Hemorrhoids!.. aka.. Piles

This is one of those diseases no one wants to talk about; that is, it takes you by surprise, you can’t explain how you calprit, and you cannot easily talk about it with your friends without causing some laughter.

Therefore, the number people suffering from this condition are unknown because they are silent.

This post aims at addressing the following:

1. If you are suffering from Piles, please know that they are completely curable, therefore you do not have to suffer from them year in year out.
2.  If you do not have them, prevention is better than cure.

What are Hemorrhoids:

Hemorrhoids are swellings that arise from the normal folds in the anal canal. The normal folds are called

anal cushions. These anal cushions help you not to uncontrollably pass gas all the time. So socially we thank God for those cushions or else we would be in a “gaseous environment”. 

But when these cushions are bruised and they swell beyond their normal size. The resultant swelling beyond the cushions is called a hemorrhoid.

Sometimes this bruise affects the blood supply of the cushions so that instead of the bruise going away, it becomes bigger and bigger.

Therefore Hemorrhoids are named according to the size they attain.

Types of hemorrhoids:

As the swelling becomes bigger and bigger they are defined in degrees:

1^st degree hemorrhoids:       No swelling seen but may have only pain  or  fresh blood at end of passing stool or Both.

2^nd degree hemorrhoids:       There is a swelling with some pain or fresh blood at the end of stools or both, but the swelling automatically goes back inside the anal canal after passing stool.

3^rd degree hemorrhoids:       There is a swelling with some pain or fresh blood at the end of stools or both, but the swelling has to be manually pushed back inside the anal canal after passing stool.

4^th degree hemorrhoids:       These are, very painful and they can’t go back. The pain and  bleeding are severe and even interfere with sitting and walking.

Who is at risk of hemorrhoids?

• ·        Those who get constipation (difficulty passing stool or pass hard stools)
•          Rarely during pregnancy for some ladies. (hemorrhoids during pregnancy always disappear when the lady delivers, if they are 1^st or 2nd degree)

Treating these hemorrhoids:

Medical treatment:

This is effective only when you have 1st and 2^nd degree hemorrhoids.

The treatment aims at removing constipation and removing the bruise on the cushions.

This completely reverses the problem, and as long as you are not constipated those piles will not come back.

This means after medical treatment, you belong to the “prevention is better than cure group”, therefore remember not to develop constipation by drinking lots of water and getting regular medical checkups by a doctor.
This treatment lasts between 14 - 21 day.

Apart from swallowing drugs, a drug can be injected directly into the hemorrhoids and they will shrink back to the normal level. This procedure falls between the medical and surgical treatments.

Surgical treatment:

If you kept silent and those piles continued to expand into 3^rd or 4^th degree then surgery is the treatment.

There are many ways of doing hemorrhoid surgery by doctors; I advise that you seek out surgeons, especially General Surgeons, or Colorectal Surgeons or Gastroenterology Surgeons to do the surgery.

Also for any surgical option you choose, please opt for the surgery that leads to quick healing (even though it may be more expensive); you would not want to have prolonged wound healing in that area (it is not a good experience).

For more details leave a comment.

Happy reading………

Have a lovely week

N.B: Due to feedback from some of my readers, I will not give you cost estimates this time. But if you loved that cost estimates part of my blogs, then send me mail and I will edit this writing to add them in.