Hemorrhoids

Hemorrhoids are when the veins or blood vessels become swollen and irritated in and around the genitals, and lower rectum. It occurs when those veins are exposed to extra pressure. Hemorrhoids can be either inside your anus (inside) or beneath the skin around your anus (outside). Hemorrhoids are quite common in men and women alike. About half of all individuals will get hemorrhoids by age 50.

Many women get hemorrhoids during pregnancy and childbirth. The strain of carrying a baby in your abdomen puts the blood vessels in your pelvic area under extra stress. Straining to push the baby out also puts extra pressure on these blood vessels when giving birth.

Symptoms

• extreme itching around the anus
• irritation and pain around the anus
• an Itchy or painful lump or swelling close to the anus
• fecal leakage
• painful bowel movements
• Blood on your tissue after stomach movement

Although hemorrhoids are painful, they are not life-threatening, and often go away without treatment on their own. If you often have them, you can experience anemia symptoms such as fatigue and pale skin due to blood loss although this is uncommon.

Causes

• Straining during bowel movements
• Sitting on the toilet for a long time
• Having chronic diarrhea or constipation
• Being obese
• Having anal intercourse
• Eating a low-fiber diet
• Regular heavy lifting

Hormone Changes

A hypothesis that proposed the high levels of progesterone and estrogens that occur during pregnancy could lead to the development of varicosities in the legs as early as 1942 and also to hemorrhoids:

• Increased progesterone was thought to be responsible for decreased tonicity in the vascular walls of the veins
• Increases estrogens were thought to increase blood flow, which places greater stress on venous blood circulation and contributes to increases stagnation and blood pooling

However, as Dr. Raina's In their paper and his colleagues point out, "Pregnancy and lower limb varicose veins: prevalence and risk factors," this does not take into account the fact that varicosities May occurs under the same hormonal influence in one leg, and not the other.