External Hemorrhoids Exposed

October 21, 2009

First of all, you should understand the difference between external and internal hemorrhoids. The first one does not cause much pain as the latter does. Usually, the hemorrhoids occurring inside the anus cause painless bleeding during bowel movement. These also range in size, swelling and sagging veins. The external hemorrhoids occur around the anus or lower rectum. The hemorrhoidal veins on the exterior are also swollen and inflamed.
External hemorrhoids or commonly known as piles are usually caused by heightened pressure inside the external hemorrhoidal veins. Almost 44% of the adult population is affected with this type of hemorrhoids. The usual symptoms of these are bleeding, anal itching and appearance of a hard lump around the anus. The last symptom may result from blood clot formation, which is then known as the condition of a thrombosed external hemorrhoid. These may be caused by too much straining during bowel movement or frequent heavy lifting. When you rub or clean off the anal area with rough material, external hemorrhoids are likely to occur.
Although the said symptoms are distinct of external hemorrhoids, it is also best that you have your condition diagnosed by a licensed physician or a health professional. During the diagnosis, you would be asked about your medical history, especially concerning any blood-related conditions like hypertension. And then, you would be asked to engage in some medical tests. The doctor would examine your anus through the use of a small metal tube called proctoscope. This medical gadget would be inserted 1 to 2 inches inside the anal canal to better see the internal condition. The diagnosis would also include the cause of your bleeding external hemorrhoids. Some common findings include digestive diseases like colon or rectal cancer.
Your physician will tell you that tests are necessary to confirm the need before any surgical procedures are required. These are designed to make sure you are capable of undergoing the procedure. Some bad cases of piles are treated with banding or ligation, sclerotherapy, infrared coagulation, cryosurgery, or hemmorhoidectomy.
Your doctor would tell you that further laboratory tests should be performed before any surgical treatment would be administered. This is to ensure that you are fit for the operation. Some severe cases of piles are treated through banding or ligation, sclerotherapy, cryosurgery, infrared coagulation and hemorrhoidectomy (surgery).
Sclerotherapy involves injecting chemical solutions into the affected blood vessels. Either phenol in oil or concentrated sodium chloride solutions are used here. Cryosurgery uses freezing. Upon becoming frozen, hemorrhoids are easily removed, but watery discharges after the procedure make this method less desirable.
The second one is through injection of a chemical solution around the blood vessel. The chemicals used are either one of these – phenol in oil, polidocanol and concentrated NaCl solution. Cryosurgery uses the technique of freezing. When the piles are frozen, they are easily destroyed. But this method is not used as much as the others because watery discharge follows after procedure.
Infrared coagulation utilizes heat instead through infrared light. The last one is for extreme cases of external hemorrhoids. This one guarantees high success rate of hemorrhoid removal but also has the highest rate of pain.

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