Keeping Yourself Comfortable During The Day
Though hemorrhoid symptoms vary depending on the location and type, if you have external hemorrhoids, a thrombosed hemorrhoid , or a prolapsed internal hemorrhoid , simple things like sitting at your desk at work can cause extreme discomfort. For immediate pain relief, we recommend oral pain relievers or topical treatments such as an over-the-counter hemorrhoid cream or witch hazel. We may also prescribe a numbing cream to ease your pain.
To reduce irritation, you should wear clean, cotton underwear and loose-fitted clothing to help keep the area dry. Moisture may lead to itching and irritation. If you find it too difficult to sit in your office chair, you may want to invest in a donut cushion to ease the pressure on your backside.
At home, soak in a warm sitz bath for 1015 minutes a few times a day to relieve itching, muscle spasms, and pain. You can find a sitz bath tub at your local pharmacy that fits over your toilet to make the process easier.
The Three Worst Things You Can Do
How Do I Shrink Hemorrhoids
Letâs talk about how you can shrink hemorrhoids. Most people go for a few common home remedies that seem to work fairly well.
Letâs take a look at some of the home remedies for shrinking hemorrhoids and see if they sound like something you might want to try.
Don’t Miss: How To Get Rid Of External Hemorrhoids
Don’t Make Things Worse
Bump up the fiber. It softens your stools and makes them move through your body more easily. You’ll find it in beans, whole-grain breads and cereals, and fresh fruits and veggies. You may also want to try a supplement if you can’t get enough from foods. Add fiber slowly to help avoid gas and bloating.
Drink lots of fluids. Stay well hydrated to keep stools soft so they’re easier to pass. Water is the best choice. Drink plenty throughout the day. Prune juice is a natural laxative and can help you go.
Exercise regularly. Even brisk walking 20-30 minutes every day can help keep you from getting stopped up.
Breathe! Keep the air moving in and out when you’re working hard. It’s common to hold your breath as you’re pushing, pulling, or making an effort — and that can lead to hemorrhoid pain and bleeding.
Use a pillow. Sit on a cushion instead of a hard surface. It will ease swelling for any hemorrhoids you have. It may also help prevent new ones from forming.
Take breaks. If you must sit for a long time, get up every hour and move around for at least 5 minutes.
Show Sources
Medical Procedures For Hemorrhoids
If your symptoms are severe or aren’t getting better after a couple of weeks, your doctor may suggest a procedure to shrink or remove the hemorrhoids. Many can be performed in their office.
Injection. Your doctor can inject an internal hemorrhoid with a solution to create a scar and close off the hemorrhoid. The shot hurts only a little.
Rubber band ligation. This procedure is often done on prolapsed hemorrhoids, internal hemorrhoids that can be seen or felt outside. Using a special tool, the doctor puts a tiny rubber band around the hemorrhoid, which shuts off its blood supply almost instantly. Within a week, the hemorrhoid will dry up, shrink, and fall off.
Coagulation or cauterization. With an electric probe, a laser beam, or an infrared light, your doctor will make a tiny burn to remove tissue and painlessly seal the end of the hemorrhoid, causing it to close off and shrink. This works best for prolapsed hemorrhoids.
Surgery. For large internal hemorrhoids or extremely uncomfortable external hemorrhoids, your doctor may recommend surgery.
- Hemorrhoidectomy. The most effective technique is to completely remove the hemorrhoids. But recovery is painful and can take several weeks.
- Hemorrhoid stapling. This technique cuts blood flow to internal hemorrhoids and moves prolapsed tissue back in place. Recovery is easier, but thereâs a greater chance of the hemorrhoids coming back.
Show Sources
Recommended Reading: What To Do When You Have Hemorrhoids
What If A Hemorrhoid Won’t Go Away
Most people will get relief from at-home treatments. However, sometimes these remedies do not work, or don’t work well enough. In that case, there are treatments that the doctor can provide. These can range from pills to prescription creams to minimally invasive procedures, and even to hemorrhoid removal surgery.
How To Get Rid Of Hemorrhoids: Diagnosis And Treatments
Most individuals who have hemorrhoids discover them by either
- feeling the lump of an external hemorrhoid when they wipe themselves after a bowel movement,
- noting drops of blood in the toilet bowl or on the toilet paper, or
- feeling a prolapsing hemorrhoid after bowel movements.
Also Check: Where Do You Get Hemorrhoids
Read Also: How To Treat Internal Hemorrhoids Grade 2
How Long Do Hemorrhoid Symptoms Last
If your hemorrhoids are small, your symptoms may clear up in a few days without treatment. You may also need to make simple diet and lifestyle changes.
Pregnancy hormones may also make it more likely for your veins to swell. If you develop hemorrhoids during pregnancy, your symptoms may last until you give birth.
