Strain­ing to have a bow­el move­ment, weight gain, and preg­nan­cy are all com­mon caus­es of he­m­or­rhoids-swollen veins in the anus and rec­tum that can be­come ten­der and painful. For­tu­nate­ly, he­m­or­rhoids can be treat­ed with med­ica­tions to ease pain and help them heal. He­m­or­rhoids can al­so be pre­vent­ed with a few di­et and ex­er­cise tips.

Know the symp­toms

He­m­or­rhoids may de­vel­op on the out­side of the anus (ex­ter­nal he­m­or­rhoids) or in­side the rec­tum (in­ter­nal he­m­or­rhoids). An in­ter­nal he­m­or­rhoid may be­come so swollen that it bulges out­side the anus. Pain felt dur­ing bow­el move­ments and up­on sit­ting are clas­sic signs that you may have he­m­or­rhoids. He­m­or­rhoids can al­so cause:

• Itch­ing in and around the anus

• Rec­tal pain or ten­der­ness

• Bleed­ing that's no­tice­able on toi­let pa­per, in the toi­let, or in stool.

Know the caus­es

He­m­or­rhoids are very com­mon and can hap­pen to any­one-about 50 per cent of all adults will have had he­m­or­rhoids by the time they are 50 years old. There are sev­er­al caus­es and risk fac­tors for he­m­or­rhoids, in­clud­ing:

• Preg­nan­cy

• Con­sti­pa­tion

•Strain­ing dur­ing a bow­el move­ment

• Anal in­fec­tions

• Cir­rho­sis, or scar­ring, of the liv­er

• Lift­ing heavy ob­jects

• Sit­ting for too long

You may be more like­ly to de­vel­op he­m­or­rhoids if your fam­i­ly mem­bers-par­tic­u­lar­ly your par­ents-had he­m­or­rhoids. Obese peo­ple are al­so more like­ly to de­vel­op he­m­or­rhoids than peo­ple with a healthy body weight.

Di­ag­no­sis and treat­ment

He­m­or­rhoids should be di­ag­nosed by a doc­tor to be sure that any bleed­ing you've no­ticed isn't from a more se­ri­ous di­ges­tive health prob­lem or oth­er is­sue. A sim­ple phys­i­cal ex­am can usu­al­ly di­ag­nose he­m­or­rhoids, but your doc­tor may use a scope to look in­side the rec­tum to con­firm that he­m­or­rhoids are the source of the bleed­ing.

Typ­i­cal­ly, he­m­or­rhoids aren't se­ri­ous health con­cerns. But, they can be very painful. Those that don't go away on their own may ul­ti­mate­ly re­quire surgery. If your symp­toms don't im­prove in a week or two, talk to your doc­tor about oth­er he­m­or­rhoid treat­ment op­tions.

Pre­ven­tion

When the he­m­or­rhoid pain is fi­nal­ly gone, you can move on with your life. Once your he­m­or­rhoids heal, stay free of pain by fol­low­ing these tips to pre­vent fu­ture he­m­or­rhoids:

• Eat plen­ty of fiber in the form of fruits, veg­eta­bles, and whole grains.

• Drink lots of wa­ter each day.

• Get reg­u­lar ex­er­cise.

• Avoid lax­a­tives, ex­cept those that en­cour­age bulky stool.

You can al­so pre­vent he­m­or­rhoids and avoid un­nec­es­sary strain­ing by not sit­ting on the toi­let for too long try­ing to have a bow­el move­ment. Don't try to force bow­el move­ments; re­turn to the bath­room and try again lat­er. When you do feel the urge to go, don't ig­nore it-head to the bath­room right away.(Every­day­Health)