Piles Treatment

Welcome to Piles Treatment .org.uk

Piles, or what are medically called Haemorrhoids occur when blood vessels within the anus and lower rectum become enlarged and swollen.  If pressure increases on the blood vessels then small lumps form as the blood vessels swell.  A common way for pressure to increase is when doing to the toilet.  Along with this, other causing factors are a high blood pressure around the rectum, during pregnancy the weight of the baby can cause piles, along with different hormones effecting blood vessel pressure.

Piles can start with an itchy feeling around your bottom.  The condition is not serious and can be treated with piles creams, though it can become painful and it is common for bleeding to occur.

Most people don’t realise how common piles are.  Around half of the population will suffer from them at some point and anyone can suffer from them.  Suffering from piles is more common with older people or during pregnancy.  It is also common with for larger people as there will be an increased pressure on the bottom – however larger people can also be less likely to get it, due to the extra mass around the bottom relieving pressure.

You can try and prevent piles by not straining when doing a poo.  This may mean that a laxative is required.  A healthy diet will also reduce the chances of getting piles – so reduce your salt intake and have less fast foods!  A lot of people thin their blood with aspirin to reduce blood vessel pressure.  Bleeding is common as piles rupture.  You should consult with your doctor if the bleeding is very heavy and continues as you may have a different medical problem.

There are a number of ways that you can treat piles.

Medicines and Self Help

One of the easiest ways to treat piles is via medicines which you can buy from an online pharmacy or from most high street health shops (such as Boots).  Treatments come in the form of ointments, suppositories and creams.  Some treatments include hydrocortisone as an ingredient.  It is not recommended to use one of these treatments if you will be using it for a long period of time, suffer from sensitive skin (especially around the bottom) or if you are already on steroids.  The advantage of using hydrocortisone is that it is a powerful anti inflammatory which helps decrease the size of piles.

Alternatively you could try something like a fibre supplement, such as Fybogel or a mild laxative (Lactulose, rather than Senna).  A mild laxative will help loosen feces and make them more malleable.

If you would like to relieve irritation and keep your anus clean then regular warm baths are recommended.  It is important not to force any stools out as this is a common way for your anal cushions to become damaged and form piles.

Surgery Free Options

If you have a serious form of piles, which over the counter medicines do not clear up then there are other surgery free options which require a hospital visit.  The type of treatment they will use will depend on which type of piles you have.

Sclerotherapy

This can be used on first to second degree piles.  It involves having an oily substance injected into your piles with causes them to dry up and shrink.  There are other forms of this therapy, but there is little scientific research to show their benefits.  These include using an infrared light to block the blood flow to the pile, freezing the pile via cryosurgery and using an electrical current to burn the pile off.

Banding

A common way to treat second degree piles is banding.  If medicines have failed it is sometimes used with first degree pile sufferers. It involves the use of an endoscope.  An endoscope is typically a small camera and tube which is placed up your bottom.  It can be a bit uncomfortable but it should not hurt.  The doctor will wrap an elastic band over the pile.  By doing this blood cannot get to the pile and the pile should fall off.  Once the pile comes off, which should only take a couple of days, the area will be left to heal by itself.

Surgical Options

If the medicines and surgery free options mentioned above have been unsuccessful then your doctor may recommend a surgical option.  It is likely that you will have had to try one or more of the above treatments for piles before a surgical option will be considered.  A surgical option may be used to begin with if you have a serious form of piles, such as third degree and above forms of piles.

There are three main surgical options available when treating piles.

Haemorrhoidal atery ligation / HALO/ Haemorrhoidal atery ligation operation

This option causes the piles to shrink by using sutures to stop the blood supply getting to the piles.

Stapled Haemorrhoidopexy

Recently research has been done to show that this method can cause less discomfort and pain, along with a shorter stay in hospital than conventional haemorrhoidectomy.  The stapled approach uses a circular stapler, designed for this.  This stapler is inserted up your bottom to remove a round shaped piece of tissue near the pile.  This helps to move the pile back up your anal canal as well as cutting off blood flow.  By reducing the blood flow to the pile, the pile will reduce in size and die.

Conventional Heamorrhoidectomy

This procedure is done under a general anaesthetic, which means you will be asleep during the surgery.  It involves having the pile cut away from the muscle by a surgeon.  The surgeon will fasten the blood supply to prevent bleeding.

As you can see from the both list of treatments there are a lot of possible options for the treatment of piles.  Currently there is not a cure, but methods to remove the symptoms.  Personally I would recommend starting off with an appropriate medicine before moving onto the surgery free/surgical options.  As with any medical issue it is a good idea to talk to your GP as some symptoms may be attributed to other problems.  If you have any questions you can leave a comment on this page.