When To Call Your Doctor About Hemorrhoids During Pregnancy
If you experience any bleeding, be sure to see your doctor. It could be its the hemorrhoids bleeding or it may be an anal fissure . But its best to check in with your practitioner just to be safe.
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Are Hemorrhoids Different During Pregnancy
No one likes to talk about them, but hemorrhoids are a fact of life for many people, especially during pregnancy. Hemorrhoids are simply veins inside or outside of your anus that have become large and swollen.
Also called piles, they can look like varicose veins when outside your body. Hemorrhoids develop frequently during pregnancy, especially in the third trimester and during and shortly after childbirth.
You may have hemorrhoids only during pregnancy, or you may have them at other times of your life as well.
The causes of your hemorrhoids may be unique to pregnancy. You can often treat or prevent hemorrhoids with home-based remedies and lifestyle adjustments.
There are two types of hemorrhoids:
- internal hemorrhoids, which are inside of your body
- external hemorrhoids, which are outside of your body
Your symptoms may vary depending on which type you have.
hemorrhoid symptoms during pregnancy
- burning
- swelling
Generally, you will experience these symptoms with external hemorrhoids. You may have no symptoms with internal hemorrhoids.
You may also develop a blood clot in an external hemorrhoid. This is known as a thrombosed hemorrhoid. They are generally hard, inflamed, and more painful.
Its possible to push out an internal hemorrhoid when having a bowel movement. If this occurs, you may experience bleeding and discomfort.
Up to 50 percent of women develop hemorrhoids during pregnancy.
How Can You Prevent Hemorrhoids During Pregnancy
Your body undergoes a lot of changes when you’re expecting, and swelling veins can be one of them. Talk to other expectant moms during prenatal classes, share experiences or ask your instructor about natural remedies.
These steps may help you avoid hemorrhoids during pregnancy:
Avoid constipation
- Eat a high-fiber diet. Choose from fresh avocados, beans and other fruits and vegetables sold in Arizona.
- Don’t delay going to the bathroom when you feel the urge to have a bowel movement. Make sure you don’t sit on the toilet longer than necessary because this puts pressure on your rectal area.
- If you’re already constipated, ask your healthcare provider about a fiber supplement or stool softener.
- Choose a food-based prenatal vitamin. Synthetic vitamins, especially iron, can cause constipation. Food-based prenatal vitamins are more absorbable.
Keep moving
- Get regular and safe exercise right up to your due date as long as your provider says it’s OK.
- Do Kegel exercises. They increase circulation in the rectal area and strengthen the muscles around the anus.
- Don’t sit or stand for long stretches of time. If your job involves sitting at a desk, get up and move around for a few minutes every hour or so.
Promote good habits
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What Causes Hemorrhoids During Pregnancy
What causes hemorrhoids during pregnancy? Pregnancy causes hemorrhoids due to the excess pressure exerted on, and added blood flow to, the bowel region during the gestation process. The added weight of a growing baby and increased blood flow can cause veins lining the rectum wall to swell into a hemorrhoid. These bodily changes happen to everyone, which is why 50% of women develop hemorrhoids during pregnancy.
The childbirth process itself can cause hemorrhoids too. As you push hard to deliver your baby, the excessive straining can cause the veins along the rectum wall to become swollen. So even if hemorrhoids dont pop up during pregnancy, its possible to develop them in the postpartum period.
There are also secondary factors related to diet and lifestyle changes during pregnancy that cause flare-ups as well. As eating habits and digestion changes during pregnancy, so will your bathroom habits. Any dietary change affecting your bowel movement regularity can be a boon for hemorrhoids, as constipation and difficult bathroom breaks strain the bowels, adding pressure to the region.
And as you ease into a more sedentary lifestyle due to the added weight of and care for your growing baby, the lower activity level and longer periods of sitting can also cause hemorrhoid flare-ups. Sitting for long periods of time puts pressure on the veins in the bowel region of your body, and extra weight gained from inactivity can contribute as well.
Pregnancy Hemorrhoids: Causes Treatment And Prevention
Unfortunately, hemorrhoids during pregnancy are common. Hemorrhoids are varicose veins of the rectum and are usually painful. They most often appear during the third trimester.
The most common symptoms of hemorrhoids during pregnancy are:
- Blood coating the stool.
- Blood on toilet paper.
- Itching in the anal canal.
- A small swollen mound of skin protruding from the anus .
- Pain in the anus.
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What Are The Treatment Options
You can try many home remedies and lifestyle modifications to reduce hemorrhoids.
Its best not to ignore them, though. Untreated hemorrhoids may get worse with time and cause complications such as increased pain or, in rare cases, anemia from bleeding.
