- Personal Stories
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by James
Welcome to our site, we are pleased you are here with us and also sorry. Sorry that if you have stumbled upon the site, it means that you are probably suffering from hemorrhoids (or piles) or think you may have them.
I’ve personally been suffering from this dreaded condition for over 10 years now, I’ve tried all the creams, suppositories, home remedies and other products you can think of in this time. One thing I noticed over the years is that there was no one site that I could get all the information from, I had to spend hours and hours reading through various sites to gain the knowledge I have obtained, and this is where the idea for hemorrhoidrelief.info came from.
The aim is to build up a database of knowledge, products and procedures as well as information from other users in our forum in the hope that it can help our readers to quickly and effectively find the information they require, which will hopefully help them find some relief.
Disclaimer: Please note that I am not a doctor. If you have any concerns or symptoms related to hemorrhoids, it is important to consult with a healthcare professional for proper diagnosis and treatment.
What caused my hemorrhoids?
I think it is a combination of genetics and bad toilet habits when I was younger.
I have parents and siblings who have suffered with hemorrhoids and genetics does seem to play a part in how likely you are to develop them. A large study from 2020 looked at genetic data from almost a million people and found 102 genetic markers linked to a higher risk of hemorrhoids. This means your genes, especially those affecting the structure and function of certain muscles and tissues, can play a role in whether you develop hemorrhoids. Thanks Dad!
Poor toilet habits, straining and spending longer than required sitting on the toilet have also (in my opinion) played a part in the development of hemorrhoids.
As you age, your risk of developing hemorrhoids increases. This is largely because the tissues and muscles that support the veins in your rectum and anus can weaken and stretch over time, making them more susceptible to swelling and inflammation. According to various sources, more than half of people over the age of 50 are affected by hemorrhoids at some point, highlighting the link between aging and the increased likelihood of developing this condition.
For me, it started to affect me in my early thirties, I would go to the toilet and afterwards notice a small lump protruding, a grade 3 hemorrhoid. At this point I could manually push it back in and get on with my day problem free. I wasn’t overly concerned as it wasn’t a big problem in my life. Fast forward a few more years and it started to become a bigger problem, some days were a bit painful and this was the start of my looking into a cure. I tried the over the counter options, creams, suppositories, ice packs, homeopathic remedies but nothing was really helping. I spent hours and hours online researching different products to try, some with varied success but nothing that would cure the problem.
In my mid-late thirties it progressively got worse, any physical days or days spent walking around for long periods of time, the hemorrhoids would protrude even without going to the toilet. This was very uncomfortable and painful, the only relief I could get was a warm bath a few times a day until they subsided a bit, and then it happened…
A thrombosed hemorrhoid, for those of you lucky enough not to have experienced this yet, thank your lucky stars. For me personally, I would usually get a thrombosed hemorrhoid after a lot of walking, like a full day spent out and about. I’m not sure if it is the constant friction of an external hemorrhoid or just random, but the thrombosed hemorrhoid leads to a few days of excruciating pain and a feeling of hopelessness.
A thrombosed hemorrhoid is a type of external hemorrhoid where a blood clot (thrombus) forms inside the hemorrhoidal vein, causing severe pain and swelling. This occurs when the blood flow is obstructed, leading to the formation of a hard lump around the anus. The symptoms of a thrombosed hemorrhoid typically include intense pain, swelling, inflammation, and a bluish or purplish lump around the anus. The pain is usually most severe within the first 48 hours and can be aggravated by sitting or bowel movements.
Treatment for thrombosed hemorrhoids often involves pain relief measures such as warm sitz baths, over-the-counter pain medications, and topical treatments. In some cases, if the pain is severe, a doctor may perform a minor procedure to remove the clot.
After a few days of warm baths, ice packs and creams to help soothe the pain, usually, the clot will be reabsorbed back into the body and the pain will subside. For me… it bursts.
Every time I have had a thrombosed hemorrhoid, after a few days of pain, and always when going to the toilet, it goes ‘pop’. The first time it happened was like a scene from Dexter, blood everywhere, I stood in the shower panicked and blood ran down my leg for about 10 minutes. Eventually the blood stopped and I cleaned myself up. For the next few days my hemorrhoids were tender but smaller than usual, and day to day life was fairly comfortable again. But then the cycle would repeat, the hemorrhoid would get larger and larger, then one day of over exerting myself physically, it would thrombose again. This would happen maybe 3-4 times per year.
Over the last few years, it has been tough, I’ve had days when I just want to curl up in a ball and cry, days where i can’t get out of bed, days that I have missed out on good times with my family. For those of us who suffer with this constant pain and discomfort, I don’t think people without hemorrhoids can quite understand how it makes you feel. For those of you in a dark place, I want this site to be your glimmer of hope and I encourage you to join our forums so that other members sharing in your pain can be there to support you, Support and Encouragement for Hemorrhoid Relief
How am I now?
Now in my early 40’s, I have developed a routine that has really helped day to day, I have a lot more good days than bad days, but the bad days are still there. Here is the routine that helps me the most.
