Treatment for Hemorrhoids - Which Is Best for You?

Hemorrhoids, or hemroids (an incorrect spelling which makes more sense than the correct one) are also called piles. They are caused by veins in and around the rectum becoming swollen and distended.

Hemorrhoids are very common problems, affecting both women and men. They have tormented people for centuries and have even altered history; Napoleon Bonaparte had hemorrhoids, bad enough to make him unable to ride a horse. This, it is said, played an important role in his defeat at Waterloo.

Hemorrhoids are so common that 85+% of the population will have them. 60% of the population will at some point develop either internal or external hemorrhoid problems that will be bad enough to require some form of treatment. Hemorrhoids themselves can be caused by any number of things. Often, it's just a matter of over-exerting oneself during bowel movements.

This happens because of hardened stool and constipation, which can usually be traced to a low-fiber diet. In fact, A study of 70 consecutive patients with hemorrhoids found that all 70 consumed a diet that provided them with less than 3 grams of dietary fiber per day [HAEMORRHOIDS, Clive Wood, Editor (1979), page 29].

Other causes or contributing factors are prolonged sessions of sitting or standing, pregnancy, advancing age and improper or inadequate sanitation.

Hemorrhoids are usually not a serious medical problem by themselves. Because of this they can sometimes lull people who have significant bowel disease into believing nothing much is wrong. But because they can bleed, and do so without warning, they can be very serious.

The facts of the matter are, embarrassment or not, hemorrhoids are a very serious, debilitating medical condition. I had no reason to believe that up until I, myself got hemorrhoids. I thought that hemorrhoids were annoying, uncomfortable, and often embarrassing, but rarely serious. Like many others I suffered in silence rather than discuss hemorrhoid treatment with my doctor.

To avoid the pain I became less active, more withdrawn less interested in the world around me; my entire life began centering on trying to get some relief from my pain and discomfort, most importantly, around finding the right hemorrhoids treatment. I tried all sorts of over-the-counter preparations, ointments and unguents. None of them really worked. If they did help somewhat, it only felt less bad for a little while.

After debating with myself for a longish time I finally got around to mentioning it to my doctor. His advice to me on which hemorrhoids treatments were available was that I should continue using creams and ointments (that I had already tried and discovered to be only marginally beneficial) and if it got any worse I should undergo surgery!

That was devastating news! There must be some less drastic treatment than that available?

Finally it became clear that the usual treatments, unguents, creams, even painful, expensive surgery only treated the effects, the symptoms of hemorrhoids. Symptoms like blood in stool, anal pain, discomfort in sitting, etc. None of these would eliminate the underlying or root causes of hemorrhoids.

So, I researched it and studied it. Here are the answers - they come in three parts:

First, any issues with the digestive system, whether it be at the top end (stomach ailments) or the other end (hemorrhoids) is directly related to your diet and the overall health of your digestive system. Lotions and creams only attempt to mask the symptoms. They really don't deal with alimentary canal problems that cause hemorrhoids at all.

Second, make sure the stool you pass is soft, not hard. Do this by increasing the non-soluble fiber in your diet, consuming flax seeds and/or using stool softeners.

Third, look at the alternative medicine treatments/solutions/cures that are available. There are some excellent, effective alternate solutions available. I found one that worked for me, you can find one that works for you!

And never ask the opinion of a surgeon first! Remember, "When your main/only tool is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as some type of nail!"  ;-)