Anyone who's ever suffered from hemorrhoids knows the havoc they can wreak on everyday life. Fortunately, studies show that the vast majority of hemorrhoids are best treated at home. Hemroid surgery is, at best, a poor second place to lifestyle changes and home remedies. While most people find out about the lifestyle changes necessary for long-term hemorrhoid elimination from their doctor, the vast arsenal of symptom relief available at home usually remains a mystery. What you find after a little investigation is an answer to any symptom you may be suffering from.
For immediate relief, your best bet is to look to those home remedies you've probably already got around the house. A first course of over-the-counter ibuprofen, taken according to package directions, is often quite beneficial. Ibuprofen addresses the pain of hemorrhoids in two ways, first by interfering with the nerve signals and second by reducing inflammation. Considering that most painful hemorrhoids are quite inflamed, this is all to the good and makes ibuprofen a better choice than acetaminophen, which doesn't address inflammation at all. However, either will work in a pinch. Most people also have hot water and ice in their homes, both of which offer immediate relief. Draw a sitz-bath of water as hot as you can stand and sit in it for up to twenty minutes. Follow this up with an icepack wrapped in a towel for five minutes. Both can be used alone if necessary, but the alternation of heat and cold really gets the circulation going.
Other home remedies work on specific symptoms and conditions. For external hemorrhoids, some people find that swabbing the hemorrhoid with apple cider vinegar on a sterile cotton swab brings a lot of relief. Putting oatmeal into a sitz-bath can help with irritated or bleeding external hemorrhoids. Getting a small footstool to use while sitting on the toilet helps both internal and external hemorrhoids. Of course, limiting your time sitting on the toilet to five minutes at a time is a good idea as well, since that area has no support and is entirely subject to the downward pull of gravity for the duration of your toileting. For regular sitting, you may find that a rolled up towel shaped into a doughnut helps take the pressure off of inflamed areas. Special doughnut shaped pillows are often available at pharmacies if you find them particularly useful.
For longer term home aids, you may want to look into sleeping with your legs elevated. Even slight elevation will increase the blood flow from the veins in your lower half back up to your heart, which lowers vein pressure and is all to the good where your hemorrhoids are concerned. Also, when picking out foods for your diet, be sure to include those fruits and vegetables that are brightly colored. Most contain bioflavonoids, which are nutrients that seem to help hemorrhoids by improving the circulation system overall.
While nothing will replace a high-fiber diet and increased physical activity for long-term hemorrhoid healing and avoidance, there are a lot of things you can do to get the hemorrhoids under control and even speed up their disappearance. All it takes is a bit of investigation around your house.
To find out more about hemroid home remedies check out our hemroids articles and hemorrhoid treatments.
Copyright 2010. Written by Donald Urquhart. All universal rights reserved.
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