day. Vegetable oils can be added to porridge after cooking. The main cooking methods are boiling, stewing and steaming.
Menu for 1 day for the second week of illness
Breakfast: buckwheat porridge with a teaspoon of vegetable oil, 1 egg omelette, baked in the oven, 2 pieces of steamed prunes, weak unsweetened green tea;
Second breakfast: banana;
Lunch: vegetable soup with vegetable oil, steamed meat cutlet, a piece of gray bread, 2-3 pieces of steamed prunes;
Afternoon snack: milkshake made from fermented baked milk and banana;
Dinner: barley porridge, boiled fish, a teaspoon of vegetable oil, gray bread, weak herbal tea;
Before bed, a glass of kefir, crispbread (biscuits).
Nutrition after surgery to remove hemorrhoids should include the required amount of protein to support the immune system and fats for normal liver function.
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What can you eat immediately after surgery?
For the first day after surgery, you must refrain from eating, but you must drink a lot of clean drinking or still mineral water.
On the second day, you can eat simple foods: lightly brewed green and herbal tea (with chamomile and nettle), dogwood compote or infusion of dried dogwood berries, liquid porridge without milk, butter and, preferably, without sugar or with half a teaspoon of fructose per serving: oatmeal , wheat, barley.
From the third day after the operation, with the permission of the proctologist, you can switch to nutrition, which should become the main one at least until complete healing.
Be sure to follow the following rules:
- Take prescribed medications.
- Eat small portions at the same time up to 5-6 times a day, ideally every 2.5 - 3 hours you need to eat a little of the permitted foods.
- Avoid overeating even on healthy foods (a slight feeling of hunger or desire to eat more is better than a feeling of a full stomach).
- With your doctor's permission, give yourself light physical activity. It’s better to start with yoga, then add race walking and swimming, and even later running.
- Quit alcohol and smoking.
- Meals after surgery should be complete, light and varied in taste and texture in order to stimulate intestinal function.
- It is necessary to increase the volume of fluid consumed, taking into account soups and liquid cereals - up to three liters per day.
- It is very important to take vegetable oils - olive, flaxseed or high-quality sunflower - for normal intestinal motility and a mild laxative effect.
- You should not abuse laxatives even if you are prone to constipation. Their prevention should be carried out by establishing a proper and healthy diet, and if there are difficulties with bowel movements, taking lactulose-based drugs (Duphalac) is allowed.
- Lean meat (veal, rabbit);
- Poultry meat (chicken, turkey);
- Lenten varieties of fish (cod, navaga, hake, pollock);
- Eggs in the form of fluffy omelettes, cooked covered by simmering, but not frying;
- Fermented milk products: fermented baked milk, kefir, cottage cheese (hard cheeses with low fat content and in small quantities are allowed);
- Vegetables high in fine fiber: lettuce, carrots, beets, pumpkin, turnips, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini;
- Fruits: bananas, dogwood and kiwi;
- Dried fruits: dried apricots and prunes - up to several berries per day;
- Drinks: pure water, green tea, dogwood compote, an aqueous solution of honey in warm boiled water (1 tablespoon per 200 ml), decoctions and infusions of medicinal herbs (chamomile, nettle, yarrow).
Porridges should be cooked liquid, viscous or very crumbly, thoroughly boiling the cereal. You can steam the cereal in a thermos for 10-12 hours without cooking. Preference is given to buckwheat and millet, as they are the most easily digestible and nutritious. Rice is no less useful, but it must be consumed with caution: it has a fixing effect.
Meat and fish should be steamed, boiled or baked in a slow cooker or oven, wrapped in foil or parchment without using fat (healthiness is given in descending order).
Vegetables are best steamed, boiled or casseroled with the addition of vegetable oil. In their raw form, they can irritate post-operative areas, so in their natural form they should be consumed after complete healing of the wound surface, administered gradually.
Good bran bread, made from coarse flour, rich in fiber. White bread and baked goods are not beneficial and contain simple carbohydrates that are undesirable during operations of the gastrointestinal tract. Black bread causes flatulence and triggers the fermentation process, which is undesirable for hemorrhoids.
