For many people, the only thing more uncomfortable than the itching and pain of hemorrhoids is seeking help for an embarrassing problem. But when you get early treatment, you can get fast relief with simple, painless treatments.

As an expert in hemorrhoid treatment, Nina Paonessa DO, at Paonessa Colon & Rectal Surgery offers comprehensive care that relieves your symptoms.

In most cases, we treat hemorrhoids with lifestyle recommendations or an in-office procedure. But when you need more extensive care, you can depend on her experience in hemorrhoid surgery.

Here’s a rundown of the treatments we use to give you relief from hemorrhoids.

Lifestyle changes

If you have mild hemorrhoids, making a few lifestyle changes, such as avoiding pressure and easing your bowel movements, may be all you need to help the inflamed blood vessels heal on their own.

Avoiding pressure

Putting prolonged or excessive pressure on your rectum is the top cause of hemorrhoids. You can reduce the pressure by limiting the time you spend sitting on the toilet and not straining when you have bowel movements.

It also helps to become aware of habits that contribute to hemorrhoids, such as improperly lifting heavy objects, and avoid them.

Easing bowel movements

During a mild flare-up, using a stool softener helps you have bowel movements without irritating the delicate tissues containing the hemorrhoids. For long-term relief, it’s important to keep your bowel movements regular and your stools soft. You can do that by getting enough dietary fiber and fluids.

Self-care for hemorrhoids

Depending on the severity of your hemorrhoids, you can try soaking in a warm bath two or three times daily. You may also reduce swelling and get some symptom relief from an over-the-counter cream or suppository.

However, you also don’t want your hemorrhoids to get worse. If your symptoms don’t improve in a week, or you have bleeding, ongoing pain, or a lump in your anus, it’s time to seek our help.

Office procedures for hemorrhoids

We treat most hemorrhoids in the office using nonsurgical procedures:

Hemorrhoid banding (rubber band ligation)

During hemorrhoid banding, we use a special tool to wrap a rubber band around the base of your hemorrhoid. The band stops blood from flowing into the hemorrhoid. As a result, the swollen hemorrhoid shrinks, dies, and falls off.

Sclerotherapy

Sclerotherapy treats mild to moderate hemorrhoids. During the procedure, we inject a medication that collapses and shrinks the hemorrhoid.

Coagulation

Coagulation techniques use gentle heat to destroy the hemorrhoid. The procedure involves inserting a small probe into your rectum that delivers infrared, laser, or electrical energy.

Surgical procedures for hemorrhoids

Though few people need surgery to treat their hemorrhoids, we may recommend surgical intervention if you have large, painful, thrombosed, or prolapsed hemorrhoids.  A thrombosed hemorrhoid occurs when a blood clot develops, while a prolapsed hemorrhoid is an internal hemorrhoid that bulges out through your anus.

The most common surgical procedures include:

Hemorrhoidectomy (hemorrhoid removal)

A traditional hemorrhoidectomy involves tying off the blood vessel to prevent bleeding and then removing the hemorrhoid. We may use stitches to close the wound or leave it open to promote healing.

We also perform another type of hemorrhoidectomy called hemorrhoid stapling. For this procedure, we lift the hemorrhoid and use a circular stapling device to keep the blood vessel in place.

Transanal hemorrhoidal dearterialization (THD)

THD closes the artery supplying blood to the hemorrhoid. We use Doppler ultrasound to find and visualize the artery, then we tie off the vessel.

If you need help with hemorrhoids, call Paonessa Colon & Rectal Surgery or book an appointment online today.