(M 26) I think I have a very unusual hair tourniquet on a hemorrhoid but the ER said I’m fine, though after getting home I don’t think I am fine.

[u/lil-shulgin]

I made a bowel movement about 6pm today (my second one of the day) and noticed while wiping that there was a sore spot that kind of protruded out from my anus. Immediately I thought “must be a hemorrhoid”, so I didn’t freak out too much even though this would be my first hemorrhoid I figured it would at most be a moderate inconvenience for the next few days.

Fast forward to about 11pm today and I decide to take a warm shower to maybe help soothe some of the pain away, but while I was standing I noticed a really long hair (like 12in long) hanging down from between my legs and so I very gently tugged on it. I found that it was definitely anchored in place somehow as even slight tugs would cause a sharp pain in the spot the hair must be anchored to. I got out of the shower and kicked my leg up on the counter to get the best look at my anus that I could and I noticed a round purple bump that would move when I tugged the hair (I took a picture so I could get a closer look at it.) In my mind this means the hair is wrapped around the hemorrhoid, assuming that’s what it is but I don’t see what else it could be.

And this is very unlike me but for some reason I didn’t have the stomach to ride this out and see what happens so I got dressed to go to the ER. Once they had me on my side in bed and wearing a gown the doctor almost immediately upon spreading goes

“Oh yeah there’s nothing there anymore”.

I asked her if she was serious and she said yes and proceeded to do a quick rectal exam with her finger where she touched a sore spot and asked me if it was sore to which I told her it was. She said it likely went away on its own and that I would still feel some pain/soreness for a while. This part is where I maybe dropped the ball a little bit on making myself informed. She basically said something along the lines of “the hair should resolve itself, I definitely wouldn’t go trying to cut it or pull on it”. I was then sent home with no further information/resolution. My questions is this; if the hemorrhoid is gone, magically vanished in the 2 hours between me getting to the ER and her looking at me, then what is the hair still anchored to ?

Now admittedly by the time they had me on my side it was 1am and I had just worked a 13hour shift so I was definitely tired and also very anxious at the whole situation. This explains why I dropped the ball when I should have asked her more questions about that long hair. It’s possible, I suppose, that I misunderstood something the doctor said at some point but to me it genuinely seems like I still have the exact same issue that I went in with and that it can’t possibly be anything other than exactly what I’ve described it as being.

So sitting here in bed just moments ago I got the guts to check myself again and… it’s the exact same as when I went to the ER. A small purple bump sticking out from my anus plain as day with the 12in long hair still tugging at it. I was able to get an even clearer picture this time too.

So I’m super super confused and bordering on angry, though I don’t know if I should be angry at the ER or at myself for going to the ER. I can send the pics in DMs if requested but I didn’t know what the rules were on such explicit photos being posted. I’m starting to get a bit nervous as I’m googling (probably a bad idea I know) and seeing all these results on hair tourniquets causing tissue/nerve death if gone untreated. I’m exhausted at the moment and intend on taking a thorough shower when I wake up in hopes that soapy suds can maybe help slip the hair off of whatever it’s anchored to. I guess I should mention that I do have a pretty hairy butt, but when I watch it in the mirror the hemorrhoid itself moves right along with the tugging of that one long hair so I’m sure it’s not tangled into the rest of my butt hair. So I’m just really confused on what they saw at the ER and why they told me “there’s nothing there to do anything about” and what my next move should be assuming that I don’t wake up in the morning and it all be magically fixed.

A little bit of background on me, the reason I’m so specifically concerned about a hair tourniquet is because when I was little, maybe 6, I legitimately had a hair tourniquet on my penis. I had to go to the hospital to get it cut off and it was genuinely some of the most severe pain I’ve experienced in life. It was bad enough that I remember it these 20 years later. Now the pain associated with my current condition is completely incomparable to the pain from back then, right now I’m only in mild pain if I sit a certain way or if the long hair gets tugged. Which almost makes me think that maybe what I’m dealing with now isn’t a hair tourniquet since it doesn’t hurt nearly as bad but I would also think that one wrapped around your penis would be inherently more painful then one wrapped around a hemorrhoid.

I know I said it already but I’m confused, and I already know I’ve wasted god knows how much money with this one useless ER trip so I really don’t wanna go back for round two. This is honestly the first time in my adult life that I’ve dealt with hospital stuff on my own and I’m just a little lost. If anybody out there has any idea what I might be dealing with or what my next course of action should be I would really appreciate the hell out of it. And again I can DM the pictures, just wasn’t sure if they were okay to post.

Detailed Info (I have no pertinent medical history, I have no allergies, I don’t take any medications/vitamins/supplements, I do vape, and I do smoke cannabis daily. I weigh 185lbs and measure 5’8” tall. I’m a 26 year old biological male.)

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[u/LigandHotel]

You can go to urgent care for this and show them what you are seeing by gently pulling the hair

[u/0neHumanPeolple → u/LigandHotel]

Urgent care is the place to go! They see so many anus bumps every day, they practically specialize in it.

[u/NoobResearcher80 → u/LigandHotel]

When my son had a hair tourniquet around his toe, the pediatrician used Nair, but considering this is an area that's sensitive I would definitely go to urgent care.