Hemorrhoids, as a disease, are common among both men and women. It develops gradually, moving from one degree to another, if timely treatment is not started. In total, there are four main stages of development of hemorrhoids, which are determined by various symptoms and have their own treatment methods. Despite the prevalence of the disease, many people, having noticed unpleasant symptoms in the problem area of the anus, puzzle themselves with the question of how to determine the stage of hemorrhoids in order to take radical measures to get rid of it.
As a rule, any disease develops gradually: from the first signs to clinical manifestations. The stages of development of hemorrhoids also go through this path, which can last from one month to several years, gradually turning into a chronic form, which can only be treated surgically. Often, hemorrhoids at an early stage are difficult to identify on your own. But if signs such as bleeding during bowel movements or the sensation of a foreign body in the anus appear, you need to sound the alarm. A timely visit to a doctor and an established diagnosis will help not only remove the symptoms of the initial stage of hemorrhoids, but also identify their causes.
First stage of hemorrhoids
This period is characterized only by the beginning of the disease. Often, initial stage hemorrhoids are not clearly visible. Hemorrhoids are not visible from the outside; they are located under the skin tissue. The patient may only feel discomfort, slight itching or burning. In some cases, stage 1 hemorrhoids make themselves felt by the appearance of blood in the stool. For many people, encountering such a problem for the first time is a rather unpleasant surprise.
Usually, the first stage of hemorrhoids is not a reason for a person to immediately consult a doctor, so the disease remains without attention and timely treatment. This is due to the fact that hemorrhoids develop latently and are in remission (rest) for a long time and do not cause acute pain. People begin treating hemorrhoids at the initial stage on their own, at home. The vast majority use the advice of friends or choose a drug at a pharmacy at their own discretion. Since the disease tends to remain dormant for a long time, treatment for stage 1 hemorrhoids is stopped because people forget about it for a while.
But this is far from correct; treatment of hemorrhoids in the early stages should be comprehensive and permanent, using conservative and traditional methods of treatment. To achieve an effective result, prevention is necessary: avoiding heavy physical work, including fiber-rich foods in the daily menu, drinking plenty of fluids, etc.
Treatment of stage 1 with medications
If you have not yet consulted a doctor and do not know how to treat stage 1 hemorrhoids, use special rectal suppositories, ointments, tablets and other medications: Anuzol, Proctosedyl, Hepatrombin G, Relief, etc.
Only a proctologist should diagnose, establish a diagnosis and give recommendations.
Effect of medications:
- relieve pain;
- eliminate the inflammatory process;
- relax the walls of the rectum;
- normalize blood circulation in the problem area.
Treatment with folk remedies
Along with medications, alternative treatment methods are also used. Therefore, people are interested in how to cure the initial stage of hemorrhoids using folk remedies. You can make honey and potato candles, make microenemas with herbal decoctions, drink rowan juice with sugar and much more.
Treatment with medications and folk remedies without a doctor’s prescription should be carried out only in exceptional cases. It should not be long, only for quick pain relief.
Contraindications
There are a number of contraindications that absolutely all doctors put forward during the course of treatment for hemorrhoids, so when you go to the clinic to treat hemorrhoids, you should pay special attention to this.
It is best to take into account each contraindication in the early stages of the disease. This will actively speed up treatment and, in principle, make it easier. By contacting a proctologist who treats diseases specifically related to the perineum, the patient will immediately receive an important contraindication. The first contraindication for hemorrhoids is refusal to lift weights. Excessive physical exertion can increase the pressure in the veins, causing blood flow to be delayed. If the patient has previously been involved in sports, then he needs to switch to more gentle training, reduce the weight load and the number of exercises. Another contraindication for hemorrhoids is that it is not recommended to wear tight underwear and tight outerwear. It is not recommended to engage in horse riding for people who have definitely been diagnosed with hemorrhoids. Another common contraindication for hemorrhoids is that you should never use soap or shower gels, as this can cause the skin to become even more inflamed. In this case, you need to use only natural soap with low alkali levels, otherwise the symptoms of hemorrhoids will become even higher. Doctors actively talk about what you should not do if hemorrhoids develop - eat fatty foods, since obesity can also cause the development of the disease.
Second stage of hemorrhoids
Stage 2 hemorrhoids can be distinguished by periodically falling out hemorrhoids. Such symptoms are associated with straining during the bowel movement. The cause is constant constipation.
Loss of nodes is also typical for stages 3-4 of the disease. But at the second stage, these nodes can be adjusted independently, which is impossible to do in the 3rd and 4th periods. Now blood appears not only on toilet paper and stool, but also on underwear during quiet times.
Lifting weights is also accompanied by bleeding from the anus. Of particular concern is the feeling of constant filling of the intestines, which leads to psychogenic constipation. All these signs, together with the initial symptoms of the early period, characterize hemorrhoids of the second stage, which further aggravates a person’s life.
