Hemorrhoid pain can be excruciating and absolutely destroy your quality of life. While many people can recognize a hemorrhoid when it is showing externally, not that many are familiar with the hemorrhoid symptoms that can begin to show before you have an inflammation. If you can learn to recognize the early signs, you can begin to treatment for hemorrhoids so you don’t have to suffer through a full blown occurrence. Hemorrhoid symptoms that are treated early on will prevent you from having to have more intensive, and invasive, treatment later.

What are hemorrhoids?

Hemorrhoids are inflammations around the anus that appear internally or externally when the vascular structures there are strained. They are caused by the bowels having to over-exert themselves to try and pass stools from the body because the body is lacking proper hydration and fiber for the stools to be able to pass easily. The more the bowels have to strain to empty themselves, the more likely you are to get severe hemorrhoids. Hemorrhoid pain comes from the sensitivity of the inflamed vascular area when it is pressed on by the bowels or, if they are external hemorrhoids, when they come in contact with any pressure.

Common Symptoms

The most common symptom of internal hemorrhoids developing is constipation or diarrhea. Both of these conditions tell you that there is an imbalance in the body that is affecting the consistency of the stools and making it hard for the bowels to work properly. If you are straining to empty your bowels, this is not good and will lead to inflamed hemorrhoids. If you have blood in your stool or your stool is black and tarry or the consistency of molasses, you have internal hemorrhoids. An itchy or uncomfortable anus is also an early indicator. Any swelling around or on the anus is also a symptom of a developing hemorrhoid.

Unusual Symptoms

There are some symptoms that are unusual or uncommon that indicates severe hemorrhoids. One is severe pain when attempting to move your bowels or blood coming from the anus. The other is repeated spells of lightheadedness or dizziness. This indicates not only a condition of moderate or severe dehydration, but possible bleeding in the bowels from a hemorrhoid. Some flare-ups can be so severe that you will need a surgical technique performed as a treatment for the hemorrhoid.

What to do?

If you think you have hemorrhoids the first thing you should do is increase your daily intake of water to 6 to 8 glasses of water a day. You should also start taking a fiber supplement while making the changes needed in your diet to replace the supplement with fruits and vegetables. Take an over the counter pain reliever to alleviate discomfort but avoid aspirin as it thins the blood and can make it difficult to control hemorrhoid bleeding. Taking long hot baths will also reduce the swelling. There is no “over-night” cure for hemorrhoids. Even surgery or hemorrhoid banding only addresses the inflammation and not the cause. Make the needed lifestyle changes to avoid suffering again.