Best Spray: Earth Mama Herbal Perineal Spray
Boasting witch hazel, lavender, cucumber, and peppermint oil, a few spritzes of this spray can soothe, cleanse, and decrease inflammation in areas where hemorrhoids develop. Its nozzle is designed to work upside-down for a touch-free application, delivering instant soothing in hard-to-reach areas. For extra relief, store the bottle in the fridge for a cooling sensation when you use it.
“Now I am currently 19 days postpartum, I delivered an eight-pound baby boy via the help of a forceps delivery,” . “I had several tears that were second-degree tears, including a brutal episiotomy and severe hemorrhoids More than two weeks postpartum I’m back on my feet and still using this spray which is in fact very cooling and very refreshing. I still have a long way to go in recovering down there, but this product has helped so far.”
Recommended Reading: What Doctor Do I See About Hemorrhoids
Best Way To Stop Bleeding Hemorrhoids
If you ever have that shocking look on your expression when you see blood in your stool, then you are not alone. Bleeding hemorrhoids is pretty prevalent for most folk regardless of your gender or ages. In fact, there always a debate on going in deterring whats the best way to stop bleeding hemorrhoids.
Ronald Hsu Md Facg Facp Dds
Sutter Roseville Medical Center
Its impossible to ignore the painful, itchy and sometimes alarming symptoms that accompany hemorrhoids. If you struggle with this common problem, youre not alone. The National Institutes of Health estimates 75 percent of adults ages 45 and older have dealt with hemorrhoids at some point in their lives.
Hemorrhoids are rectal veins that become swollen and distended, sometimes turning into an engorged hemorrhoid containing a blood clot. Most of the time, people discover a hemorrhoid by feeling a lump or protrusion when wiping after a bowel movement. Anything that increases pressure inside the abdomen can inflame rectal veins. Straining during a bowel movement, particularly if you constantly strain due to chronic constipation, is a common culprit.
Its aggravating to deal with hemorrhoids, but fortunately, you can often manage the condition with simple home treatments, says Ronald Hsu, M.D., a gastroenterologist with Sutters Sutter Roseville Medical Center.
If you have a sedentary lifestyle and eat a low-fiber diet, its time to make some changes so you wont have to deal with hemorrhoids again, Dr. Hsu says.
Recommended Reading: Can I Band My Own Hemorrhoids
Risk Factors And Aftercare
A sitz bath carries very little risk of harm because its a noninvasive treatment. The most common adverse event associated with sitz baths is an infection of the perineum, but this rarely occurs. This may happen if youre caring for a surgical wound and dont clean the tub or plastic bath thoroughly. Never share your sitz bath with anyone else. Each person should have their own.
Stop using sitz baths and contact your doctor if the pain or itching worsens, or if your perineum becomes red and puffy.
If sitz baths bring you relief, your doctor will probably recommend taking three or four per day until the source of the itching, irritation, or pain is healed. After a sitz bath, you may immediately return to normal activities unless your doctor has told you otherwise.
How Can You Prevent Constipation
To avoid constipation and straining during bowel movements, people are often advised to change their diet, drink plenty of fluids, and get enough exercise. High-fiber foods like fruits, cereals, vegetables and legumes are generally recommended to try to make stools softer.
Studies suggest that plant fibers such as psyllium husk can reduce the frequency of bleeding. Whether or not they relieve other symptoms too hasnt been well studied. People who use psyllium husk must make sure that they drink enough fluids. But fiber can also cause diarrhea, which in turn leads to hemorrhoids being irritated even more by frequent bowel movements.
Don’t Miss: How Do I Know If I Have Hemorrhoids
When Hemorrhoid Surgery May Be Necessary
Very few people fewer than 10 percent of all adults who see a doctor because of symptomatic hemorrhoids will require a surgical operation.
Surgery to remove hemorrhoids is called a hemorrhoidectomy.
Your doctor may recommend a hemorrhoidectomy if:
- You have large external hemorrhoids
- You have both internal and external hemorrhoids
- An internal hemorrhoid has prolapsed
- You have excessive bleeding
In a hemorrhoidectomy, the doctor makes a small incision to remove the hemorrhoid and surrounding tissue before closing the wound with stitches.
A hemorrhoidectomy is performed in an operating room and can be done under general anesthesia, in which you are unconscious and unable to feel pain.
Hemorrhoidectomy is associated with postoperative pain, but the procedure is successful for 95 percent of cases.
More recently, another option aimed at avoiding the postoperative pain of a hemorrhoidectomy has become available, called a stapled hemorrhoidopexy. A circular stapling device pulls the hemorrhoidal tissue upward and to its normal position, stapling it in place. The staples eventually fall out over time.
According to a study published in the journal Techniques in Coloproctology, in the long term, patient satisfaction, resolution of symptoms, quality of life, and functional outcome appeared similar among patients after stapled hemorrhoidopexy and hemorrhoidectomy. But other sources note that stapling has been associated with a greater risk of recurrence and rectal prolapse.
