Uncomfortable topic

everywoman

Well-Known Member
Literally---
Hemorrhoids.
Besides soaking in the tub until a prune (when you are really a shower person)----
Drinking enough water to drown a mule
Eating high fiber food
And using icky, sticky creams--
How the heck does one get rid of these things!!!!!
Help----:sad-very::sick::anxious::wince:
 

flutterby

Fly away!
That is one thing, fortunately, I've never had to deal with - even in pregnancy.

My mom does, though, and goes through Preparation-H like crazy.

I think there are Tucks pads that are supposed to be helpful. If they get bad enough, I think there is surgery, too.

Sorry, I'm not more helpful. I can only imagine how miserable it is.
 

tiredmommy

Well-Known Member
Talk to your doctor... he may have some suggestions. I understand there are some really simple surgical options for exceptionally bad cases. I think the best advice I have would be to avoid straining and wear supportive footwear when excercising (it helps, I don't know why!).
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
Another thing to do is to bend your knees and put your feet up on a small stepstool in front of the toilet.

Despite it feeling natural to us Westerners; we are really designed to SQUAT when doing our business.

Doing that greatly reduces press in the lower abdomen. Hemorrhoids are basically varicose veins in the rectum and anus, straining is really a bad thing.

Sitz baths help. For external ones you can try compressing with a wet green tea bag. The tannins and other astringents in the tea help shrink the irritation as well.

You can get the same effects as with Tucks by compressing with Witch Hazel.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
I have had these since I was preg with Wiz. You really MUST keep from straining on the toilet. Do not spend very long sitting on the toilet. Even if you are not straining it places pressure on that area and can make them worse. MUCH worse. So no more reading while on the toilet for any length of time.

Keep up with plenty of water and high fiber foods. Mini wheats can give a nice crunch so they make a good snack when eaten dry. Enough water will help keep things soft. If things are hard, or even firm, or they are not a long rope, then you must increase water and fiber and even try miralax or metamucil or benefiber. The new fiber bars make getting the fiber you need a bit less palatable.

Cut out nuts. They tend to irritate any kind of bowel issue.

Tucks pads are very soothing and help keep the area clean. I HATE the cost of them. I keep a bottle of witch hazel in the bathroom and use it on toilet paper. It is the active ingredient in most Tucks pads that I have seen. Usually it feels better when cool. I keep the house fairly cool and it seems to be enough for me. I know people who keep them in the fridge, but then you have to remember to go get them before you go into the bathroom.

Hemorrhoids are bits of rectal tissue that prolapse out of the opening and can be very painful. It is not a bad idea to push them back up inside if it can be done with-o pain. This can help keep them from hurting. Do NOT use anything hot on that area. It will increase the swelling and pain. You should have a doctor look at them just to be sure they are not getting larger over time and so they show no sign of haivng circulation cut off.

One friend of mine has bad ones. She looked up the foods not recommended for IBS and changed her diet. She also worked on kegel exercises and other exercises to keep her core muscles strong. This helped.

In the worst cases they can be surgically removed. I hope they don't get that bad. Just be sure that any creams you use are designed for use there. The tissue of one is actually part of a mucus membrane and not regular skin, so you must be careful. Witch hazel is OK to use straight. It is actually more gentle than many versions of the tuck's pads. If you find that you need to apply the tucks pads more often, or for longer periods, I used to put the tucks pad on a pantyliner and use it that way. Leave it on for 10 min or so and it can be very soothing.

Sorry you have this problem.
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
I would talk to your doctor if they're really bothering after trying all the usual OTC and home remedies. Sometimes surgery is the last option. My mom had this done about 15 years ago and from what I understand it solved the problem for her completely.

I'm sorry it's causing you so much aggravation and discomfort :(
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
I should add too that in many cases the surgery is now done using a cryogenic probe to freeze the tissues so they slough off. Supposedly that is much less painful than the old methods.

I'd talk to your doctor and have them examined to see how severe they are and if surgery is needed.
 

Marguerite

Active Member
Warning! Graphic detail ahead!

As a general rule, once you get piles, they don't go away. But that can and do shrink a bit, if you can remove whatever-it-is that was bringing them on in the first place.

In my case it was pregnancy. Especially the end bit, the childbirth. If you think about it, all that straining coupled with a body loaded with progesterone (which relaxes ligaments and blood vessel walls) means you're a cert for piles.

mother in law used to be a hospital midwife. She said they had a great treatment for the women on the ward who got piles during delivery - they got those surgical gloves, the flexible rubbery ones, and cut off the fingers. They filled them with water and put them in the freezer. To treat a girl's piles they would get a finger out of the freezer (still inside the glove finger) and tell her to literally stick it - well, where the sun don't shine.

If your piles have prolapsed, try to push them back in. If they are painful and/or bleeding considerably, see the doctor. If you only have a spot of blood (especially after straining) check to see if it really is piles or merely a small tear or fissure.

Prevention is the best management. I've had a few of these ever since I gave birth to easy child. I did see a proctologist way back then, he said he could get rid of them surgically for me (probably using a rubber band, like we used to dock corgis' tails when I was a kid and RSPCA hadn't put a stop to tail docking; like we still dock lambs' tails in Australia because it's still more humane than fly strike). But there was no point, having more kids would have just given me more piles, like as not. May as well wait until I've finished having kids, he told me. Only since then, they haven't got any worse. If anything, they have improved especially as my diet improved. Occasionally they prolapse, but they go back in easily.