Treatment of stage 2 with medications
In order for the treatment to give positive results, in addition to complex treatment, sessions of infrared coagulation, sclerotherapy, latex ligation with therapeutic injections are added. For bleeding, doctors prescribe Escusan drops, injections of Etamzilat, Detralex, applications with methyluracil ointment, Neuflan gel, etc. to relieve pain. There are also proven ways to stop bleeding.
Use only those products that your doctor has prescribed individually according to your health condition.
Treatment with folk remedies
When hemorrhoids increase in size, treatment of the second stage of hemorrhoids can be supplemented with lotions with propolis, baths with medicinal herbs (oak bark, chamomile, anti-hemorrhoidal mixture), and ice suppositories. For microenemas, take sea buckthorn or rosehip oil and fish oil.
Diagnosis of hemorrhoids in men
The most important thing in successful treatment is timely diagnosis. You should consult a doctor at the first alarming symptoms.
These include:
- frequent constipation, which may alternate with diarrhea;
- spotting on linen and toilet paper;
- itching and burning;
- pain during bowel movements;
- sudden increase in temperature.
Particular attention should be paid to people at risk. It includes obese men, professional heavyweight athletes, loaders or construction workers, people leading a sedentary lifestyle
Representatives of these groups should be wary if any of the above symptoms appear.
How to determine hemorrhoids or not? You need to carefully monitor your condition for several days.
Measure the temperature by writing it down on a separate sheet of paper. Record your time when you go to the toilet.
Normally, defecation should be at least once a day; a delay of 2-3 days, which has become habitual, is a cause for concern. Listen to the sensations when going to the toilet, intense movements, or lifting weights. You can read about how to properly go to the toilet with hemorrhoids here.
Attention! Discomfort in the pelvic area indicates a possible increase in hemorrhoids.
How to identify hemorrhoids yourself? Try palpation.
After defecation, clean the anal area with wet wipes and carefully insert your index finger inside. . Lumpiness of the inner walls, movable bumps of different sizes, clearly palpable near the anus, indicate developing hemorrhoids
The diagnosis will be confirmed by frequent bleeding, indicating internal ruptures.
Lumpiness of the inner walls, movable bumps of different sizes that can be easily felt near the anus indicate developing hemorrhoids. The diagnosis will be confirmed by frequent bleeding, indicating internal ruptures.
Third stage of hemorrhoids
Progressing more and more, the disease takes on new turns, aggravating the primary symptoms and is called external hemorrhoids. When the third stage of hemorrhoids has arrived, hemorrhoids begin to fall out constantly, not only during straining and bowel movements, but also with minor physical activity. Stage 3 hemorrhoids differ from stage 4 in that the external nodes are still amenable to manual reduction.
To detect them, just lie down or stand in a bent position and feel with your fingers. Their arrangement can be compared to a clock dial: 3, 7 and 11.
During this period, thrombosis of veins and vessels in the pelvic area, pinching and inflammation of hemorrhoids appear. It is not enough to know how to treat stage 3 hemorrhoids using available means. The appearance of complications requires a qualified examination and serious treatment, otherwise the disease will progress to stage 4, which is life-threatening.
Treatment with medications
Conservative treatment of stage 3 hemorrhoids is ineffective. Drug treatment is used only as a distraction. Among the wide variety of antihemorrhoidal drugs, such drugs as Proctosedyl, Hepatrombin G, Prednisolone, Troxevasin, Mafinide, etc. give good results.
To remove the causes, and with them the symptoms, treatment is carried out only surgically (desarterization, hemorrhoidectomy). Modern medicine does not stand still; new, painless treatment technologies are being developed every year.
How to recognize the presence of hemorrhoids
Sigmoidoscopy is quite effective in this case:
- With its help, you can not only determine the disease, but also refute the previously diagnosed pathological process after therapy.
- Thanks to the use of universal equipment, up to 35 centimeters of the rectum can be examined using this method. To examine hemorrhoids in women and men, a special tube called a sigmoidoscope is inserted into the rectum. At its end there is a special camera, which is used to view the mucous membranes of the rectum.
- During the examination of the rectum, the patient can simultaneously submit tissues for examination. This involves using a biopsy method, which involves taking microscopic pieces of tissue.
- During the examination of hemorrhoids, women and men may have small polyps. They are removed at the diagnostic stage.
anoscope
Anoscopy can be a fairly useful way to study the disease, which is explained by its high level of effectiveness:
- Initially, palpation is carried out. For this purpose, the patient needs to kneel on the couch. The doctor puts on medical gloves, lubricates one of the fingers with Vaseline and inserts it into the patient’s anus. This will allow him to check for hemorrhoids.
