Most people with hemorrhoids will be able to reduce their swelling and get excellent results with the simple dietary change of eating more fiber. However, if steps aren’t taken to get the hemorrhoids under control then they can become increasingly swollen and painful. If symptoms get bad enough, then an office procedure or surgery may be the only option to get symptoms under control.
Today’s office procedures are a far cry from traditional hemorrhoid surgeries of the past. Most of these procedures can be done very quickly, involve no hospital stay, offer quick recovery times, have minimal short term and long term side effects and are less painful than traditional surgery. Most office procedures cut off the blood supply to the hemorrhoids, so that they shrivel up over the course of a few days. After they’re entirely dried up, they’ll no longer be symptomatic.
Some common office procedures:
- Rubber band ligation (uses small rubber bands to cut off blood flow to hemorrhoids)
- Laser surgery
- Coagulation therapy (using an electric current to coagulate the blood)
- Cauterizing (using heat to cut off the blood flow)
In some cases, these office procedures may still not be enough to get symptoms under control. With very large internal hemorrhoids or lots of smaller but painful hemorrhoids, traditional hemroid surgery may the only way to get hemorrhoid relief. This traditional surgery is called the hemorrhoidectomy, which involves surgically cutting off the hemorrhoids with a scalpel. There is an increased risk of infection and both short term and long term side effects such as incontinence with the hemorrhoidectomy. Plus, this procedure is also more painful and takes more time to recover than with these office procedures, all of which make it a less attractive option.
The good news is that most people will never require these more aggressive treatments, but to put the odds in your favor you should talk with your doctor at the first sign of symptoms.