Hemorrhoids are said to affect up to 50% of adults at some point in their life with incidences prevailing in the 45-65 year old age group. Hemorrhoids often occur in women who are pregnant, especially in their last months of pregnancy, even if they have never suffered from hemorrhoids before (according to statistics, 40% of pregnant women suffer from hemorrhoids). Yet little has been spoken about hemorrhoids because of a lingering taboo status. An overwhelming amount of collected data though indicates that they are still a much more common problem than most people realize.
What are hemorrhoids?
We asked Dr. Stefano Bona, Head of the Operating Unit of General Surgery and Digestive Surgery at Humanitas Hospital and this is what he said: “Hemorrhoids are a normal anatomic formation of the anal canal: these are vascular soft tissue masses that serve different functions, such as maintaining continence. In normal conditions their presence is not felt, however, they can become discomforting if they grow in size and cause disorders such as prolapse (i.e. leakage of hemorrhoids from the anal canal, which could occur during exercise), itching, burning, pain or bleeding. Individuals with hemorrhoids may experience complications such as thrombosis, which consists of a blood clot inside a blood vessel that causes very painful acute inflammation”.
How to avoid undergoing surgery for hemorrhoids
Regarding the treatments for hemorrhoids, there are medications that can be taken orally (flavonoids) or be applied locally in the form of ointments, suppositories and micro-enema, to relieve symptoms. “A healthy lifestyle and the use of specific drugs – explains Dr. Bona – can help stop the disorder from worsening and prevent having to undergo surgical removal”.
In particular, “surgical treatment for hemorrhoids is the biggest taboo associated with this disease”, says the expert. Often, patients are too scared to turn to a specialist in fear that they will propose undergoing a surgical intervention. However, nowadays, less invasive surgical techniques are used as opposed to those used in the past and they involve less demanding post-operative care in terms of pain and discomfort as well as a much faster recovery time than traditional intervention.”
