While it may be an uncomfortable topic for many, hemorrhoids are a fact of life and can happen to anyone, regardless of lifestyle. Hemorrhoids can be a very bothersome and painful, disrupting your day to day life and preventing you from taking part in many of your favorite activities. If you are suffering and need to know how long hemorrhoids last, here is your answer and some additional facts that you should be aware of.
What Are Hemorrhoids?
While they are not usually serious, hemorrhoids can be very painful. It is normal for the tissue around the anus to fill with blood. This helps control bowel movements. However, there are number of things (such as straining, diarrhea or constipation) that can cause increased pressure and swelling of the anal tissue.There are also numerous other reasons that might cause a person to suffer from the pain of hemorrhoids.
Whenever there is increased pressure and swelling of the anal tissue, this causes veins inside the anal canal to swell and form hemorrhoids. This can happen both inside the anal canal and near the opening of the anus, forming either internal or external hemorrhoids. Unfortunately, it is also possible to have both types of hemorrhoids at once. Treatment and symptoms will vary depending upon the type of hemorrhoids that you suffer with.
How Long Do Hemorrhoids Last?
It is nearly impossible to say exactly how long your hemorrhoids will last. In the most severe cases, hemorrhoids may not go away without medical treatment and even surgery. However, there are also very mild cases that a few days and an over the counter medication can cure. With such vast differences in healing time, it is nearly impossible to say how long hemorrhoids will last, as this depends on the type with and the course of treatment needed.
Without Medical Treatment
Without medical treatment, most hemorrhoids typically last between three and four days. In more severe cases, the hemorrhoids may even last for several weeks. In cases of internal hemorrhoids, it is possible to suffer from hemorrhoid pain for as long as two months. For external hemorrhoids, between three weeks and three months of recovery time can be expected.
In general, the majority of people who suffer from hemorrhoids feel better within about two weeks. Within about seven days, those suffering from small internal or external hemorrhoid should be feeling better. Enlarged internal hemorrhoids, however, can prolapse out of the anus and may take two months before an improvement occurs.
For someone who is experiencing hemorrhoids for the first time, they may find that the healing time is much shorter than average. However, as the condition worsens, it can take longer and longer for the hemorrhoids to go away. Basically, the more often you suffer with hemorrhoids, the more time it may take to heal.
With Medical Treatment
When medical treatment is needed, the physician will provide a treatment that is appropriate to the type of hemorrhoids that is present. In the most severe cases, the physician may need to use surgical procedures to remove the hemorrhoids and a full healing can take several weeks.
One of the most common types of hemorrhoid treatments used by physicians includes ligation, which is the use of rubber bands to starve the blood supply from the hemorrhoid. Another common treatment includes infrared coagulation, which uses an infrared device to coagulate blood within the hemorrhoids. In most cases, the compromised site will be completely healed within three to four weeks.
Dealing with hemorrhoids is rarely ever pleasant but by understanding what exactly causes the condition and how long the symptoms last, you can pursue the best route for relieving all discomfort. Knowing how long hemorrhoids last can help you deal with pain and discomfort until it is passed or alert you to a more severe issue.
While hemorrhoids may be something that most would feel ashamed of, it is a natural and common human ailment. If hemorrhoids are causing extreme discomfort, you should certainly seek medical treatment. In many cases, even those with reoccurring hemorrhoids, medications and treatment can be given to help treat the symptoms and alleviate discomfort.