salla...after my hip replacement I developed painful piles and my mate adviced an operation.........I refused.
So.....I was given St Mark´s Dilators to insert, well lubricated twice daily and well lubricated.
These dilators are like glass Russian dolls which one had to insert in ever increasing sizes and initially it was painful even to insert the small one.
After a time it became easier and what was becoming increasingly worrying was that I was beginning to look forward to my twice daily insertions........so at that point, I gave up.