Health and Fitness – Fitness Made Easy

Haemorrhoid’s are swollen veins in or around the anus that cause pain,  itching and, occasionally bleeding.

Internal haemorrhoid’s, the most common type,  develop inside anus.  You might have some bleeding , but no pain.  External haemorrhoid’s are more painful ones and they too can cause some bleeding.  Either kind may turn into a prolapsed haemorrhoid, a soft lump that protrudes from the anus.  Prolonged sitting,  pregnancy and ageing can all contribute to haemorrhoid’s. If you often have constipation and strain when you’re having a bowel movement, you can cause haemorrhoid’s or make them worse.

Pharmacies sell many products that help-creams, pads, ointments and suppositories. As a rule doctors say to avoid over the counter products that have ingredients ending in “caine”. These contain an anesthetic that provides immediate relief but,  if used regularly, cause increased irritation.  In addition to OTC’s, however, there are plenty of household remedies you can try.

The comfort of warmth

• Fill a bath with warm water, then ease yourself  into it. You should be sitting with your knees raised, allowing maximum exposure of the anal area to the warm water.  You’ll find that this eases the pain.  What you can’t feel is how the warm water encourages increased blood-flow to the area,  and that,  in turn,  helps to shrink  swollen veins.
• Try adding a handful of  Epsom salts before you plunge into the bath to help constrict the haemorrhoid’s.  Stir the water well to dissolve the salts.
• Rather than fill up a whole bath every time you want relief you can buy a sitz bath .  These baths,  designed solely for sitting in,  are available from medical supply stores.  Or if you have a bidet- and you are not too large- you can simply immerse your rear in the bowl.
• For external haemorrhoid’s, apply a warm, wet teabag.  You can do this while sitting on the toilet.  The warmth soothes and you get added benefit from one of tea’s main components,  tannic acid. It helps to reduce pain and swelling and also promotes blood clotting,  which helps to stop the bleeding.

Sit on ice

• Fill a sturdy bag with ice,  wrap the bag in a thin cloth-  an old pillow case is ideal and sit on it.  Or use a bag of frozen peas ( also wrapped in a cloth ),  which will mould itself more comfortably to your contours.  The cold shrinks the swollen vessels,  providing enormous relief.  Sit in the chilly saddle for up to 20 minutes.  There’s no limit on how often you can do this, but give yourself at least a  10  minute break between applications.

Do dab, don’t scratch

• Soak a cotton wool ball with undistilled witch hazel and apply to the haemorrhoid’s.  It’s rich in tannins,  which cause the blood vessels to contract.
• A dab of Vaseline, also contained in many over-the-counter haemorrhoid’s treatments, can help to soothe the area.

• Liquid vitamin E and wheatgerm oil are both reputed to be effective.  Put them on a cotton wool ball and apply it a few times a day.

Lounge around

• A couple of times a day  find a comfortable sofa, stretch out, and put your feet up.
• What’s good for your frayed nerves is also good for your haemorrhoid’s. In this supine posture, you take the weight off your overstressed anal area.

Go with the grain

• Get more roughage into your diet. Research shows that a high- fibre diet can significantly reduce haemorrhoid’s symptoms, including pain and bleeding.  Foods that are rich in fibre include wholegrain breads and cereals,  fresh fruits and vegetables,  brown rice and nuts.
• When you’re getting more fibre,  you need to stay well hydrated to prevent constipation.  Be sure to drink enough fluids so that your urine is pale,  not dark, yellow.

Limit sitting and lifting

• Anyone who does a lot of sitting needs to do some standing as well.  If you’re tied to your desk most of the time,  take a five- minute walk every hour or so.  Every time you get up,  you ease the rectal pressure that leads to haemorrhoid’s.
• Heavy lifting puts pressure on the anal area.  If there’s a sofa or dresser that needs lifting,  claim that you have a bad back and ask for volunteers.
• Every time you crouch down, then lift up again,  you put direct pressure on your rectum. Also avoid any exercise that involves sitting for long periods, such as cycling .

Throne room policy

• The key to avoiding haemorrhoid’s is not straining,  so excuse yourself and go to the loo whenever you have to go. The trouble with waiting is that it leads to constipation.  And that, of course,  means you have to strain more when you do go.  And that invites haemorrhoid’s.
• After a bowel movement,  wipe with plain white unscented toilet paper that’s been dampened under running water.
• Follow the paper wipe with facial tissues coated with an unscented moisturising cream.

Roberto Garcia (Health and Fitness Specialist)
http://www.newhealthandfitnessdvds.co.uk

Specialist provider of Health and Fitness information and products including: DVDs and Supplements.

Tags: bleeding, blood vessels, constipation, swollen veins

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 18th, 2010 at 8:02 am and is filed under Medical. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.