help for hemorrhoids

[madamkitty]

This is an embarassing subject to talk about but I need help. I have horrible hemmorieds inside and out. Prepration H, suppositories and tucks no longer help. I read several years ago about putting winter green on a cotton ball and tucking it in, when first used it several flair ups ago it burned like**** but reduced the swelling, not this time. Yes, I'm bleeding, daily now. Yes, I know I need to go to the doctor but have joined the ranks of so many others- husband lost job, no insurance, and only just received 1st unemployment check after 6 weeks. Anything you ladies can think of to help will be wonderful. My "butt" pillow is even painful to sit on.

[Homemaker]

I feel your pain, literally. In fact, I considered asking the question here, but wasn't as brave as you.

I started having problems when I was working a job that required me to lift heavy steel all day. It got worse this spring when I began gardening. I have found no solutions, and believe me, I've searched the internet for them.

Some things that have helped me:

Make sure you get enough fiber to keep things "regular."

When you feel the need to "go," don't delay.

I try to avoid crouching down or squatting because that seems to cause problems.

Sometimes a cold pack helps, sometimes a heating pad does the trick.

I am currently working on strengthening my blood vessels by taking lots of vitamin C. I saw a new product by Garden of Life for varicose veins. I may try that because hemmerhoids are the same problem, just the location is different.

I don't know if this problem will ever go away. I refuse to go in for surgery because it isn't guaranteed to work and it usually comes back. I have read that you should go in and have them checked to rule out cancers in the colon. I know that's not my problem, so I'm not going. I can't afford to go anyway. I prefer to find the root cause of my health conditions and find a solution to allow the body to heal itself. So far, I've not had much luck. If it's not better by next summer, I'll reconsider. We should be financially able to handle a medical bill then.

[SueC]

I had a problem last year when even lying in bed hurt. I read this remedy and thought it was cheap and easy so gave it a go.

 

Get some green cabbage, break a leaf off and bend/scrunch it till it "sweats" then place on the skin. Leave for a few hours.

 

I folded the leaf to about the same width as a sanitary pad and the put it on the pad and attached to my panties in the position I needed and wore this at night. 3 nights and things were amazingly different. I dont know how that would help internally but great for external.

 

Lesson learned - dont tell anyone what you are doing - they laugh hilariously!

 

[gramma lois]

I had a problem last year when even lying in bed hurt. I read this remedy and thought it was cheap and easy so gave it a go.

 

Get some green cabbage, break a leaf off and bend/scrunch it till it "sweats" then place on the skin. Leave for a few hours.

 

I folded the leaf to about the same width as a sanitary pad and the put it on the pad and attached to my panties in the position I needed and wore this at night. 3 nights and things were amazingly different. I dont know how that would help internally but great for external.

 

Lesson learned - dont tell anyone what you are doing - they laugh hilariously!

 

Yes cabbage works a charm for engorged breasts (i.e. breastfeeding) too.

 

Madamkitty - I had the same severity of problems you are experiencing, and here is what I did and it worked a charm. I have not had ANY problems since and that was 25 years ago.

 

Birch bark tea - drink 4 cups daily (more if you like). Harvest the birch in apprx. 5 inch strips. Harvest from the lowest branches or from the trunk of the tree. Using a sharp pocket knife is suffice. Slice down well into the second layer of flesh/yellow, but be kind to the tree and alternate harvests from several trees. Strip the bark off of your slices of birch, and steep two strips per cup in boiling water for apprx. ten minutes. This is a lovely tea with a sweet flavor.

 

Also, be sure to watch your diet for anything that will irritate, DO NOT EVER force a bowel movement, and use anything else that helps in tandum with the tea until the birch works its properties into your body...this could take a few days, or more depending on the individual. Even though this is a daily use tea, you should do your own homework and research this remedy before using it, as one should always get good confirmation when using teas for medicinal purposes.

 

It worked wonderfully for me, and I was a mess too. God speed your recovery.

[CoM]

I am taking some online medicinal herb classes and recently got this info and recipe for hemorrhoid pads. I have never had to make it but I kept notes in case it was ever needed. Hope it helps someone.

 

Here is an excerp from this class.

 

Take witch hazel distillate, so it's a liquid, and fill a jar up one-third of the way with calendula flowers. ( I am assuming dried flowers).

 

We learned that calendula flowers help with the vascular integrity and with capillary strength.

 

Screw the lid on, shake well and let it sit for three weeks shaking once or twice a day. Keep the jar where you will see it and be reminded to shake.

