According to the Modern Medical Guide, hemorrhoids are swellings containing dilated or varicose veins situated in the mucous membranes of the rectum or in the skin around the anus. Veins, unlike arteries, have insufficient strength in their walls to support much blood-pressure. Therefore veins often become distended.

Veins around the rectum do not have much support from any other tissue, so they distend easily. Constipation is a cause of hemorrhoids. Straining at stool is an important cause; and the straining associated with childbirth is a common cause of hemorrhoids in women.

People with hemorrhoids may have pain in the rectum, with itching. In many cases blood oozes from the hemorrhoids, usually in connection with emptying the bowels. Piles may protrude from the rectum, depending on how high up in the rectum the affected veins are located. When they protrude, the sphincter muscle of the rectum partially strangulates them and tend to prevent their return.

Although hemorrhoids occur in everyone, they become large and cause problems in only 4% of the general population. Hemorrhoids that cause problems are found equally in men and women, and their prevalence peaks between 45 and 65 years of age. This was quoted from medicinenet.

It is important to correct constipation so that the stools can pass regularly and with the least possible irritation. If the case is severe, the patient while waiting for surgery may have to keep of his feet much of the time, so the blood pressure can be reduced and the protrusion corrected by giving the hemorrhoids relief from the pull of gravity.

WHAT TO DO

1. Take a diet adapted to prevent constipation.
2. Drink plenty of water.
3. If the hemorrhoids protrude, cleanse them gently with pieces of absorbent cotton wet with a solution of a level teaspoonful of salt in a pint (450 c.c.) of water, and gently press them back into place while lying down. A physician can prescribe pain-relieving ointments if the hemorrhoids are painful.
4. Alternate hot and cold compresses over the rectum and perineum twice a day will help relieve pain.
5. A daily hot sitz bath or a daily hot saline enema may do as well or better. If rectal bleeding persists, consult a physician.
6. In severe cases, rest in bed and surgery are needed. After the operation the surgeon will give directives regarding the aftercare.