Painful haemorrhoids a few hours after a bowel movement is a relatively uncommon condition. Defecation does have the potential to irritate painful haemorrhoids, but this usually occurs within minutes of a bowel movement and rarely reappears at intervals of several hours. If this does occur, it is presumed that a bacterial or fungal infection has been induced near the perianal area after a bowel movement, causing pain. It is also possible that this type of pain is not related to bowel movements.