External Hemorrhoid

External hemorrhoids often begin as internal hemorrhoids. Many people think that they are a product of living in an increasingly industrialized world and an increasingly technological world where people do not move around physically as much as they used to. However, hemorrhoids were so common that in 400BC Hippocrates wrote a treatise on how to cure hemorrhoids.

According to him hemorrhoids were formed this way: “if bile or phlegm be determined to the veins in the rectum, it heats the blood in the veins; and these veins becoming heated attract blood from the nearest veins, and being gorged the inside of the gut swells outwardly, and the heads of the veins are raised up, and being at the same time bruised by the faeces passing out, and injured by the blood collected in them, they squirt out blood, most frequently along with the faeces, but sometimes without faeces.”

He was almost right. They do start in the veins that wrap around the anus like a U. These veins pull the blood from the hemorrhoidal cushions up into the anal canal. The cushions are supposed to expand and contract as part of the bowel movement process.

When you have a bowel movement, the cushions expand by being filled with blood to “cushion” the impact of the stools passing through the normally tight rectum. If a person is constipated, the pressure of straining to get the stools out can push these swollen veins to the outside.

While the insides of the anal canal are not sensitive, there is a ring of nerve endings around the anus so external hemorrhoids are painful because they begin right where these nerve endings are. As well, the bulging veins pressing the tissues outside the anus become irritated. This skin is not meant to be outside the body.

Relief

When the problem begins, your best bet is to take some immediate steps to alleviate the situation. A sitz bath is a good way to start as the warm water – actually as hot as you can stand it – will relax your anus. Try three sitz baths a day for at least 20 minutes each.

External over the counter hemorrhoid treatments will help shrink the tissue, ease the itching, and sooth the pain. If at the same time you drink more water and take more fiber – psyllium seeds are great for adding fiber – you will have a very good chance of stopping the problem of external hemorrhoids.

If external hemorrhoids are not treated, they can continue to expand. They will rub together. Fissures will occur and sometimes these are so deep, they require surgery to repair them. The constant itching is difficult to cope with – it is not a good idea to scratch the area even if it were a convenient area to scratch. This can create inflammation which only makes matters worse. Large irritated hemorrhoids can become thrombosed which means that they have a clot in them. By this time, you will be in the range of needing surgery to remove the painful and itching external hemorrhoids.

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