It is acceptable to eat diet crispbreads that are high in fiber. Avoid sour fruits completely; consume sweet ones with caution to avoid fermentation. It is advisable to replace sugar with fructose.
Breakfast
- Viscous or crumbly porridge with fructose / steamed omelette / boiled egg with steamed vegetables;
- Banana / prunes / fresh dogwood berries;
- Unsweetened tea.
Lunch
- Boiled egg or steam omelet / cottage cheese with finely chopped dried fruits / salad of boiled carrots and beets with vegetable oil;
- Kiwi/banana.
- Vegetable soup / weak meat or fish broth;
- Steam chicken cutlet/steam fish cutlet;
- A serving of bran bread;
- A couple of pieces of dried apricots or prunes / dried dogwood.
Afternoon snack
- A glass of fermented baked milk / kefir / cocktail of kefir, banana and kiwi;
- Crispbread;
- Dogwood.
- Boiled fish / boiled poultry / steamed fish or meat cutlet;
- Brown bread;
- Herbal infusion/unsweetened tea.
- Dogwood compote / herbal infusion;
- Crispbread/dried fruit.
Alcohol creates a picture after consumption that illustrates how detrimental it is to those with hemorrhoids. Alcohol dilates blood vessels and increases heart rate. The increased blood flow puts pressure on the weak walls of the venous vessels of the rectum and can break through them in a particularly thin place.
At the end of the vasodilator effect, a sharp inhibition of cardiac activity is observed and blood stagnation occurs. Capillary ruptures and bleeding from hemorrhoids are possible. The kidneys, expelling alcohol toxins, draw out a lot of fluid, and urination becomes more frequent. Dehydration begins, which can lead to constipation.
Strained blood vessels with difficulty in bowel movement may burst. The breakdown products of alcohol enter the fresh ruptures and cracks, and intoxication and ulceration of the walls of blood vessels and the intestinal mucosa begin.
Nicotine tar adversely affects the condition of the walls of blood vessels and destabilizes blood flow. Because of this, blood circulation becomes difficult and blood stagnation occurs, especially with a sedentary lifestyle or excess weight. Since hemorrhoids are a problem of blood vessels and blood circulation, quitting smoking is one of the stages of long-term treatment. As you continue to smoke, the effectiveness of treatment decreases.
The first postoperative week is a particularly difficult period, fraught with complications. At this time, it is important to strictly follow the doctors' instructions without resorting to self-medication.
Special restrictions apply to nutrition. Typically, the patient spends the next day after surgery in the hospital, under the supervision of specialists.
On the first postoperative day he does not receive food, and drinking is also limited. On days 2 and 3, a very limited set of dishes is allowed.
Food can be taken in small portions, drinking regime is limited.
On the fourth day, meat and boiled vegetables are gradually introduced into the menu. The patient is allowed to include the following dishes in the diet after hemorrhoid removal surgery:
- steamed meatballs made from white meat chicken, turkey or lean fish;
- stewed zucchini, carrots, green beans, cauliflower;
- weak chicken broth with meatballs.
What can you eat after hemorrhoid surgery in the first 7 days? In the first week, it is undesirable for the patient to eat food that causes excessive fermentation in the stomach and interferes with tissue regeneration.
It includes slimy soups, fresh vegetables, sweet fruits, and viscous porridges. After 7-10 days these restrictions are lifted.
The menu becomes more varied 7 days after surgery. It includes poultry and fish, and the list of permitted vegetables and fruits is expanded.
Portions should be small; for better absorption, the diet should be divided into 4-5 parts. To prevent food from seeming boring, the diet after hemorrhoid surgery should be as varied as possible, rich in vitamins, fiber, and proteins.
Monday
Breakfast:
- crumbly millet porridge on water;
- rosehip decoction with honey.
Lunch:
- whole grain toast with honey.
Afternoon snack:
- vegetable stew with grain bread toast;
- Mint tea.
Before bedtime:
- a glass of low-fat homemade yogurt.
Tuesday
Breakfast:
- buckwheat porridge with water;
- green tea with soy milk.