So, prevention - eat as much fibre as your body can tolerate. Make sure you drink at least 2 litres of water a day. Don't overdo it though. Cut back on fat, sugar and simple carbs. Switch to wholegrain everything where it's an option and exercise regularly. No need to be ridiculous about exercise, merely keeping active will help. And push the darn things back in at the first sign of prolapse, because if you leave them out they rapidly get more inflamed and strangulated.

Creams etc that can help - you can get those over-the-counter things form the pharmacy. I haven't used them in decades. I ended up making my own herbal brew and mixed it into a fairly standard oil and beeswax base. Frankly, I think what did the trick with that, was the oil in the ointment base. These days if there is any trouble in that area (I get the darndest itch) I just use pure coconut oil. I keep it in a special bottle or jar and if I want to I can add a bit of essential oil to perfume it. If you want something herbal that is also therapeutic, try a little lavender oil, or ti-tree (melaleuca) oil, or sandalwood oil. To get a cheap supply of coconut oil, go to the fridge at the supermarket and look for Copha. In Australia we use it to make chocolate crackles - do you get chocolate crackles in the US? Very unhealthy, but a must-have at kids birthday parties.

As for avoiding too much "strain at stool" as the old textbooks used to call it, GoingNorth said,
Despite it feeling natural to us Westerners; we are really designed to SQUAT when doing our business.

I just have to tell you - we have a term for that too in Australia - it's called "kangarooing the dyke".
Dyke is a fairly rough word for toilet. So is dunny. Shouse.

Before you try that method, make sure of two things:

1) you have good balance.

2) Your toilet pedestal is strong enough.

To not have one or the other could prove very embarrassing!

If the problem seems too severe for any of the above to make any difference then see the doctor. You do this if they can't stay back inside, if you can't push them back in at all, if they're bleeding a lot, if they're painful or any other problem that you find is really interfering with your lifestyle. Or if you just want to be sure.

Marg
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
My Mom used vicks, although I don't recommend it. Her experience was eye-opening to say the very least. lol (along with some screaming and swearing) But she never had them again. lol

If the alternatives (all good by the way) aren't working it's time to go to the family doctor. You made need surgery to get rid of those bad boys.

((hugs))
 

hearts and roses

Mind Reader
My Mom used vicks, although I don't recommend it. Her experience was eye-opening to say the very least. lol (along with some screaming and swearing) But she never had them again. lol((hugs))

Boy, that Vicks, huh? Good for just about everything! Wow.

I think you should see your DR to find out the true severity of what you're dealing with there. My friend had the surgery but didn't change her diet or other habits and she was in more pain following the surgery than ever. She hates all veggies and has a difficult time drinking a lot of water. She takes a fiber supplement, but doesn't drink enough water.

I suggested she start taking an good Omega 3 supplement and add olive oil to her foods and she said that helped her A LOT. The natural oils helped keep things moving down there so she was straining less. Most diets will tell you that you need oils to keep things moving along.
 

mstang67chic

Going Green
If you've tried a variety of options and are still being bothered, go to the doctor. I had a very large, persistant one after a colonoscopy and they gave me some suppositories. Those didn't help though and I had to have it surgically removed. Not fun but not really horrible either.
 

DDD

Well-Known Member
You might try a stool softener. It causes no strain but adds liquid to your sytem which eases movement. Of course I agree with others that problems that have continued on for awhile should be addressed with an MD. Good luck. DDD
 

SRL

Active Member
You might try a stool softener. It causes no strain but adds liquid to your sytem which eases movement. Of course I agree with others that problems that have continued on for awhile should be addressed with an MD. Good luck. DDD

My doctor has me using one called Colace (generic is fine) since surgery and it's worked well.

Absolutely no luck here with the creams, but keeping the area super clean and using a little Vaseline immediately after helps keep the inflammation down by creating a barrier between skin and moisture (or other ick:sick:).
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
Jo........Using the vicks was by accident. Mom was in agony during the night. Got up to get her ointment and didn't bother turning on the light. How she didn't recognize the vicks smell even in the dark I'll never know! I can smell the stuff a mile away. lmao! ;)
 

DDD

Well-Known Member
Colace is probably the best of the stool softeners. That's what is used in hospitals/nursing homes etc. around here.

I don't know about using them with your problem (I only had that problem a couple of times, thank heavens) but our family has added flushable wipes
to our bathrooms. They really clean the area and less apt to get irritated.
DDD
 

hearts and roses

Mind Reader
Jo........Using the vicks was by accident. Mom was in agony during the night. Got up to get her ointment and didn't bother turning on the light. How she didn't recognize the vicks smell even in the dark I'll never know! I can smell the stuff a mile away. lmao! ;)

Just like a smelly cigar, I can pick up on the pungent odor of vicks two cars in front of me with the windows closed! Last night I swore I was going crazy. I smelled vicks eeking into the air. Sure enough, this morning I took the puppy into easy child's room and there was the vicks. She put it on late last night to help her congestion. Hahaha, I really do think vicks is a miracle medication. Your poor mom!
 

Abbey

Spork Queen
Bad Star.

I have no advice. I'm an in and out kind of person...but the 'in' better be near when it needs to happen. Ok...too much information. I know my brother had surgery many years ago for this. I don't know how he is today as it is not typically a topic you discuss on your bi-yearly phone call.

I hope you get help.

Abbey
 
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