You may need to reach out to a healthcare professional to diagnose and treat your hemorrhoids. Since hemorrhoids are not the only cause of bleeding near your anus, its always a good idea to speak with a doctor if you notice new bleeding when you wipe or in your stool.
How To Treat Hemorrhoids After Pregnancy
This article was co-authored by Luba Lee, FNP-BC, MS and by wikiHow staff writer, Jessica Gibson. Luba Lee, FNP-BC is a board certified Family Nurse Practitioner and educator in Tennessee with over a decade of clinical experience. Luba has certifications in Pediatric Advanced Life Support , Emergency Medicine, Advanced Cardiac Life Support , Team Building, and Critical Care Nursing. She received her Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Tennessee in 2006.There are 13 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 64,062 times.
You may be prepared to get hemorrhoids during pregnancy, but are surprised when they show up after the baby’s born. Hemorrhoids, enlarged veins around the anus, are caused by increased pressure and strain. You may get hemorrhoids after pregnancy because of the pressure from pushing during labor. Fortunately, there are lots of things you can do to manage the pain of hemorrhoids until they clear up.
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What Are The Common Symptoms Of Hemorrhoids In Pregnancy
The common symptoms of hemorrhoids during pregnancy are as follows-
Treatment Hemorrhoids During Pregnancy
Most forms of the condition can be successfully treated by increasing fibre content in the diet, administering stool softeners, increasing liquid intake, anti-hemorrhoidal analgesics, and training in toilet habits. However, most evidence of the efficacy of therapeutic alternatives for hemorrhoids is gained from studies performed in non-pregnant patients.
A recent systematic review of both published and unpublished randomized controlled trials, which included the enrolment of more than 350 patients, showed that laxatives in the form of fibre had a beneficial effect in the treatment of symptomatic hemorrhoids. Decreased straining during bowel movements shrinks internal hemorrhoidal veins, resulting in a reduction of symptoms. Bathing with warm water usually relieves anorectal pain. Suppositories and ointments that contain local anesthetics, mild astringents, or steroids are available.
More aggressive therapies, such as sclerotherapy, cryotherapy, or surgery, are reserved for patients who have persistent symptoms after 1 month of conservative therapy. Some recent studies have shown the effectiveness of botulinum toxin injections as a treatment for chronic anal fissure and hemorrhoids. Because of its mechanism of action, however, botulinum toxin is contraindicated during pregnancy and lactation.
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How To Treat Hemorrhoids When Pregnant
By | Submitted On July 11, 2008
Pregnant women are more susceptible to developing hemorrhoids. So many women may get them while in the first trimester and other may get them while giving birth, in the pushing phase. Anyway, soon after delivery the hemorrhoids disappear. However, as they are part of the pregnancy body discomfort, they should be treated with unconventional methods. Medication could be very harmful to the baby and should be avoided. That is why pregnant women should try to treat hemorrhoids in a safe and natural way. This may happen most naturally through a change in the diet. Selecting the proper food can not only eliminate existing hemorrhoids but could be an excellent prevention against future formation of hemorrhoid conditions.
What foods to choose?
Pregnant women with hemorrhoids should have a diet of foods which are easy to digest and move quickly down the colon. Otherwise, constipation could be easily achieved and it will worsen existing hemorrhoids and trigger the formation of new ones. Here is a list of some foods which can give relief from hemorrhoids and can help reduce hemorrhoid bleeding:
o Dark green leafy vegetables
o Flax seeds – they are high in 3-omega oils and are high in fiber.
o Lima and butter beans – these are high in iron which is responsible for building the blood cells. Their daily use is beneficial to pregnant women because of their blood circulation overload.
o Alfalfa
o Blackstrap molasses
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What Causes Hemorrhoids And Varicose Veins In Pregnancy
Normally, veins have one-way valves to help keep blood flowing toward the heart. Pressure or weakening of these valves allows blood to back up and pool in the veins. This causes them to enlarge and swell. Hemorrhoids result when rectal veins enlarge. Varicose veins occur when veins of the legs swell.
Many changes in pregnancy can increase the risk of hemorrhoids and varicose veins, such as:
-
Increased blood volume, which enlarges the veins
-
The heavy weight of the growing baby, which presses on the large blood vessels in the pelvis, altering blood flow
-
Hormone changes affecting blood vessels, which can slow the return of blood to the heart and cause the smaller veins in the pelvis and legs to swell
Hemorrhoids can get worse with pushing or straining, especially with constipation. Being overweight and having hemorrhoids before pregnancy can also make them worse. Pushing during delivery tends to worsen hemorrhoids, too.
