What causes internal and external hemorrhoids and simple ways to treat them?

Hemorrhoids are usually caused by increased pressure due to pregnancy, being overweight, or straining during bowel movements. By midlife, hemorrhoids often become an ongoing complaint.

By age 50, about half the population has experienced one or more of the classic symptoms, which include rectal pain, itching, bleeding, and possibly prolapse (hemorrhoids that protrude through the anal canal).

Although hemorrhoids are rarely dangerous, they can be a recurrent and painful intrusion. Fortunately, there's a lot we can do about hemorrhoids.

What are Hemorrhoids?

In one sense, everyone has hemorrhoids (or piles), the pillow-like clusters of veins that lie just beneath the mucous membranes lining the lowest part of the rectum and the anus.

The condition most of us call hemorrhoids (or piles) develops when those veins become swollen and distended, like varicose veins in the legs.

Because the blood vessels involved must continually battle gravity to get blood back up to the heart, some people believe hemorrhoids are part of the price we pay for being upright creatures.

What Causes Hemorrhoids?

Traditionally, hemorrhoids are associated with chronic constipation, straining during bowel movements, and prolonged sitting on the toilet — all of which interfere with blood flow to and from the area, causing it to pool and enlarge the vessels.

This also explains why hemorrhoids are common during pregnancy, when the enlarging uterus presses on the veins.