What is Piles, Causes & Symptoms

What is Piles?

Piles is a disorder that occurs with old age, and in clinical terms, it is called hemorrhoids. Piles is a condition in which vessels, especially veins in your lower region of the large intestine, i.e., in the Rectum and Anus, swell up. As there are smooth and easy material movements in your large intestine, all the movements disturb and cause too much pain due to vessels' swelling. Well-known research published by The Indian Journal of Surgery in 2017 tells us that almost half of the people in India of age 50 or above may get the symptoms of piles during their life. So, we can say that piles is a disease that has a great chance of developing in aged people. Piles is not too much threat for the body functions as we cannot pay attention to them, but if we left as, it could cause too many serious health problems. We will discuss piles' aspects, like causes, types, remedies, treatments, prevention, and piles' symptoms, with pictures in this blog.

Causes of Piles

Piles' symptoms develop during the lifetime, but no one can detect or find it until you would get pain and abnormal movements due to vessels' swelling. Now the question is, what are the causes of Piles? Few of the causes of piles are:

• If you eat foods with low fibers and small size, stools put pressure on a person's vessels and cause vessels' swelling.
• Obesity and bulky body.
• Pregnancy is one of the most common causes of swelling of vessels as more weight of uterus puts pressure on the vessels of rectum and anus. Besides pressure by the uterus, many hormones may weaken the muscles that support the anus and rectum. Piles in pregnancy is hard and painful for females due to bulky uterus.
• Sitting on the toilet for a long time can increase pressure within the rectum and anus vessels, i.e., hemorrhoids.
• Any colon cancer and rectal surgery.
• Acute and chronic diarrhea.
• Any injury to the colon or in the pelvis region.

Some of the other most common reasons for piles are chronic constipation and diarrhea, dull and sedentary lifestyle, taking too much alcohol and smoking, taking too much stress, anal intercourse, and family history.

Types of Piles (hemorrhoids)

We can see a pectinate line in the lower region of the large intestine. There are two types of classification. One is based on swelling above and below that line, and the other is the severeness of lumps in the anus. There are four different types of piles.

• Internal Hemorrhoids
• External Hemorrhoids
• Prolapsed Hemorrhoids
• Thrombosed Hemorrhoids

We will explain all the types below:

Internal Hemorrhoids

In this type of Hemorrhoids, swelling occurs above the pectinate line and lies deep inside the rectum and cannot be visible with the naked eye. As it is not too severe, but it can cause bleeding after the development of severe symptoms.

External Hemorrhoids

In this type of Hemorrhoids, swelling occurs below the pectinate line and lies on the outer lining of the anus. It causes too much pain and discomfort. You cannot see it under a few conditions, but it forms lumps and clots in the blood vessels.

Prolapsed Hemorrhoids

It is a severe form of internal hemorrhoids when hemorrhoids are dilated and come out from your anus. This type of piles causes too much pain and burning etc. We can call this type of Piles with bleeding.

Thrombosed Hemorrhoids

When blood clots are forming inside the swollen hemorrhoids, we will refer to them as Thrombosed hemorrhoids. Due to clot formation, there will be less blood supply to rectal and anus tissues, so it needs urgent and fast consultation with the doctor to prevent any severe complications.

Symptoms of Piles in Males and Females

Symptoms of piles in males and females develop during the whole life, but they are not considered too much, but after severity, they must not be ignored. There is not much difference in piles' symptoms in males and females because both have the same structure of anus and swelling of vessels. Some of the featuring symptoms are as under:

• Itching and burning in the rectal region.
• Rectal and anal pain
• In severe, bleeding occurs in piles. Bleeding in piles is sometimes not be considered normal because it is the most dangerous form of piles.
• Discharge of mucosal fluid from the anus.
• Sore and Redness in the rectal region.

Sometimes, people consider bleeding due to ulcers, intestinal injury, and intestinal cancer as piles' bleeding. So, it is hard to identify the bleeding of piles in such a situation. Some doctors consider that Piles is more common in males than females and has a specific symptom. Piles in males give bleeding of bright red color blood.

Good and Bad foods for piles

Good foods for piles

As we know that Piles occurs due to the eating of food with fewer fibers. So, the foods have many fibers like Strawberries, apple, cabbage, turnip, banana, and many other high sugar-based diets. They give fibers and help to decrease the hardness of stools and reduce pain in the rectum. The hardness of stools is one of the most common causes of pain due to piles.

Foods to avoid in piles

Which type of foods must be avoided in piles? The foods with fewer fibers like dry fruits, spicy foods, foods with less watery and sugar contents, and some are as:

• Milk, Ghee, and many other dairy foods.
• Loaves of Bread and Bagels.
• Beef and Mutton.
• Frozen meals and spicy fast foods.

Take reasonable and healthy foods and reduce the severity of disorders.

Home remedies to treat and prevent Piles

As we have discussed in the piles' section's causes, piles' most common cause is chronic constipation and diarrhea. So, there are some remedies which you can follow to prevent piles. How can we treat chronic constipation? We can prevent by taking foods with many fibers like fruits, drink at least ten glass of water, and take stool softeners. Stool softeners can help you t reduce hardness and help easy flow through the anal canal.