Varicose veins tend to run in families. Sitting or standing in one position for a long time may force the veins to work harder to pump blood to the heart. This can result in swollen, varicose veins and can also worsen existing hemorrhoids. Varicose veins can also occur in a woman’s genital area.
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What Is The Treatment For Hemorrhoids During Pregnancy
There are many home remedies and lifestyle modifications you can try to reduce hemorrhoids.
Its a good idea not to ignore them, since untreated hemorrhoids may get worse with time and may cause complications such as increased pain, or in rare cases anemia from bleeding.
You may also need to reach out to your doctor to diagnose and treat your hemorrhoids. Since hemorrhoids are not the only cause of bleeding near your anus, its always a good idea to speak to your doctor if you notice new bleeding when you wipe or in your stool.
What Causes Hemorrhoids
During pregnancy and the postpartum period, hemorrhoids are often a result of stress on the perineum in the months before, and during, delivery. Veins work like valves to push blood back up to the heart, and when those “valves” become weakened, they can swell with blood.
You can probably imagine how the stress of carrying a baby and then pushing a baby out during vaginal delivery, can cause the veins to pop out. Additionally, all of the hormones going through your body during pregnancy and birth affect how these veins work. Pregnant mothers have increased production of the hormone progesterone, which also causes veins to relax.
Constipation is also common during the postpartum period. This can start a vicious cycle of needing to exert pressure to have a bowel movement, experiencing a resulting flare-up of the hemorrhoids, fearing having to go again, and retaining stool, which then hardens, starting the process all over again.
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Take A Warm Sitz Bath
Fill a bath with a few inches of warm water, and sit in it for about 20 minutes. Do this once or twice per day when you are experiencing hemorrhoid symptoms. Ideally, patients should take a sitz bath after a bowel movement.
Sitting in warm water can encourage blood flow to the area, helping the veins to heal quicker. It can also soothe and relieve pain, swelling, and itching.
What Causes Haemorrhoids During Pregnancy
Haemorrhoids are caused by a reduction in the tone of anal canal cushions, which control your bowel movements.
During pregnancy, haemorrhoids can be triggered by an increase in pressure on your rectal veins. This can result from your uterus enlarging, pressure from your growing baby, and increased blood flow. All of these occurrences increase the pressure on the veins around your anus as pregnancy progresses. Further, straining on the toilet because of constipation can trigger or worsen haemorrhoids.
Straining on the toilet because of constipation can trigger or worsen haemorrhoids.
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Symptoms Of Hemorrhoids During Pregnancy
Bleeding after a bowel movement during pregnancy is one of the most common and clear symptoms of hemorrhoids during pregnancy. Other symptoms of hemorrhoids during pregnancy include
- Itching and burning in the anal area
- A soft lump on the edge of the anus
- Discomfort and pain after visiting the bathroom
- Blood traces on your toilet paper after visiting the bathroom
In some cases, you may not feel the hemorrhoids for they may have formed probably inside the rectal area. This type is known as internal hemorrhoids. Other types of hemorrhoids include the external and thrombosed hemorrhoids. Usually, the symptoms of hemorrhoids will depend on the type of hemorrhoids that you have.
Preventing Hemorrhoids During Pregnancy
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What Else Can I Do To Get Relief
- Use an ice bag to the afflicted area a number of times a day. Ice may help decrease swelling and discomfort.
- Soak your bottom in warm water in a tub for 10 to 15 minutes a few times every day.
- Try alternating cold and warm treatments.
- Carefully but completely tidy the afflicted area after each defecation using soft, unscented, white bathroom tissue, which causes less irritation than colored, aromatic ranges.
- Dampening the tissue can help, too. Numerous women discover using premoistened wipes more comfortable than using toilet paper.
- Ask your healthcare specialist to suggest a safe topical anesthetic or medicated suppository. There are numerous hemorrhoid-relief products on the marketplace, however consult your specialist before trying one by yourself. Most of these products ought to be used for no more than a week. Continued use can cause a lot more inflammation.
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When Should You See Your Healthcare Provider
Consult your provider if preventive efforts and home treatments don’t help, or if you have severe pain or rectal bleeding. In some cases, you may need professional help shrink your hemorrhoids.
Also, always check with your provider before taking any medication for hemorrhoids while you’re pregnant. There are a lot of hemorrhoid relief products available. Keep in mind that most of these products should be used for no more than a week to avoid such side effects as skin irritation or thinning.
For many women, hemorrhoid symptoms resolve after delivery. If they persist, surgical treatment might be recommended.
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