Lunch:
- freshly squeezed plum juice.
- baked tomato with low-fat cheese;
- carrot juice.
Before bedtime:
- tea with hawthorn and lemon balm.
Breakfast:
- bran bread toast;
- boiled egg;
- chicory drink.
Lunch:
- pasta with vegetable sauce;
- rosehip tea with honey.
Thursday
Breakfast:
- oatmeal with dried fruits;
- green tea.
Lunch:
- seaweed salad;
- steamed turkey;
- apricot juice.
Friday
Breakfast:
- cottage cheese casserole;
- chicory drink.
Lunch:
- salad of grated carrots and beets.
- fish soufflé;
- green tea with dates.
Saturday
Breakfast:
- pearl barley porridge;
- green tea with soy milk.
Lunch:
- fish with tomatoes;
- a piece of fresh melon.
Sunday
Breakfast:
- cheesecakes with steamed berries;
- rosehip tea.
Lunch:
- warm salad with carrots;
- apricot mousse.
Before bedtime:
- low-fat kefir with bran.
On the first day after surgery, you should refuse to eat; it is recommended to only drink. This will help relieve the intestines from unbearable load. You are allowed to eat after 24 hours, but regular food will not work. Nutrition after hemorrhoid surgery:
- Porridge with diluted milk, water (crushed in a blender or rubbed through a sieve).
- Vegetable broth or decoction (without the vegetables themselves).
- Classic steam omelette.
- Kissels, fruit jelly.
- Compote, weak black and green tea, fresh juices diluted in half with water (plum, grape, apricot are not allowed).
Important. At first, the amount of food per meal should not exceed 250 g, and you need to eat at least 6 times a day, and preferably 8. All dishes should be served warm, with a liquid or semi-liquid consistency. The amount of salt should be reduced to 1 g per day.
On days 2–4, new products and dishes made from them are introduced into the menu of the operated patient. They are still prepared by steaming or simply boiling. Six split meals a day, which facilitates bowel function and makes stool softer, also remains unchanged.
Nutrition of the patient during the rehabilitation period
Despite the improvement in the patient's condition after the intervention, nutrition after hemorrhoid surgery still has strict restrictions on foods containing large amounts of coarse plant fibers (some vegetables) and sour fruits.
Within 4 weeks after the operation, the marks on the mucous membranes of the rectum are completely healed, and the patient can switch to an expanded menu. All new dishes on the menu should be introduced little by little, monitoring the process of cleansing the intestines. For a more balanced diet, you should adhere to complexity - each meat and fish dish should be complemented by a side dish of stewed or boiled vegetables.
Sample menu after surgery (2 weeks - 1 month)
After hemorrhoid surgery, the diet on day 28 is more extensive. An approximate menu for a day should include at least 2500 calories, the break between meals is 2.5-3 hours. Immediately after waking up, it is useful to drink a glass of warm water and a spoonful of good vegetable oil.
Breakfast: millet porridge with a teaspoon of vegetable oil, 1 egg omelette, baked in the oven, 2 pieces of steamed prunes, weak unsweetened herbal tea;
Second breakfast: baked apple;
Lunch: buckwheat soup with vegetable oil, steamed meatballs with onion and carrot sauce with sour cream, stewed zucchini, a slice of gray bread, banana;
Afternoon snack: fermented baked milk with crispy bread;
Dinner: wheat porridge, steamed fish cutlet, a teaspoon of vegetable oil, gray bread, a weak rosehip decoction;
Before bed: lemon balm tea with a teaspoon of honey,
Nutrition during recovery
During the period after the surgical wound has healed, in the fifth week, the menu can gradually include raw vegetables, stewed and boiled vegetables containing fiber. Allowed for use:
- yesterday's gray bread or with added bran;
- various porridges (except semolina);
- pasta made from solid flour, no more than 2 times a week;
- vegetables - beets, zucchini, pumpkin, broccoli and cauliflower, cucumbers, tomatoes;
- fruits - bananas, apples, prunes, dried apricots;
- all fermented milk products;
- lean meats - poultry, turkey, rabbit;
- river and sea fish, low-fat;
- all types of high-quality refined vegetable oil;
- drinks from medicinal herbs, compotes, homemade juices without sugar, fruit drinks.
