Hemorrhoids (Piles) What Do You Do About Them?

1. Diet and Lifestyle Modification

• Add more fiber intake in your food, and drink plenty of water to avoid constipation and straining. They soften stool and make it easier to pass, hence reducing pressure on hemorrhoids.
• Develop a regular bowel habit by exercising more, which will stimulate bowel movement. Make it a habit to go to the toilet at a scheduled time, and to sit on a toilet for a few minutes to encourage defecation.
• A sitz bath is a warm water bath with salt added in, to relieve itching, swelling and muscle spasm. Apply after each bowel movement for around 20-30 minutes for symptoms relief.

2. Medical Therapy

• Hemorrhoidal medications, topical cream and stool softener will help to shrink and decrease swelling at the anus and stop bleeding as well. They can be prescribed by your family doctors.

3. Daycare Procedures

• A number of minimally invasive procedures are available widely in the hospital, and patients do not need to be hospitalized to get treatment.
• Examples are rubber banding ligation, sclerotherapy, cryotherapy and infrared coagulation of hemorrhoids.

4. Hemorrhoidal Surgery

• Some hemorrhoids just can’t be managed by conservative treatment alone especially the bigger ones. Eventually, surgical treatment is the best option to treat the ‘stubborn’ hemorrhoids.
• Open Hemorrhoidectomy: If the large protruding hemorrhoid is causing pain and bleeding, this is the best option available. It has a 95% cure rate and less complication but also has a notorious reputation for being painful.
• Stapled Hemorrhoidopexy: This procedure treats prolapsed hemorrhoid and is less painful compared to a conventional hemorrhoidectomy.
• Other less painful procedures available are Laser Hemorrhoidoplasty and HAL- RAR (Hemorrhoidal Artery Ligation – Recto Anal Repair), but the success rate is much lower compared to surgical excision.