Aka Piles Prevention aka Hemroids Prevention
A healthy diet and some exercise are two important factors involved in preventing hemorrhoids.
The Five Basic Steps to Preventing Hemorrhoids
The vast majority of hemorrhoids are primarily caused by just a few different factors. If you prevent these five most common causes, then the vast majority of hemorrhoids cases will vanish. Even if controlling these five hemorrhoids causes isn’t enough to completely prevent hemorrhoids, it will make them that much easier to cure.
The Five Steps to Preventing Hemorrhoids:
The five main causes of hemorrhoids, when controlled, will certainly prevent hemorrhoids developing in many, many people.
1… Help prevent hemorrhoids by sitting on the toilet with your feet raised onto the balls (NOT heels) of the feet and on the toes, resting your elbows on the knees.
2… Help prevent hemorrhoids by controlling constipation. If you cant achieve this with dietary changes, then experiment with 1/2 to 2 teaspoons of Epsom Salts in a glass ot two of water and drink it all down – increase the dose of Epsom Salts if constipation remains, reduce it if diarrhea occurs – but it is something you would have to take every day of your life.
3… Help prevent hemorrhoids by wiping the anus more softly and gently, with a soft wet cloth or soft toilet tissue, baby wipe etc – the harder and longer you wipe, the more likely you are to cause hemroids to develop.
4… Help prevent hemorrhoids by NOT lifting and carrying heavy things – doing so can also strain the anal region giving rise to hemroids.
5… You can help prevent hemorrhoids by avoiding the use of the back passage for adult activities.
These 5 areas and others are covered in greater detail along with some preventative tips and actions you can take on the hemroid causes page.
To understand how to prevent hemroids a bit more indepth, understand that a hemroid is a symptom of a greater weakened area of blood vessels. So pressurising or straining the area will often give rise to new or bigger hemroids.
Also, the hemroid can be viewed as originating from the weakest spot in the weakened area. Hence removing a hemroid, does not solve all your problems, as the weakened area is still there and can easily give rise to a new hemroid if stressed or strained. There are some at home treatments for hemorrhoids that can re-strengthen the blood veins in the bottom area.
Hemorrhoids Prevention in Detail
Hemorrhoids prevention is something that many people don’t even have to think about.
The vast majority of people have never suffered from hemorrhoids, so nobody really thinks about hemorrhoids prevention until they’ve had a problem to begin with.
However, once you’ve suffered through a bout of hemorrhoids, prevention does tend to occupy the mind thereafter.
Happily, for most people hemorrhoids prevention is rather simple.
While genetic factors do play a role in hemorrhoid susceptibility, lifestyle choices play a far bigger role in hemorrhoid development, and thus in preparing a hemorrhoids prevention program.
However, there are a few diseases and health conditions that make hemorrhoids prevention less achievable – such as Crohn’s disease, hypertension, poorly managed diabetes and pregnancy. If you currently have one of these problems and suffer from hemorrhoids, the hemorrhoid problem may not entirely go away until the underlying condition is resolved, and, of course, preventing hemorrhoids may not be fully possible.
Even so, hemorrhoids prevention techniques can help reduce the misery and suffering while working on other health problems.
Lifestyle Methods for Hemorrhoids Prevention
The first step in any hemorrhoids prevention plan is to take a good, long look at your diet.
Almost all hemorrhoids problems are caused by constipation or diarrhea, both of which can be treated by a healthy diet that includes enough dietary fiber and water every day. For hemorrhoids prevention, the average person needs to eat between 25 and 35 grams of dietary fiber every day in order to keep the gastrointestinal tract in good working order.
A healthy diet, like everything else to do with human health, represents a balancing act.
Don’t go eating more than 35 grams per day unless a doctor specifically tells you to. Too much fiber will make you bloated, gassy, nauseous and absolutely miserable. Too much also works against hemorrhoids prevention, as the feces can become hard and small requiring many trips to the toilet to completely evacuate the bowel.
Also, when adding fiber to your diet, you should increase the amount you ingest slowly and drink enough water along with it. Going from very little fiber to the full amount in one day will also make you miserable, while eating more fiber without enough water will create concrete in your intestines. Needless to say, concrete bowel movements will not make your hemorrhoids any better, and it is certainly counterproductive to preventing hemorrhoids.
Of course, the hemorrhoids prevention benefits of a healthy diet go beyond the consistency of bowel movements. A properly balanced diet will help reduce blood pressure, give your cardiovascular system the nutrients it needs to stay in proper tone, feed your muscles properly so they can support the hemorrhoidal veins in your pelvis and grant you the energy to pursue an active lifestyle that gets the blood moving as it should.
Exercises for hemorrhoid prevention
A decent amount of exercise is another key point in hemorrhoids prevention.
Sedentary occupations, such as secretarial work or truck driving, have you sitting down for the vast majority of your days. So much sitting makes any tendency towards hemorrhoids even worse.
Therefore, it’s important to get up and walk around briskly at least every two hours, preferably for five to ten minutes. The brisk walk will help you concentrate on your work more while getting the blood out of hemorrhoidal veins and back into circulation where it belongs.
