Miss Kathryn McCarthy

Written by a private patient at Southmead Hospital

I came across Dr.McCarthy's website/clinic after doing a search online for anal skin tag removal and was impressed by her videos on the website explaining what to expect before, during, and after a procedure, which gave me the confidence to book a consultation. Prior to attending my first consultation, I emailed my medical notes from a previous consultation to Dr.McCarthy to give her a heads-up on the extreme discomfort I experienced there. I felt very reassured on the day of consultation when Dr.McCarthy acknowledged and explained what that discomfort was and was quick and gentle with the examination. Nurse Anoushka helped a great deal too in making me feel at ease. I was then given my options and again, Dr.McCarthy listened and took my fears into consideration and agreed to assess what could be done (if indeed all could be removed) on the day of the procedure. On the day of the procedure, my friend was allowed to be in the same room where the procedure took place and I was extremely grateful for that. I had two skin tags removed and a haemorrhoidectomy and the whole procedure lasted between 10 to 15 minutes. I experienced about a minute of discomfort during the procedure when something had to be inserted to remove the haemorrhoid but that discomfort was worth it when I was given the option to see all that was removed...not pleasant to see but very satisfying to know that those pesky things are out and will no longer cause me any pain or discomfort again! My recovery was fairly quick apart from the first few days of tolerable pain when having to open up my bowels. I took 2 paracetamols prior to going, applied a generous dabbing of Savlon everyday and took Dulcoease capsule twice a day for that softening relief! The bleeding and discharge stopped around day 9 for me and from then onwards, the recovery was smooth sailing! I had my final consultation today (almost 7 weeks post-procedure) and all is good... thanks to Dr.McCarthy and Anoushka...they're both professional, confident, down-to-earth, and very easy to communicate with. Most importantly, they get the job done swiftly, painlessly, and so efficiently.

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Written by a NHS patient at Southmead Hospital

The great team that Miss McCarthy works as part of provided good patient care, support and follow up. Kathryn listened and discussed with me, any concerns and options of surgery along with a some of the side effects. I valued her humour and down to earth nature as it helped put me at ease. I feel very fortunate to have been able to receive care in the time frame that i have an to have been provided by team and support staff. I understand that I am relatively young to be having this surgery (age 30) and found some of the after effects of the surgery now 8 weeks post surgery to be as follow. I understand that the muscles around my procedure area should in due course relax and reduce the current challenges I am currently experiencing: - Difficulty in wearing tampon - Discomfort in hearing sexual intercourse - Difficulty in going to the bathroom without the use of laxatives - Discomfort in sitting down for medium/long periods of time (a bed pillow to sit on is my new best friend!) On the plus side the area (doughnut) of the procedure I had was strong and the stitches were in place. By this nature of the tightness and length of the tissue which forms the doughnut it can lead to these effects, highlighting the procedure had gone well. Short term pain for long term gain! One thing which caught me by surprise (can happen) was when my doughnut shifted and didn't line up to the bottom hole. I was able to move it back but it caused a high level of pain for a short term but found getting into a deep breathing regime helps. it has happened a couple of times since surgery but to no negative effect.

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Written by a private patient at Southmead Hospital

I can not express my gratitude enough. From very first contact, Dr McCarthy put me right at ease. Pregnancy 4 years ago gave me hemmoroids, those hemmoroids caused skin tags. The NHS won't remove them as it's deemed cosmetic, although anyone who has them can testify they are as bothersome as hemmoroids. Also, a real confidence downer! I was told by the NHS the only way to remove them was surgery under general anestheic and I would have to pay thousands , as well as having 6 + weeks off work. It just wasn't feesable . I was at rock bottom. (excuse the pun!) I searched for an alternative and found The McCarthy clinic. Nestled in the heart of Clifton. I was unsure as to whether this could even be treated an alternative way. My first appointment was a breeze, I had a very thorough consultation and did not feel embarrassed or ashamed at all. I didn't feel rushed and was able to explain my symptoms in detail. Dr McCarthy and her assistant, Anoushka felt like friends right from the get go. After my examination, which did not hurt in the slightest, Dr McCarthy then told me the best course of action. She was extremely clear about what to expect and what the procedure entails. I came along for my first of two appointments (as it was to risky to remove all in one go) and it went swimmingly. I felt completely at ease and the procedure was done within minutes. Yes the local anesthetic wasn't pleasant but it lasted no more than a minute. A bit of squealing and deep breaths got me through that as well as some banter and jokes. We laughed and joked throughout the procedure and the kind nature of the team really made what I thought was going to be a horrific experience (don't read blogs on Google!) The exact opposite. I was able to drive myself home after a 30 min wait in the waiting room and given thorough after care advice. The local anesthetic wore off and I felt bruised more than anything. I took the prescribed codeine before bed and slept really well. (I take paracetamol and ibuprofen during the day) I woke the next morning, feeling bruised but that's probably from the local anesthetic injections, glugged some lactulose and a few hours later had a bowel movement. I was terrified!! To my surprise it wasn't painful AT ALL. I had Anoushka call me the following afternoon to check how I was doing, which was great! Having a flare up is much much worse than what I am going through right now, on a pain scale. I was worried that this would be so hurrendous, that I wouldn't go back again in 3 months time for the rest to be removed, but it's a walk in the park. It's worth noting, I don't have a high pain threshold at all. Thank you for your empathy, compassion and professionalism. I can't recommend The McCarthy clinic enough.

