Haemorrhoids - What Should You Do To Manage Them At Home?

Piles, originally are dilated vessels inside the anus. They usually do not cause pain, but mainly bleed. Other than 1st degree, other piles may be felt outside while straining at stool. Sometimes they need to be put inside with finger. Other than bleeding, there may be itching, discharge or burning. Only first degree piles need to be managed at home by fibre diet, plenty of fluids, mild exercise & avoid straing, avoid jeans type clothes & avoid sedentary life. Rest higher degrees need to managed by an expert proctologist or surgeon. Female/ladies who develop piles during pregnancy, may need to wait upto 3 months post delivery, as these may subside in usual cases. Otherwise need some treatment after that.

Many women experience a temporary encounter with hemorrhoids when they are pregnant. Quite surprisingly, most people tend to experience this in their daily lives. By the age 50, a majority of people have encountered one or more symptoms of this ailment, including rectal pain, bleeding, itching and maybe prolapse where the hemorrhoids protrude out of the anal canal. Though this ailment can be rarely detrimental, it can be a painful intrusion. But thankfully, there are a lot of things we can do about them.

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How may this be diagnosed?
Hemorrhoids are usually diagnosed from a plain medical history and health exam. External hemorrhoids, more commonly known as piles, are normally apparent, particularly if a blood clot is formed. Your physician shall perform a digital rectal test to detect blood in the stool. Then the physician may also inspect the anal tube with the aid of an anoscope, which is a short plastic channel interjected into the rectum with illumination. If he finds any evidence of microscopic blood or rectal bleeding in the stool, then there may be a need to perform a colonoscopy or flexible sigmoidoscopy to determine the probable causes of bleeding like cancer or colorectal polyps, specifically in women aged over 50.

How can they be managed at home?

Most of the common symptoms of piles can improve drastically with simple in-home measures. If you are suffering from occasional flare-ups, you may try the following:

1. Eat a lot of fibre: It is recommended to add fibre to the diet; may be a fibre supplement like Citrucel, Fibre con, etc. When you drink a lot of water along with loads of fibre, stools get softened making them effortless to pass, which will reduce the pressure on the swollen veins. Eating broccoli, wheat, oats, beans, fresh fruits every day will help in decreasing bleeding caused due to piles. It also reduces swelling and inflammation. If you feel digestive issues with a sudden splurge of fibre in your diet, you may start slowly and gradually increase the amounts.
2. Take a sitz bath: A sitz bath is a lukewarm water bath for the lower back portion of the body, which can help in relieving irritation, itching as well as spasms occurring in the sphincter muscle. You can either get small plastic tubs for a sitz bath or sit in a normal bathtub. Most physicians suggest a half an hour sitz bath after every bowel movement. Then tenderly dry the area and avoid wiping it hard.

There are several invasive treatments that can be opted if these conservative treatments are not able to help your condition. In such an instance, it is always wise to seek the advice of a medical practitioner.