Hemorrhoids

The following post contains affiliate links to Amazon to help support my blog. The included products are only things I’ve tried. Thanks for reading!

I want to mention that I am NOT a doctor, so you should check with your health professional for any health problem.

Hemorrhoids… What a pain in the… Okay, okay, I’ll stop.

With my IBS, I get mostly hard stools. If I can’t fix it fast enough, then my hemorrhoids become irritated. Not fun! Seriously, if there’s one thing I want to warn people about, it’s AVOID HEMORRHOIDS AT ALL COSTS. If you have constipation or hard stools, fix it NOW! Hemorrhoids are the worst. Who knew such a small bundle of veins in a place we can’t see very well and don’t think about too much can ruin your entire day/week/month?

By the way, the word “hemorrhoids” makes me wince. Apparently, they’re also called Piles. But maybe we should lighten the mood and call them something silly like: Sit-Veins, Burning-Booty, Tooshie-Ouchies, Bum-Burns, Awkward-Things-That-Hurt-Like-a-!@#$.

Since I loathe going to a doctor (because of all my not-so-nice experiences with Docs in the past) here are the home treatments I’ve tried to get relief from butt-vein-irritation (yeah…that sounds better. Not.). But, if the hemorrhoids don’t get better, or if there’s bleeding, I will HAVE to drag myself to a doctor. Ugh.

1. Earth Mama Angel Baby Bottom Balm: It has no chemicals or preservatives, only natural ingredients. It helped me when my Tooshie-Veins were only mildly irritated, but wasn’t so good at relieving the stronger pain days. I think it actually made the burning worse on the bad days.

2. Witch Hazel Extract: Witch hazel is astringent and is supposed to shrink the hemorrhoids. First, I tried this one from Mountain Rose Herbs. I diluted it with a little water, soaked a q-tip and applied it gently. It helped relieve the milder pain for a while, but wasn’t so good for the stronger pain days, and even though it only has 14% alcohol and I diluted it with water, I don’t think I want to keep putting alcohol on my bum. Then I tried this alcohol-free one from Thayers. I didn’t notice any immediate relief, but it didn’t make it worse either, so maybe it helped bring down the inflammation overall.

3. PureTouch Medicated Tush Wipes: These are great for general cleaning, especially while on the go. They contain Witch Hazel as well, so again, it helped relieve the milder pain days, but didn’t do much for the more irritated days.

4. Preparation H Cream: I tried the regular one and the Maximum Strength one and had maybe 10 minutes of relief but then more burning! I included the links to the ones I tried in case someone is interested in trying them, but they DID NOT work for me. Also, I read somewhere that putting phenylephrine on sensitive skin seems like a bad idea. Maybe I should try another brand that has Lidocaine (though that just covers up the symptoms and doesn’t heal the inflammation and I heard that using Lidocaine for long periods can cause more problems).

5. Sitz Bath: Dude… This is the simplest thing, but oh man did it give instant relief that lasted longer than any other of the above solutions I mentioned. I used the little toilet sitz accessory, but apparently you could just sit in a bath tub. I used warm water and a little bit of Epsom Salt, soaked for about 15-20 minutes 3-4 times a day (hard to do when you have to go to work, sadly), especially after a bowel movement, and felt noticeable relief in pressure and burning. I think the warm water helped to relax the spasm of muscles . I did this for about a week and thought I was getting better, but then I think I may have done it too many times because my bum started to feel a little dried out, causing a bit of a different stinging sensation. *Head-Desk*.

6. Sitting on Ice: I wrapped a large ice-pack in a towel and sat on it for about 10 minutes throughout the days. It made my butt-cheeks numb but provided relief from the pain for maybe about an hour at a time. Since ice can lower inflammation, it might have helped the hemorrhoids heal faster. Plus, it didn’t make anything worse. Apparently, there’s also something called Anurex, which is specially shaped ice tube for the bum area. I haven’t tried it because the regular ice pack helped me enough, especially at night.

7. Diaper Rash Cream with Zinc Oxide: Some people on several sites mentioned using a cream with zinc oxide in diaper rash ointments. So, I decided to try it because if it’s safe enough to put on a baby’s bum, then it shouldn’t hurt on mine, right? Desitin cream was mentioned, but it has some questionable ingredients, so I tried Badger Calendula Diaper Cream because it had minimal ingredients (which means less chance of aggravating my bum), and “clean”, natural ingredients. I can’t say it helped tremendously, but it didn’t make me feel worse, and maybe it protected the sensitive skin there to allow it to heal better (since that’s what zinc oxide does, protect the skin from extra moisture that can irritate). I also found that Tom’s of Maine and Honest Company had zinc oxide diaper creams with safe ingredients, but I didn’t try them.

8. Boiron Avenoc Ointment: Another more “natural” product with “cleaner” ingredients. It did not give any noticeable, fast relief, but it did not make things worse. It’s probably one of those things you have to use for a while to notice any effect. I think it’s helping reduce inflammation along with the ice, sitz baths and fixing my stools. So, an overall good thing to try.