1. Water, staying hydrated and drinking enough water throughout the day stops me straining the following day.
2. Fibre, specifically psyllium husk. I started taking the powdered psyllium husk but just could not get on with it sticking in my teeth so have been using the capsules for a few years now and I can really notice the difference. I usually take them in the morning with breakfast and this combined with drinking enough water makes the poop softer and helps it slide on out without any straining. I would say that with the psyllium husk capsules, on average I can be done on the toilet in 2-3 minutes.
3. Squatty Potty, The Squatty Potty (Other brands of toilet stool are available) is a simple bathroom accessory designed to help you adopt a squatting position while using the toilet. It’s a small, curved stool that fits around the base of your toilet, allowing you to elevate your feet and mimic a natural squatting posture.
So why does it work? The idea is that squatting helps align your colon in a way that makes it easier to have a bowel movement. When you sit on a regular toilet, your colon is somewhat kinked, which can make it harder to go. Squatting straightens out that kink, creating a smoother pathway for waste to exit. This can help reduce straining and make the whole process quicker and more comfortable.
A lot of people find that using the Squatty Potty helps with constipation and makes their trips to the bathroom more efficient.
Looking for links to these products? Take a look at our blog The Top 5 Products to Help Keep Hemorrhoids at Bay
Disclaimer: I do receive a small commission from some of these affiliate products. If you purchase through these links, thank you, it is appreciated, it helps to keep the site running. There is no obligation to purchase through these links and you can go straight to the sites and find the products yourself at the same price.
The above 3 steps seem to keep things flowing well and unless there is a radical change to my diet, like a lot of fast food, the condition is manageable.
Realizing that although the above helped, it was never going to cure me. I still had grade 3 hemorrhoids that required manual intervention after every visit to the toilet. I started to look for a long term solution, I read about banding, stapling, surgery and to be honest, it terrified me. From the articles I had read and the people who had had it done, it sounded horrendously painful and sometimes it never worked or was only temporary. This put me off any of these options.
Eventually, I came across Exroid. What is Exroid you ask?
It is a non-surgical treatment for internal hemorrhoids that uses electrotherapy to provide relief. The procedure involves applying a low electrical current to the blood vessels feeding the hemorrhoid, causing a chemical reaction that seals off these vessels and reduces the hemorrhoid’s size. This method is minimally invasive and typically causes less discomfort than other treatments, such as banding or higher-current electrotherapy
Now, this sounded like an option I could go for, currently only available in the UK as far as I know, I saved up and booked an appointment with them. I will write additional blogs that go into the procedure in more detail for those interested, but the condensed version is, first appointment, they identified 3 hemorrhoids that required treatment. 2 grade 2’s and 1 large grade 3.
The procedure was not painful, I would describe it as uncomfortable, each hemorrhoid was treated for 8 minutes and then I went home. I was told the larger hemorrhoids may take additional treatments. Well, after my first treatment, I was fairly disappointed. I would say that overall, general day to day pain was down but the grade 3 still persisted. 6 Months later I booked another treatment. During this treatment, the doctor confirmed that the two smaller hemorrhoids had disappeared and only the large one remained. I felt this treatment was a lot less uncomfortable, I could quite easily have fallen asleep on the bed I lay on. Results: again nothing ground breaking although I noticed time between really bad flare ups had increased which was progress.
Not quite ready to give up on it yet and after a few bad days of pain, I booked my 3rd treatment. This treatment concentrated on the large grade 3 hemorrhoid, and like the first appointment was uncomfortable but not painful. I was tender for a couple days after but nothing that a few over the counter painkillers couldn’t fix. I’m now a few weeks post treatment and I am seeing some great progress so far. My grade 3 hemorrhoid is by far the smallest it has been in years, I would estimate that it has reduced in size by about 60-70%. So far, I have not had any bad days, yes, I still have to manually push it back in after each bowel movement, but now it is like trying to push a peanut back in rather than a grape. I’ve also done a couple days of physical exercise, which previously would have had me in pain for a few days afterwards. I didn’t once feel like they were going to pop out and I was in no discomfort the following day. It is slow progress but for the first time in years, I feel there may be an end to this condition that has affected my life for so long.
My plan is to book a 4th treatment in another month or two, I am hopeful that we can get this grade 3 down to a grade 2, to a point where it will not bother me at all, that is the hope and I will be sure to update this blog post with the progress.
If you have made it this far, thanks for sticking it out. Feel free to drop a comment below or join in on our forums. I hope that this website will be helpful to everyone who comes across it, but most importantly I hope that it can bring you some relief. I will keep adding articles about the various treatments I have tried over the years, some that have helped, others that have been a waste of time, but just because they didn’t work for me, doesn’t mean that they won’t work for you.
One last thing, don’t be scared or embarrassed to visit your doctor for a diagnosis, these are professionals who have seen hundreds if not thousands of rear ends, rather be safe in the knowledge that it is just hemorrhoids and not something more sinister. Good luck on your journey with this terrible condition.