When adding raw seasonal vegetables to the diet, first introduce small portions; if there are no contraindications, consume them in any quantity.
Prunes and dried apricots can be consumed in strictly limited quantities.
It is necessary to maintain a drinking regime (at least 3 liters of liquid with soup).
Prohibited Products
Nutrition after hemorrhoid surgery has a list of exceptions, which it is advisable to adhere to constantly. Removing these foods from the diet is important and necessary for the formation of soft stools.
You should not eat foods that stimulate blood flow to the pelvis and perineum:
- food “garbage” (fast food, chips, candy bars, etc., coffee in small packages);
- spicy, fatty and smoked foods;
- sausages, sausages, pates, canned food;
- products that contain cocoa;
- dishes containing starch;
- fresh milk;
- various sweets;
- yeast baked goods, sweet butter baked goods;
- fresh white bread;
- black bread;
- strong coffee and tea;
- all legumes, regular white and red cabbage, radish, radish, daikon;
- limited rice and semolina;
- potato;
- alcohol;
- spices, onions, garlic;
- hot sauces with preservatives;
- all types of mushrooms;
- fatty meat, butter, animal fats;
- nuts, dates, citrus fruits, sour leafy vegetables;
- fruits, vegetables and berries containing small seeds;
- sparkling waters, energy drinks, beer.
The main methods of cooking remain boiling, stewing, baking, and steaming.
The first month after hemorrhoid surgery: nutrition and its features
Starting from the third day after surgery, the diet is gradually expanded. The main goal of therapeutic nutrition during this period is to create gentle conditions for the intestinal mucosa, promoting rapid healing of the surgical wound and ensuring regular soft stools. The diet is based on the following principles:
- the menu includes high-quality, nutrient-rich foods, including vegetable oils (sunflower, hemp, olive);
- The consumption of any alcoholic beverages, including low-alcohol drinks, is prohibited;
- portions should be small (about one handful);
- food is taken six times a day;
- After eating, the patient should not have a feeling of fullness in the stomach.
Foods that should not be consumed during the first month after the intervention include sour fruits and vegetables rich in coarse plant fibers, for example, cabbage, radish.
In the first few days of the postoperative period, patients often experience fear of defecation due to pain in the perineum. In order to facilitate bowel movements, for 3-4 days they are prescribed a lactulose-based laxative, for example, Duphalac. In the future, regular bowel movements are achieved with a properly formulated diet.
What can you eat after hemorrhoid surgery in the first month after the intervention? Menu includes:
- boiled or steamed vegetables;
- boiled porridge in water;
- soups with vegetable broths, especially pureed ones;
- steamed dried fruits;
- baked apples;
- omelettes;
- steamed meatballs or cutlets;
- dairy products;
- milk sauce (Béchamel);
- brown bread;
- 1 tablespoon of fructose or honey per day;
- vegetable oils (added to ready-made dishes in small quantities).
Puree soups with vegetable broth can be consumed a few days after hemorrhoid removal
Sample menu for one day:
- breakfast - porridge with water made from oatmeal with a teaspoon of olive oil, an omelette from one egg, 2-3 pieces of soaked prunes, unsweetened and weak green tea;
- second breakfast – a glass of low-fat fermented baked milk;
- lunch – vegetable soup with sunflower oil, a slice of gray bread, a steamed beef cutlet, 2-3 pieces of soaked prunes;
- afternoon snack - banana;
- dinner - barley porridge with a teaspoon of vegetable oil, a piece of steamed fish, a slice of gray bread, unsweetened herbal tea;
- at night - a biscuit or crispbread, a glass of kefir.
Foods that should not be consumed during the first month after the intervention include sour fruits and vegetables rich in coarse plant fibers, for example, cabbage, radish. Any products not included in the approved list are prohibited.
When preparing dishes, you must avoid frying. Dishes should be steamed, boiled, stewed or baked.