 

You are actually using the witch hazel distillate to extract the medicinal constituents of the calendula.

 

After the three weeks, strain that out really good and put the liquid into a little jar that you can put some cotton pads in. Add a few drops of lavender essential oil and yarrow essential oil.

 

Yarrow is the circulatory stimulant and good for ulcerative hemorrhoids.

 

If hemorrhoids are bleeding, you've got an entryway into the bloodstream open right next to a source of E. coli. It's not safe. You want to get it healed immediately.

 

The yarrow will actually stitch together the tissues immediately and it is so strongly anti-microbial that it will kill off any bacteria including E. coli.

 

Lavender inhibits itch response. Lavender is also an anti-inflammatory .

 

Using these pads to wipe with will soothe the area while preventing bacteria and it will heal the area quickly, within just a day or a couple of days.

 

Note:

 

This SAME recipe put in a spray bottle helps vericose veins as well.

 

 

This class was given by master herbalist Heather Nic an Fhleisdeir. Her website is www.celticherbs.com

 

Some of her work is also at www.herbmentor.com where I receive instruction.

 

This may not help this bout of hemroids since it takes 3 wks to make but might be good to make & have on hand.

 

 

 

[gramma lois]

Just a wee bit of info about BIRCH

 

 

Birch - The Giving Tree

 

Excerpt:

“This is the most pure compound that we isolated or extracted with the help of the chemistry department,” says Karim, who also has worked with some plants, used as medicine in Africa, to try to find herpes treatments.

Finding a compound in a natural plant with potential medicinal applications is extremely rare. To find such a potential through the simple serendipity of wanting to efficiently use up some leftover bark … well, that’s nearly unnatural.

“Once in a lifetime, if you hit something like this …” says Karim, letting his open sentence speak to the rarity. “It was out of the blue.”

 

Dr. Pavel Krasutsky at UMD searches for industrial uses of natural resources. The former Ukrainian was recently honored with his

home country’s highest award. PHOTO BY JEFF FREY

 

http://www.lakesuperior.com/online/212/212birch.html

 

 

 

BIRCH - Botanical: Betula alba

 

Family: Betulaceae (birch)

Other common names: White Birch Bark, Black Birch, Silver Birch, Sweet Birch, Canoe Birch, Lady of the Woods

 

 

 

"The medicinal parts of this plant include the young leaves and the bark, and the primary chemical constituents of the bark include saponins, essential oil (methyl salicylate), betulinic acid, tannin, flavonoids (hyperoside, luteolin, quercetin), bitter principle and glycosides. Only the leaves are antibacterial. Birch Bark is being investigated for its potential in treating malignant diseases, focusing on the betulinic acid content. Birch Bark has been used as an astringent, diuretic and diaphoretic, and it helps to cleanse the body of toxins, thin the blood and relieve pain and inflammation. Typical uses include support for arthritis, boils, fever, gout, headache, kidney stones, rheumatism and worms. Topical applications of this herb have included use as a poultice for bruises, burns, eczema and wounds; as a bath herb for skin eruptions; and as a liniment for rheumatism. The essential oil is used in salves and medicated soaps for eczema and psoriasis. Birch Bark has also found uses as a douche for leukorrhea and as a facial steam for nasal congestion and acne. The inner bark contains an oil which is sometimes substituted for wintergreen in liniments. Distillation of the bark yields Birch tar oil, an astringent ingredient of ointments for eczema and psoriasis. A Birch leaf tea made by infusion is said to eliminate gravel and dissolve kidney stones when taken daily for a period of time. "

 

http://www.viable-herbal.com/singles/Herbs/s121.htm

[Ambergris]

The name of your new best friend is fiber. Have breakfast and dinner with your new best friend every single day.

 

When you can afford it, get a bottle of horse chestnut extract. I take it to strengthen vein walls.

 

For today, get a big jar of petroleum jelly and plenty of toilet tissue. Strip down and sit down. Put a trash bag in easy reach. Slather the area with petroleum jelly. Any area that comes back with brown or bloodstain smears, keep wiping at it with fresh tissue, always slathered with the petroleum jelly, until you finally stop seeing stain. This time will come. Now, work a gob of petroleum jelly inside. Not enough to act like a glycerine suppository, but enough to coat the channel good. Now, gently push whatever's bulging outside back inside. If you feel a sharp pain or a deep pain, stop and hold. If the pain fades, keep working at it. If there's a feeling of "right" at some point, you'll have a deep sense that this is enough.

