This is the part people most want described in advance and least often find described anywhere. So here it is in order, including what it feels like and what happens if it is too uncomfortable on the day.
An anoscope is a short rigid tube with a light on it. It goes in a few centimetres, which is enough to see the lower rectum where internal hemorrhoids sit, and it is withdrawn slowly so that each quadrant comes into view in turn. That is the whole of the instrument and the whole of the procedure.
What it is not is a colonoscopy, and that confusion causes a lot of unnecessary dread. No sedation, no bowel preparation, no scope travelling any distance, and no separate appointment. It happens during an ordinary consultation and takes a couple of minutes from start to finish.
What it establishes is the grade and which columns are involved, and those two answers decide everything that follows. Internal hemorrhoids explains the grading, how many sessions explains what the column count does, and prolapse covers the reducibility check done alongside.
Hamilton anoscopy
In order
The Hamilton examination, in sequence
Described first
You are told what is about to happen and roughly how long before anything begins. No part of it is a surprise.
Positioned and covered
On your side, covered apart from the area being examined. This takes longer than the examination itself does.
An external look
Done first and without any instrument. External disease, fissures and skin tags are all visible at this stage.
The anoscope
In a few centimetres, then withdrawn slowly so each quadrant is seen. Pressure rather than sharp pain for most people.
If it is too much
The undertaking to stop if you ask
Most people find this uncomfortable rather than painful, and brief enough that the anticipation turned out to be worse than the event itself. A minority do find it genuinely painful, and the commonest reason for that is an anal fissure, where the area is already raw before anything goes near it.
In that case we stop. Not push on through it, not finish quickly, stop. The external examination usually establishes a fissure on its own anyway, and the anoscopy can be deferred to a later visit once the tear has had a chance to settle down with softer stool.
That undertaking is worth having in writing before you arrive rather than hoping for it. Fissures explain why this happens, conservative care covers what settles one, and the first visit page covers the rest of the appointment around it.
A couple of minutesHow long
NoneSedation
We stopIf you ask to stop
Related
What the Hamilton examination settles
The grading it produces, the conditions it tells apart, and the number it feeds into your quote.
The questions people want answered before they arrive rather than while they are on the table.
Most people describe pressure and discomfort rather than pain, and it is brief. If you have a fissure it can be genuinely painful, which is the main reason we stop rather than finishing.
No. No sedation, no bowel preparation, no separate appointment, and the instrument goes in a few centimetres rather than travelling any distance. It happens during an ordinary consultation.
Nothing special. There is no bowel preparation and no fasting. Bring your medication list, and if you are on blood thinners say so early because it changes what follows.
A couple of minutes for the anoscopy itself. Getting positioned and covered genuinely takes longer than the examination does, and you are dressed again immediately afterwards rather than waiting around.
Yes, and we stop. Not finish quickly, stop. If a fissure is making it painful, the external examination has usually already told us that and the anoscopy can wait for a later visit.
Because the grade decides which treatments are available, and the column count decides how long a course runs. Neither can be established from a description or a photograph.