- At the next stage of the examination, a special device, an anoscope, is inserted into the patient’s rectum. During the diagnostic period, a person may experience discomfort. The end of the anoscope is equipped with special LEDs, with the help of which the doctor examines the anal canal.
- During this examination, the doctor can take samples of intestinal tissue, which can be used to determine the course of the infectious process in the laboratory.
Endoscopy may be performed to examine the intestinal mucosa. For this purpose, an endoscope is used, which is made in the form of a flexible hose. It transfers the image to the screen.
All of the above methods for diagnosing the disease are characterized by information content and effectiveness. Identified hemorrhoids must be treated immediately to avoid complications.
Hemorrhoids stage 4
Stage 4 hemorrhoids are an advanced and severe form of the disease. During this period, hemorrhoids fall out constantly and cannot be reduced. In addition, they have large sizes and different shapes. You can see them even when a person is in a calm state, does not strain or lift heavy objects.
Very often, the fourth stage is complicated by concomitant diseases acquired as a result of this disease: thrombosis, necrosis, and prolonged bleeding.
Therefore, as a consequence, a severe form of anemia appears. When stage 4 hemorrhoids have developed, treatment is carried out only surgically using radio wave surgery or laser coagulation.
Other Treatments for Hemorrhoids
- Pathognomic way. Identifying and eliminating the causes of the disease.
- Regulates the gastrointestinal tract and eliminates constipation. Enzyme preparations, dietary fiber, and drinking plenty of fluids are prescribed. Such as: Nutriclins, Agiolax, Fiberlax, which improve peristalsis and soften the movement of feces through the colon.
- Improved vein tone. Phlebotropic drugs are prescribed: Venoruton, Detralex 500, Glivenol, etc. Their regular use helps reduce pain, reduce the frequency of bleeding, and relieve inflammation in hemorrhoids.
How to Identify Different Types of Hemorrhoids
To treat this pathology, it is necessary to diagnose hemorrhoids, look at the degree of damage to the organ by the inflammatory process, find out the type of disease, whether there are any complications, and determine other factors.
Types of hemorrhoids
Depending on the causes of development, the disease is divided into:
- congenital and acquired pathology;
- primary and secondary hemorrhoids.
The main provocateurs of the disease are:
- hereditary predisposition;
- sedentary lifestyle;
- poor nutrition;
- bad habits;
- lifting heavy things;
- hormonal imbalances that cause hemorrhoids in women during pregnancy;
- pathologies of internal organs.
When diagnosing hemorrhoids, its shape can be determined. The disease can occur inside the intestine, outside it, or have a combined type of development.
External pathology is characterized by the location of the seals outside - at the entrance to the anus. During examination, the doctor easily determines the size and color of the nodes. In the internal form of the disease, the bumps are hidden in the rectum. This form is more dangerous because it causes various complications, which is associated with the possibility of blockage of veins and the development of thrombosis. Combined hemorrhoids are accompanied by symptoms of external and internal forms at the same time, although sometimes there may be deviations.
Signs of internal hemorrhoids
How to recognize symptoms of internal pathology? This form of the disease is characterized by the following manifestations:
- pain during or after bowel movement;
- bleeding after bowel movements;
- itching in the anal area;
- feeling of discomfort and incomplete bowel movement.
Our authors talk in more detail about internal hemorrhoids, its signs and manifestations in an interesting and informative article.
Symptoms of external hemorrhoids
How do you know if you have external hemorrhoids? This is indicated by the following signs:
- the presence of nodes located outside the anus;
- swelling of the anal area;
- cyanosis of the anus;
- pain in the anus;
- the appearance of blood if the skin of the lump becomes thinner and the blood clot breaks.
If you want to know how external hemorrhoids manifest themselves, what are their main symptoms and characteristic features, read the article by our experts.
Manifestations of the combined form of the disease
Minor symptoms at the beginning of the formation of pathology can indicate mixed hemorrhoids. May be observed:
- pain in the passage;
- discomfort during bowel movements;
- bleeding of hemorrhoids before and after bowel movement.
As the disease progresses, the clinical pathology becomes more pronounced. To understand how to treat, you should carefully read the article of a qualified specialist.
How to find out the true form of the disease? A thorough examination performed by a specialist will help with this.
Useful tips
The onset of the disease can be prevented if a person is informed of professional advice and recommendations, even if he is engaged in sedentary work for a long time. And if hemorrhoids appear under certain circumstances, the following recommendations will help ease its progression in the acute stage. To prevent the disease and reduce pain during periods of acute pain, you must follow these tips:
- Healthy food;
- monitor the hygiene of the rectal area;
- fight constipation and frequent stool disorders;
- do not abuse alcoholic beverages;
- do not lift heavy objects;
- Do special physical exercises several times during the day.
