Hemorrhoids are another term for piles, a disease caused by swollen veins in the lower region of anus, or inside rectum. Common symptoms of hemorrhoids are pain during bowel movements, swelling or lump near anus and pain around the area. Obviously, piles can be really obnoxious and painful, and may cause extreme discomfort, but if diagnosed in time and treated soon, it can be easily cured.

Although, Hemorrhoids may fade away in time with just some proper care, even without medical treatment, but proper diagnosis and early
treatment can save you a lot of trouble and discomfort, and prevent complications.

Get it diagnosed

Hemorrhoids are of two types, internal hemorrhoids or external hemorrhoids. External ones are generally more painful and cause itching or bleeding.

There are two common practices in the diagnosis of this disease;

1. Digital rectal exam: In this physical exam, the doctor will carry out a manual inspection inside the rectum with gloved hands and lubrication. He may try to detect any unusual growths and conclude if further testing will be necessary or not.
2. Visual exam: Internal hemorrhoids may be left undetected during a rectal exam, and so it may be required by the doctor to inspect lower part of colon and rectum with endoscope or other devices.

In some cases, the doctor may consider it prudent to conduct colonoscopy to diagnose the presence of other severe ailments.

Factors that may this health issue

Hemorrhoids are caused by excess pressure in the lower portion of rectum, which causes veins near anus to swell. A number of factors may lead to this condition;

• Obesity
• Aging
• Weight lifting
• Anal intercourse
• Genetics
• Chronic constipation
• Sitting for long duration
• Straining during bowel movements

Can it be treated?

In most cases you might not even need the medical treatment to assuage the swelling and pains caused by hemorrhoids and restore your health. Home remedies may do the trick. Here are some simple precautions and cures that might help with Hemorrhoids problem.

• Hygiene : washing anal area gently with warm water to keep the skin clean will help with the ailment
• Increase water intake: Higher amount of fluid intake tends to keep the stools soft and allows its easy passage through the rectum. Drink not less than 8 glasses of water a day for effect.
• Consume more fiber:Fruits and vegetables contain surplus amount of fiber, which tends to alleviate the condition due to Hemorrhoids.
• Topical administration: hydrocortisone is a topical medicine that can be administered as a cream or with suppository to treat the symptom.
• One may treat their swelling complaint by applying ice packs on the affected area in the anus
• Those in habit of taking oral pills might find pain relievers like aspirin, ibuprofen etc convenient to find some temporary relief.
• Do not procrastinate to defecate when the urge arises. Ignoring the urge may cause stools to become dry and harder to pass.
• Avoid excessive strain while defecating. This may cause pressure to be built in the veins and aggravate the ailment.

Possible complications

Though complications are a rare occurrence in this disease, but when they arise, it is prudent to identify them and thus find proper treatment without undue delay.

Anemia– It is a condition where excess blood loss from hemorrhoids causes deficiency of RBCs, which inhibits oxygen transportation to the cells.

Clotting– Certain factors can cause blood supply to the internal hemorrhoids to be severed, resulting in the formation of clots in the area. This can be extremely painful, if it reaches the severe stage. At this stage it is called Strangulated Hemorrhoids can bears the risk of causing infection.

Medication and Surgery

Usually, ointments, creams and other home care remedies would do the trick, but if pain and bleeding persists, doctor may prescribe a minimally evasive procedures’ as a treatment.

1. Rubber band ligation – this involves stopping blood circulation to the hemorrhoid by means of rubber band so that it would wither away in about a week’s time.

2. Coagulation – another method employs the use of laser or infrared to kill the hemorrhoid. In many instances this has been found as less effective than the rubber band ligation.

3. Sclerotherapy – a chemical injected inside the hemorrhoid tissue can cause it to diminish and relieve the patient of the swelling.

Other treatments include surgical removal of the hemorrhoid tissues or cutting the blood flow to the hemorrhoid to eliminate it.  Something far less drastic would be an over-the-counter treatment for hemorrhoids.