With the possibility of having problems with hemorrhoids at some point in life being more than 50 percent, recognizing them before they get out of hand may help avoid something that nobody wants to go through: hemorrhoid surgery.
If you have hemorrhoids, and they have become severe, then you have probably tried to get them under control with more than one hemorrhoid treatment. Sometimes, they can be very difficult to get rid of and will give you more problems than such a small thing should be credited for.
Understanding When You Need Surgery
If you have severe hemorrhoid problems, there are several signals that may indicate you need surgery. One good sign that you need surgery is if you have tried everything you can and have followed your doctor’s orders for changing lifestyle habits, such as taking medication or any other treatments he may have recommended, but have seen no change in your hemorrhoid problem. Talking to your doctor about your surgery options is a good idea. Another good sign you may need surgery is if you have had bleeding from your hemorrhoids, and it hasn’t gotten better with treatments. You may also need surgery if you have had recurring problems with hemorrhoids, and nothing you try at home or with your doctor’s help has eliminated them. If you have a prolapsed hemorrhoid, you’ll certainly need surgery. Prolapsed hemorrhoids are internal hemorrhoids that have become large and are pushed out of the anal canal. Additionally, if you have a thrombosed hemorrhoid, you are going to need surgery. Thrombosed hemorrhoids are external hemorrhoids that have a vein which ruptures and causes a blood clot to form. Surgery might be the only option to fix this problem.
Surgery 101
Hemorrhoid surgery is usually done with a one night stay in the hospital. It has a recovery time of a few days and can leave a little soreness and possibly some bleeding temporarily.
There are a couple of options for hemorrhoid surgery. There is traditional surgery (hemorrhoidectomy), where the hemorrhoids are surgically removed. This type of surgery is the most likely to result in no more problems. There isn’t a guarantee that you won’t ever have hemorrhoids again with any kind of treatments, even surgery, but the chances of recurrence are much less with traditional hemorrhoid surgery.
Another surgical option is called “infrared coagulation,” which uses an infrared light to burn the tissue around the hemorrhoid. This would cut off the blood supply to the vein and cause the hemorrhoid to eventually fall off.
Sclerotherapy is a type of hemorrhoid surgery where a chemical is injected around the blood vessel of the hemorrhoid. It is supposed to result in relieving hemorrhoid symptoms by making the inflammation go down and the hemorrhoid shrink.
There is also “rubber band ligation,” which is not considered as effective as surgically removing the hemorrhoids. There is often a higher failure rate, and the chance of having future problems is much higher than with traditional hemorrhoid surgery.
If you think you might need hemorrhoid surgery, talk to your doctor about it and all of your other options. Surgery should never be entered into without knowing all the risks and what all your other options are. It may end up being the best course of action for you. Hemorrhoid surgery may actually put an end to your hemorrhoid pain and help you heal so you can continue to enjoy life.