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Written by a private patient at Southmead Hospital

After suffering for years alongside another existing condition , it was so nice to get treatment that didn't involve having a general anaesthetic. The aftercare was great . The first few days were very painful but with pain relief that helped significantly, although I am not quite healed I am well on my way.

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Written by a private patient at Southmead Hospital

I had a large anal skin tag which has bothered me for YEARS, especially with regards to sexual activity/confidence & self-esteem during sex. Being a very sexual person this was a massive issue for me. I'd consulted with the NHS who told me that they weren't able to put me forward for surgery as the reasons for removal for solely aesthetic purposes. I found The McCarthy Clinic via Google and after researching a bit more about Dr McCarthy I emailed to book in for a consultation. Her assistant Anouska is AMAZING, I loved her!! She was so welcoming and bubbly and made me feel at ease straight away. She met me in the waiting room of the clinic and took me up to a room where I met Miss McCarthy. Kathryn was wholly professional throughout the whole experience and also made me feel at ease. It felt so easy and natural to talk about things that normally I wouldn't be able to talk about. We even had a laugh and I just felt very comfortable. I knew during the consultation that I wanted to go ahead with the surgery even though I was given time to think about it. I booked in for the surgery 2-3 weeks after my consultation by emailing Miss McCarthy's secretary. Before the surgery took place I had thought that I might be a little sore afterwards (I had no idea what I was in for!!). Kathryn and Anouska were so lovely again. It was very painful for me when the local anaesthetic was injected - I didn't expect it to be so sore. I had to take deep breaths and calm myself down (and there were definitely tears). The removal itself was fine at the time - I did not feel it being taken off due to the anaesthetic. Anouska and Kathryn took before and after photos and I COULD NOT BELIEVE THE DIFFERENCE. It's honestly something I felt like I had waited for my whole life. Miss McCarthy was very thorough when explaining post-surgery protocols to me and how I should treat the wound. I sat in the waiting room for 30 minutes post surgery to make sure I was okay and then I left. The local anaesthetic started wearing off about 2-3 hours after the procedure. For the 2-3 weeks after I took paracetamol and ibuprofen every day, reducing the dosage as the pain wore off. Codeine was optional but I decided not to take it because I did not want to be constipated, even though I was in a lot of pain. Going to the toilet for the first week after was excruciating. It was so, so painful - I could barely move afterwards because of the pain and the throbbing of the area around the wound. I had to lie down every time afterwards. I was also sleeping A LOT for the first 2 weeks after the surgery whilst my body recovered. I did have to take around 2 weeks off work as I just didn't have the energy and couldn't walk properly either. The wound was very inflamed for the few weeks after the procedure and I had bleeding when going to the toilet for maybe around 3-4 weeks. As the wound healed there was also seeping white/yellowy liquid but Anouska reassured me that this was normal and a part of the healing process. Anouska was always on hand via whatsapp if I was worried about anything or had any questions. Over time I could see that the area was becoming less inflamed and tightening up. I am now 12 weeks post-surgery and I AM SO HAPPY WITH THE RESULTS. Honestly, I am so so glad that I got this done, it has changed so much for me. I'm so much more confident and at ease during sex and I don't have to worry about it when meeting new sexual partners. It's something that has always been a background concern for me that to be honest did make me feel quite miserable. So I have no regrets at all. Even with all the pain. Everything has pretty much tightened up, the area is still quite hard (maybe scar tissue?) but no more inflammation that I can see. There is just a tiny hard bit of skin sticking out slightly near the entrance of the wound - in my 6 week post surgery check up Miss McCarthy said that if I wanted this removed at a later date I could and that they would leave my case open for me, which I was really grateful for. I didn't decide to get it done at that time as the wound was still healing and I probably wasn't ready emotionally for another procedure!! I would also need to plan for the possibility of needing more time off work as I am self-employed. However, I may get it sorted later in the year. Other than this (which really isn't noticeable unless you look quite close) I have a normal butthole!!! I'm so happy. Thank you Kathryn, and thank you Anouska :)

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