Most people need a minimum of three half-hour sessions of exercise per week for both hemorrhoids prevention and general health. This should be a bit more intensive than your daily five minute walks because the purpose is to really get your system working.
A proper exercise program that’s suited to your health and circumstances will kick your metabolism into gear, reduce your stress, give you more energy, get your blood moving and reduce weight, all important points in any hemorrhoids prevention plan.
Stress reduction for hemorrhoids prevention
Of course, the last common reason for hemorrhoids is stress, therefore reducing stress is also important in hemorrhoids prevention.
Hemorrhoids are caused by downwards pressure from the abdomen pushing far too much blood into the hemorrhoidal veins around the anal sphincter. Stress causes stomach clenching, higher blood pressure and all sorts of unpleasant systemic effects.
If you can find some way to reduce your stress on a daily basis, such as meditation, a pleasant treat on your breaks or cutting back on unnecessary demands, it will go a long way towards hemorrhoids prevention.
Mechanical Methods for Hemorrhoids Prevention
If you find that you’re prone to hemorrhoids, lifestyle changes may not work fast enough in preventing hemorrhoids. There are quite a few mechanical things you can do to make hemorrhoids less likely to strike in the future, none of which have to cost a fortune.
The first mechanical thing you can do for hemorrhoids prevention is to get a footstool to place under your feet while sitting on the toilet. Toileting with your feet on the floor takes away all the muscular support from the muscles of your pelvic floor, which basically leaves your hemorrhoidal veins at gravity’s mercy. By putting a stool under your feet, you automatically support yourself with the muscles in your pelvis – a great hemorrhoids prevention strategy that you sometimes find posted up in hospitals toilets!
Of course, this isn’t carte blanche to sit on the toilet forever and a day. The best hemorrhoids prevention plan in the world won’t help if you keep your anal area hanging out over empty space for long periods of time.
You should keep your time on the toilet only to when you’re actually having a bowel movement. If it doesn’t happen in five minutes, clean up, get off, and walk around for a bit. You’ll either be able to go or you can go back to your day in peace.
Get soft, plain white toilet paper, and don’t wipe harshly with it. If you feel the need to be cleaner than dry toilet paper can get you, moisten it a bit with water and wipe gently instead of scrubbing at yourself. Keep harsh dyes, perfumes and synthetic materials away from your delicate bits as much as possible, even if this means switching your laundry detergent and wearing plain cotton underwear. Please note that plain cotton underwear does not have to mean granny underwear, as many companies are producing attractive lingerie in comfortable cotton these days.
Pharmaceutical Methods for Hemorrhoids Prevention
Unfortunately there are far more mainstream medications for hemorrhoids relief than there are for hemorrhoids prevention.
Most of what you can get in a pharmacy, either over the counter or by doctor’s prescription, will only help when you’re currently suffering from hemorrhoids. Do not, and I repeat, do not use hemorrhoid creams or ointments if you don’t currently have hemorrhoids.
In most cases you’re just wasting your money, but if the cream contains hydrocortisone or vasoconstrictors you’ll sabotage your hemorrhoids prevention with them. Vasoconstrictors make the veins smaller, increasing blood pressure and the likelihood that one of the veins will give way under that pressure. Hydrocortisone thins out muscle tissue over time, again making hemorrhoids more likely.
Mainstream hemorrhoids medications are only meant to treat current hemorrhoids, not for long term hemorrhoids prevention.
Herbal and dietary supplements, on the other hand, do offer some decent hemorrhoids prevention possibilities.
Butcher’s broom and horse chestnut are great for hemorrhoids prevention also, and both are used to help underlying poor circulation issues, though they shouldn’t be taken by people with high blood pressure, benign prostatic hyperplasia, people taking alpha blockers, MAO inhibitors, or blood thinners and pregnant or nursing women. Nor should you take these herbs if you’re allergic to them. You’d think that last bit shouldn’t need saying, but unfortunately it does.
Good dietary supplements for hemorrhoids prevention includes both bioflavonoids and antioxidants. Bioflavonoids are chemical compounds found in highly flavored fruits such as citrus, blueberries and cranberries. Antioxidants are found in many healthy foods, including green tea, blueberries and so on. While you can get them in capsule form, it’s often better (and more fun) to just include foods rich with them in your diet.
Hemorrhoids Prevention Conclusion
Hemorrhoids prevention is something that anyone who’s suffered from hemorrhoids in the past will pay attention to.
There’s nothing quite like the pain, fear, itching, burning, embarrassment and general misery that a hemorrhoid can cause to impress the need for hemorrhoids prevention on the mind forevermore.
However, it doesn’t have to eliminate your pleasures in life nor do you have to eat only rabbit food from now on.
In fact, by pursuing the healthy lifestyle that a full hemorrhoids prevention plan will enforce, you’ll find that you look better, feel better and have more energy besides.
Soon, hemorrhoids should be nothing but a fading unpleasant memory.
Hemroids / Hemorrhoids Prevention References
E. Gojlan, Pathology, 2nd ed. Mosby Elsevier, Rapid Review series.
Taber’s Medical Encyclopedia
Research and main write by Loni L. Ice, quality control, editing and additional writing by D. S. Urquhart.
Leave a Reply