Best Ice Treatment: Hilph Perineal Ice Packs For Postpartum
Courtesy of Amazon
-
Doubles as a heat pack
-
Can be hard to keep in place
Don’t let the marketing for these ice packs fool you. While they work wonders for postpartum women, the elongated shape and size make them perfect for instantly cooling and soothing irritated hemorrhoids. It’s no secret that ice is a powerful pain reliever for your rear end, but it’s not exactly a breeze to fit an ice pack into the tight, highly-sensitive area known as your perineum.
These ice packs, which include soft, skin-friendly covers, are made to stay flexible even when frozen, so they don’t cause further irritation. Plus, the fact that you get two ice packs means you can constantly rotate and switch them out, if needed, rather than waiting for the same one to freeze all the time. Another bonus? They can double as heat packs.
Active Ingredients: Gel beads | Dose: Place on the sensitive area for up to 10 minutes at a time | Uses: Provides cooling relief for hemorrhoids
Also Check: Does Hemorrhoids Cause Weight Loss
Best For Pain Relief: Wiseways Herbals Witch Hazel Salve
According to Dr. Nazarian, witch hazel can be very calming and anti-inflammatory, which is perfect for treating painful hemorrhoids. Its the main ingredient in this salve from WiseWays, where it works with other soothing ingredients such as yarrow, arnica, calendula, and chamomile to provide relief from itching, burning, and discomfort.
Im eight months pregnant and suffer from painful hemorrhoids, says one reviewer, who calls the salve a must-have. After weeks of pain and trying over the counter medicines, I saw the reviews for this and decided to try. And in just days, it reduced my hemorrhoids and pain.
Hemorrhoid Remedies You Can Try On Your Own At Home
There are several steps you can take at home to ease the discomfort caused by hemorrhoids:
- Take a sitz bath two to three times daily for 15 to 20 minutes. Sit in warm water, covering just your hips and buttocks. This can help reduce itching and irritation. You can take a sitz bath in a few inches of warm water in a regular tub, but small tubs that fit over toilet seats are also available for this purpose at pharmacies. Following a sitz bath, gently pat the area dry to avoid further irritation.
- Use ice packs on the area to relieve swelling and pain.
- Dont push too hard or strain while passing a bowel movement.
- Keep the area clean by bathing or showering daily with warm water. After bathing, gently pat the area dry. You can even use a hair dryer to dry the area.
- Sit on cushions rather than hard surfaces to help lessen the swelling of hemorrhoids and keep new ones from forming.
- Take over-the-counter pain relievers, such as acetaminophen, ibuprofen, or aspirin as needed.
RELATED: 6 Easy Ways to Prevent Hemorrhoids
Recommended Reading: What Not To Eat If You Have Hemorrhoids
Final Thoughts About Sitz Bath Recipe
The above sitz bath recipes are extremely effective in curing hemorrhoids naturally and many other disorders. The most important thing is to keep the bathtub that you are using for the sitz bath cleaned properly. This is important to prevent any germs infecting the solution. If you need any other information about sitz bath recipe for hemorrhoids treatment, do not hesitate to give me a shout!
Best For Itch Relief: Preparation H Soothing Relief Anti Itch Cream
Designed to deliver instant relief using a powerful dose of 1% hydrocortisonewhich is the highest strength available over the counterthis maximum-strength, fragrance-free cream significantly soothes and reduces itchiness to kickstart your healing. It works best used with the Preparation H Cooling Wipes mentioned above.
I will say that this worked instantly, and provided an itch-free night which was great, . Grease-less formula which sinks into the skin quickly and goes to work fast.
Recommended Reading: How To Get Rid Of Hemorrhoids Fast
Taking A Sitz Bath Using A Kit
A plastic sitz bath kit fits over the toilet. Many kits come with cleaning instructions and solutions. If your kit doesnt come with those, clean and rinse all materials thoroughly before use.
Once clean, add warm water with any medications or solutions recommended by your doctor. Avoid using water hot enough to burn the skin.
Although there are no guidelines for when to replace your sitz bath, always check it for signs of cracking or weakened areas before and after use.
Hemorrhoid Banding As A Definitive Solution For Hemorrhoids
While natural home remedies for hemorrhoids can provide temporary relief from symptoms, they are not a permanent fix. For long-term hemorrhoid relief, consider a treatment like hemorrhoid banding. Also known as rubber band ligation, hemorrhoid banding is a long-lasting technique for alleviating discomfort caused by hemorrhoids.
A small band is wrapped around the base of the hemorrhoid to restrict the blood flow to the hemorrhoidal mass. After a few days without a blood supply, the hemorrhoid shrinks and eventually falls off, along with the band. Typically, the hemorrhoid and band fall off during a regular bowel movement without the patient even noticing.
Talk to a doctor for more information on the right treatment and relief options for you. To get rid of your hemorrhoids once and for all, find a physician that offers the pain-free banding procedure and get on the path toward the hemorrhoid-free life you deserve.
Also Check: What Is The Best Medicine For External Hemorrhoids