After suffering for 25 years I had the ligation done 18 months ago. Having two women shove a camera up your arse and hearing them make comments like “Ooh lovely and clean” was a bit embarrassing. What was worse was the fact that they misplaced at least one of the bands by putting them slightly too low - I read that it could be just a couple of millimetres that makes the difference.

What followed was 24 hours of incredibly intense pain that felt like being anally raped by a jagged bit of metal - not that I’ve actually been violated in that way but you get the idea. I vomited because the pain was so intense and passed out a couple of times. The pain was just about bearable with paracetamol the following day and I was pain-free within a few weeks. I’ve only had a very minor haemorrhoid since which is a relief as I had been getting thrombosed piles about twice a year for many years which were a right pain in the arse.

Get the ligation done but be prepared for the possibility of severe short-term pain.