They always go away for a while, but unfortunately they always come back. Luuk (35) has suffered from hemorrhoids for years, but has never gone to the doctor with it. “Occasionally they itch and sometimes they even bleed. Especially if I have harder stools. And unfortunately the latter is often the case. So it does bother me quite a bit, but I find it very embarrassing to go to my doctor with this. What can I do myself to get rid of these hemorrhoids?”
To start with, GP Marnix van der Leest has some ‘common sense advice’ for Luuk. “First of all, you have to make your stools more flexible by drinking enough water every day and eating enough fiber. Hemorrhoids are bumps on the inside of the intestine, near the anus, which form when there is a lot of pressure on the anus. The Bumps can also come out because of this. It is therefore important that you do not strain (too much) when you go to the toilet and if you feel the urge to go to the toilet immediately. Holding in your stool for a long time is not a good idea because the longer you wait, the harder your poop.”
“Moving a lot also helps to make the stools more flexible. Using soft, possibly moist, toilet paper helps to clean better and is more pleasant with itching or pain. Many people also use remedies from the drugstore against itching and pain. These regularly relieve the complaints, but hemorrhoids will probably not go away.”
Van der Leest also wants to tell Luuk that he is embarrassed put aside and make an appointment with the doctor. “Perhaps the idea that a lot of people really have hemorrhoids will help here. We see about 17 new patients a year, but it is suspected that there are many more who do not go to the doctor either.”
Van der Leest: “During consultation hours, the GP not only looks at the hemorrhoids, he usually also conducts an internal examination. No, that is not fun, but we often hear from patients that they found it better than expected afterwards. So rest assured. And a The doctor sees hemorrhoids so often, he is no longer surprised.”
Blood on toilet paper
The GP sees that people do contact the GP when they have blood in their stools. “If the hemorrhoid is damaged, it can bleed. If people then see blood on their toilet paper or in their stool, they are shocked and want to come for a checkup. A lot of pain is also often a reason to visit come to a hemorrhoid.”
A justified response, says Van der Leest. “It is certainly good to come. You want to rule out that there is no other – more serious – reason that you have blood in your stool. Usually it is clear quite quickly that the hemorrhoid is the cause, but it is always useful to talk to your doctor.”
In Luuk’s case, the cause of the complaints is clear: hard stools. In that case, as mentioned earlier, you can adjust your diet and use a soothing ointment to reduce the pain and / or itching. The hemorrhoid does not disappear with the use of (zinc) ointment, but it can make you feel it less.
Remove with an elastic band
If you suffer from hemorrhoids a lot and they do not go away on their own, it may be an option to have the hemorrhoids removed in, for example, the hospital. Van der Leest: “In the hospital they can remove hemorrhoids by tying an elastic band around them, after which the hemorrhoid dies and a scar remains. In rare cases, surgery is needed to remove the hemorrhoids.”
Rubriek: Asking for a friend
In this weekly column Asking for a friend we submit reader questions about health to one of our experts. Do you also have a pressing health question for a general practitioner, obstetrician, dietician, psychologist or another health expert? Then mail it to weekendmagazine@rtl.nl and who knows, you might see the answer appear here soon.
