Hemorrhoids can be quite literally, a pain in the butt. If you’ve never had hemorrhoids, you can count yourself lucky that you’ve never had to suffer that excruciating itching, burning and sharp pain that comes with hemorrhoids.
But don’t think that you’re 100% safe from getting hemorrhoids. They don’t just happen to the elderly or the obese. Young people can get hemorrhoids, too. In fact, hemorrhoids are commonly seen in mothers, as pregnancy and birth can often cause hemorrhoids.
How do you know that you have hemorrhoids?
A number of conditions can cause the characteristic itching sensation in the anus and perianal region, such as thrush (a yeast infection that usually affects the vagina). The classic symptom of hemorrhoids is fresh blood appearing on the feces or on the toilet paper. This fresh blood appears bright red – darker blood (which appears black and inside the feces) is not caused by hemorrhoids but usually something more serious. However, other
conditions, such as anal fissures, also can cause bleeding within the rectum.
You will have to get your doctor to check. He or she will give you a digital rectal examination (and possibly also a colonoscopy if nothing is obvious straight away), as well as probably mentioning a few hemorrhoid relief methods.
You may hear some people – particularly older people –referring to hemorrhoids as “piles”. This name refers to a hemorrhoid that protrudes (prolapses) out of the anus. While these are no more or less dangerous than non-prolapsed hemorrhoids, they are certainly more alarming – and painful.
However, using hemorrhoid relief treatments may be easier with these external hemorrhoids.
Sometimes, if your doctor has diagnosed that you do indeed have hemorrhoids, he or she may also start talking about surgical methods to treat them, especially if you have a chronic problem with hemorrhoids. Often, these surgical methods can have some unpleasant side effects.
For Example,Surgery: this can lead to incontinence in later life.
Cryosurgery (freezing the hemorrhoid with liquid nitrogen) is also incredibly painful. It’s much better to find a hemorrhoid relief treatment that avoids these painful and alarming procedures, especially a natural treatment that works.
Knowing the root cause of hemorrhoids is important,
but when you’ve got them, knowing about a selection of hemorrhoid relief methods
is more of a burning question – make that an itching, burning question.
Usually, excessive straining because of constipation and/or diarrhea puts the
pressure on the veins and capillaries in the rectal tissue, and this causes
hemorrhoids.
Therefore, increasing the amount of fiber and water in the diet can help prevent hemorrhoids. Laxatives, however, are NOT recommended as a form of hemorrhoid relief, as they can often make the bowel cramp and strain even more… which is what causes the hemorrhoids in the first place.
Hemorrhoids can also be brought on by the extreme pressure (and straining) of the birthing process, and it’s pretty obvious that changing your diet won’t prevent this happening!