How can you treat chronic diarrhea? You can take antidiarrheal and anti-softeners to reduce the softness of stools. Remedies for constipation and diarrhea prevent the abnormal and frequent flow of stools through the anal canal and reduce pressure in the rectum vessels and anus that cause swelling of hemorrhoids.

You cannot treat piles in the start because it is asymptomatic and cannot be felt. But grade 1 hemorrhoids can be treated after symptoms. Piles cause muscle spasms and pain. You can treat by:

• Warm sitz baths.
• Taking a bath and sitting in hot water for 20-30 minutes three times a day.
• Avoid spicy and fast foods.
• Over the counter medicines.

You can follow these remedies and cure piles at home permanently.

Exercises for Piles

Exercise can be beneficial to prevent and reduce the severity of piles. Some of the exercises for piles are:

• Pelvic floor contraction

Due to your body's contraction, pelvic floor muscles become more assertive and can help you pass stools easily. It also relaxes the muscles of the anus and rectum, and anal sphincter. Due to relaxation, there will be a reduction of pressure in vessels.

• Deep Breathing

It can help you to alleviate pelvic floor muscle contraction and promote relaxation in the rectum and anus.

• Child's Pose (Balasana)

This pose increases the circulation of blood in the vessels of your anus and reduces constipation. It relaxes the muscles of your lower back, legs, and hips. We can call it a massage of your internal organs. If you want to exert more pressure on your lower abdomen, place your stacked palms and fists on that area.

• Legs up-the-walls pose (Viparita Karani)

One of the best exercises to relieve constipation and boost circulation to the anus. It also reduces pain and irritation in the anus and rectum.

• Wind Relieving Pose or Pawanmuktasana

It is a pose that can boost your digestion process by putting pressure on your abdominal muscles. It also decreases tension in your back, anus, and buttocks muscles. To deepen the stretch, raise your head and tuck your chin into your chest.

• Bound Angle Pose or Buddha Konasana

This pose is particular and can help you to increase the flexibility of muscles in the groin, knees, and inner thighs. It can also make it easy for you to do excretion and reduce pain and discomfort.

The last four exercises are conventional yogasana for the treatment and prevention of piles. Yogasana is very beneficial and helpful to reduce discomfort and irritation in the anus and rectum.

Some of the other yogasana for piles are:

• Supta Matsyendrasana
• Adho Mukha Svanasana
• Halasana
• Ardha Matsyendrasana (Seated Half Spinal Twist)

These all are yoga poses and the best treatment and prevention of pain and stress during piles.

Difference between Piles and Fissure

We have discussed Piles in the whole article, but we will draw a comparison between Piles and Fissure to understand the difference between both.

• Piles is the swelling of vessels in the anus and rectum, but fissure is the cut or tar in the anal or rectum skin.
• Piles is painless and comfortable in the start but become tough and painful with more symptoms, but Fissure is painful and cause discomfort from the very first day.
• Piles is due to chronic constipation, in pregnancy or any other reason but fissure happens during pregnancy, because of corpulence or a physical issue to the anal canal, to individuals having Crohn's disease, passing hard stools and frequent diarrhea.
• There are 4 types of piles as we have discussed in the above section, but fissure has only two types.

Types of fissure are:

Acute Fissure

It is a freshly developed I jury to the anal canal less than 4 weeks and can be treated without any difficulty. If left ignored, it can also cause complication in the later stage.

Chronic Fissure

If severity goes to 8-12 or more weeks, then we call it chronic fissure. It is a dangerous condition and needs urgent treatment and prevention. If you are not paying attention to it, it will too much complicated for you to stay in comfort and ease.

Piles Treatment in Homeopathy

We can treat piles by taking some homeopathic medicines as home remedies. Some of them are:

• Aesculus hippocastanum
• Aloe
• Nux vomica
• Graphites
• Sulphur
• Arnica montana
• Hamamelis virginiana
• Calcarea fluorica
• Ignatia

Frequently Asked Questions

Are eggs goods for piles?

I think eggs are not suitable for piles because, according to some research, some people say that eggs cause constipation, and you know better, constipation is very hard for piles. One more reason is that eggs come in oily and spicy foods, so you should avoid eggs in piles or hemorrhoids.

Can we eat fish and milk in piles?

I think there is a big no to this query. Both are oily products and must be prevented in the piles. If you are taking them continuously in piles, it will convert into complicated health problems and damage your body.

What are the best foods to eat in piles?

Foods with a high level of fiber, water at least ten times a day, and eat fruits daily.

How to get rid of Piles?

There are some necessary things you must have to do:

• Take fibrous foods and drink water to make soft stools.
• Do not use water or hard things to wipe your bottom. Always use soft toilet paper for it.
• You can tale paracetamol in piles but must avoid ibuprofen.
• You can take a warm water bath to relieve inflammation and pain.
• You can use ice packed in the towel to reduce burns.
• Push your pile back inside.
• Always make your bottom clean and dry.
• Take exercise and yoga daily.
• Must avoid alcohol and coffee etc., to avoid any constipation.

Conclusion

We have discussed all the aspects related to Piles and understand causes, reason, symptoms, prevention, remedies, and treatment of piles in a better way. Once an old man said that "Prevention is better than cure". So, take care of yourself, eat healthy and fresh foods and live a healthy life.