Hemorrhoid treatment Anyone suffering from hemorrhoids will always be on the lookout for the right hemorrhoid treatment to treat their condition.
Hemorrhoids (or piles) are a painful condition where rectal veins swell causing pain and discomfort at the anal region.
They can occur in both men or women and in some cases, children and young adults too.
Poor diet, insufficient exercise, chronic constipation and diarrhea, prolonged sitting and standing, excessive straining in the toilet and straining during pregnancy are the main causes for hemorrhoids.
Sometimes lifestyle changes are sufficient for relieving the pain.
In some cases, making some lifestyle changes by doing some regular exercise, drinking more water, eating more fresh fruits and vegetables and stopping alcohol consumption and smoking can help control your hemorrhoids.
Some people find relief in basic treatments like taking warm sitz baths, using a bidet, applying cold compresses and application of topical analgesics.
Even taking over the counter painkillers helps provide some relief from the pain and discomfort.
For moderate cases, over the counter medications like topical creams, pads and suppositories are enough for treatment.
They are also effective in preventing recurrence.
Surgical Options In case of chronic hemorrhoids, your doctor may suggest surgery.
The following is a list of the various surgical options doctors have as hemorrhoid treatment, in increasing order of severity and cost.
In rubber band or baron ligation, elastic bands are tied to the internal hemorrhoids to cut off the blood supply.
The hemorrhoid then falls off after a few days with regular bowel movements.
Galvanic electrotherapy or hemorrhoidolysis uses a small probe for progressive and permanent hemorrhoid shrinkage.
As only one hemorrhoid is treated at a time, this hemorrhoid treatment requires several visits to your doctor.
Sclerotherapy or injection therapy treats hemorrhoids by an injection that makes the veins collapse and eventually shrivel off.
Cryosurgery is the use of a frozen tip of a cryoprobe to destroy the hemorrhoids.
However as this treatment has side effects and is rarely used today.
Use of laser or infrared beams is not that popular today, but is a readily available non-surgical treatment used for treating hemorrhoids in US.
Hemorrhoidectomy is the most popular option used to treat hemorrhoids by removing them.
However post surgery pain is severe here and it requires a long recovery period.
This is why it is used to treat only serious casess.
Stapled hemorrhoidectomy is used mostly to treat prolapsed and bleeding hemorrhoids by cutting its blood flow and not by completely removing the hemorrhoids.
This is why this hemorrhoid treatment is not so painful and has a faster recovery time.
In Doppler Guided Hemorrhoidal Artery Ligation, bleeding hemorrhoids are effectively treated by stopping bleeding.
There is no cutting of hemorrhoid tissues here, and you need not stay in the hospital and can return to work on the same day.
The latest of hemorrhoid treatments is HAL-RAR or Recto Anal Repair where hemorrhoids are treated without the cutting of any tissues.
Basically, all these surgical options are used to treat severe hemorrhoids.
Mild cases are usually treatable using natural and over the counter hemorrhoid treatment options.