It doesn’t matter how you spell it or misspell, hemorrhoids are an embarrassing subject to discuss. Because it’s so embarrassing, a lot of people don’t want to discuss their symptoms with a doctor, but it’s important to get a correct diagnosis before you just start treating your symptoms on your own. The most common symptoms of hemorrhoids are anal bleeding, itching, and pain. For the vast majority of people, these symptoms are minor and easily managed. In some cases, minor cases of hemmoroids may actually clear up on their own. Other more serious cases may require prescription creams or suppositories and in some instances even surgery.
What Is A Hemmoroid?
Well, a hemorrhoid is just a vein either in the anal canal or right at the opening of the anal canal that becomes stressed and then bulges out. Some people may only get one small hemmoroid, some people get a lot of little hemmoroids, and some people may get one really large painful one. The hemmoroids located in the anal canal are called internal hemmoroids and the ones directly at the opening are external hemmoroids.
What Causes Hemmoroids?
It’s not exactly known but these factors are thought to contribute to the formation of hemmoroids: excessive weight, pregnancy, poor diet, straining while using the bathroom, genetics, and aging.
What Are Common Hemmoroid Symptoms?
People who suffer from internal hemmoroids may not even be aware that they have hemmoroids as this type of hemmoroid is usually not painful due to a lack of pain receptors in the anal canal. Usually bleeding is the only symptom with internal hemmoroids. External hemmoroids usually exhibit the more common symptoms usually associated with hemmoroids such as pain, swelling and itching. In some instance, you may be able to see or feel the external hemmoroids as a small bump.
Do I Need To See A Doctor If I Think I Have Hemmoroids?
Yes, definitely. The reason for this is to eliminate anything more serious like colon cancer. Some other conditions of the colon area have similar symptoms to hemmoroids and these conditions need to be ruled out as a cause of your symptoms. This is especially true with any incidence of anal bleeding.
How Can I Treat My Hemmoroid?
When it comes to treatment, you have several options available. You can try an over the counter medication like Preparation H. Or you try some of the natural medications available online like Avatrol and Venapro. If your case warrants a more aggressive treatment, your doctor can give you a prescription for either a cream or a suppository with a stronger dose of medicine to help with the pain and swelling. In some serious hemmoroid cases, surgery may be required, but this is the exception rather than the rule.
Will I Need Surgery for My Hemmoroid?
As stated above, usually no. Most people can manage their symptoms without the need for surgery. You will only surgery if you have a very bad case. Hemmoroid surgeries have made a lot of advancements recently and there are a lot of hemmoroid procedures that are done quickly, with very little pain. Most of these surgical options don’t involve any actual cutting. In the bad old days of hemmoroid surgery, your only option used to be a hemorrhoidectomy which was when your hemmoroids were surgically cut off. This process is still in use today, but only for extremely bad cases. It fell out of favor because there are too many complications, a slower recovery time and the newer methods have proven to be much more effective. The newer surgical developments include rubber band ligation, Doppler guided hemorrhoidal artery ligation, and the stapled hemorrhoidectomy. In simple terms, these newer surgeries just cut off the blood supply to the hemmoroid which causes it to die. These surgeries can usually be done on an outpatient basis; patients will have less pain and a faster recovery.
Will My Hemmoroids Come Back?
In a lot of cases yes. It seems that if you are prone to hemmoroids, you may have a reoccurring problem.
Can I Prevent Hemmoroids?
Maybe. This is a cautious maybe because I don’t want to get your hopes up. In people with minor hemmoroids, the symptoms may clear up on their own and these people will have the best hope of
preventing hemmoroids in the future. People with a more serious case of hemmoroids may not achieve the same results. The best thing you can do is improve your diet with the addition of fiber. Eat of lot of high fiber foods like fruits, vegetables and high fiber breads. Try to find breads and cereal with 3 or more grams of fiber per serving. If you are still having a hard time getting enough fiber into your diet, try a bulk fiber that you add to your regular foods. Fiber will help make your bowel movements easier which is thought to be the main contributor to hemmoroids.