 

What's going on is that if you have extruded part of your rectum, you need to push it back in place. It's not designed to handle the outside air, much less the touch of tissue. It will stay in pretty well, until the next time you push too hard. If you haven't extruded anything, you may have split open any of the lining. In this case you need to clean the area and keep a shield between open flesh and used food as much as possible for a few days. The petroleum jelly is effective. Some people worry about petroleum jelly being non-organic, but the organic used food is much worse for you right now. If you have a bulging varicose vein, putting it inside the channel will put enough pressure on the weak-walled part to support it while it heals.

 

At the first sign of trouble, you can peel an inch-long piece of aloe leaf and insert it. It's soothing in the early stages, I'm told, but I can't make myself hold it in place. Also, after you're in real trouble it has reduced value.

[madamkitty]

Once again, the knowledge on this site has amazed me. I have looked on so many health and medical boards I'd almost given up. Thank you so much for all the suggestions- all are to be tried by me. The birch bark tea depends on if my husband knows where a tree is.

I only have one more question. I have never been able to understand what people are talking about when they say fiber. What foods is it in? I only usually eat one time a day, and up until the last 3 months or so nothing I eat is fried. I've started eating dinner with my MIL because everyone wants us to get out and have company.

I enjoy the company, but lately the food is killing me. I don't know if it's just heartburn or if I've finally got that ulcer a doctor told me years ago I was headed for- I have a nervous stomach. Right now my nerves are shot and stress level is through the roof so if I eat- I hurt all the way up into my neck. I think I'm gonna go back to eating my bowl of cheerios at night and say the heck with it.

[Ambergris]

At the cell level, a major difference between animal cells and plant cells is that a plant cell will have a cell wall. This is "fiber." Some cell walls, like on the white insides of potatoes, are negligible. Some cell walls, like on the peels of Irish potatoes or the insides of sweet potatoes, are thick enough to do you good. What fiber does is absorb lots of liquid in your bowel so that it moves more quickly through you and comes out comes out easily. It won't be the liquid-and-pebbles, or the rocks, that people who eat little fiber get used to.

 

Oatmeal is an excellent fiber food. Regular Cheerios has three grams of fiber per serving. This is good.

[MichR]

Fiber is our friend (repeat as often as you need to)

 

Fiber is an indigestible part of plants; animal products do not have fiber. Fiber is divided into 2 kinds - soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber changes in our digestive track and becomes gelatinous (think jell-o). Insoluble fiber basically stays the same. We need fiber (especially insoluble) because it provides bulk, softens stools and speeds up "in-system" time.

 

A way to remember insoluble and soluble fiber is to think of an apple - the peel is insoluble fiber and the flesh is soluble (thinking in basic terms).

 

In my opinion, the best way to get enough fiber is to eat lentils/beans, grains, nuts/seeds, vegetables and fruits as close to "whole" as possible. For example, use whole-grain flour rather than all-purpose flour. The whole-grain flour has the fiber left in while all-purpose flour is devoid of any fiber and vitamins. Eating raw fruits and vegetables provides both insoluble and soluble fiber (try to eat the peel if edible).

 

One very important thing to remember - drink lots of water when increasing fiber!!! You could technically make the problem worse when you really wanted to make it better! :frying pan: Let's just say "been there, have the t-shirt".

 

Also, be sure to chew your food properly. Making sure that food is chewed and mixed with saliva (the first step in digesting food) will help with heartburn and constipation. I have read in several places that some medications and supplements do cause constipation but increasing fiber uptake should remedy the problem.

 

I remember which foods have good sources of fiber in this way:

 

lots - green leafies (collard greens, kale, spinach etc.) and brassicas (cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage)

 

a good amount - berries, beans and grains (think whole grains)

 

some - remainder of the fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds

 

I hope this helps a little. This has been written out of my head, so please research for yourself what to eat and why. I come from a long line of bowel-challenged women so I had to find out for myself what I needed to do. My grandmother suffered from colon cancer (among other things) and my mom has had polyps removed. I was tired of being constantly constipated and developing hemorrhoids in my teens so I started trying different ways of eating. Things aren't perfect but it's alot better than what it had been like!! I'm in my mid-30's now and hopefully I don't have to deal with any bowel/colon issues for a long-time. Madamkitty, your post has reminded me to keep aware of my body and diet - thank you.

 

Michelle

[Homemaker]

Nerves and stress will make the problem worse. It raises your blood pressure, which stresses those veins. It also interferes with the elimination process, making it harder to go, and making you strain more. Waste held too long in the colon causes excess pressure on the veins as well. I seem to have more problems during high stress times.

Try to find some way to relax.

[Ambergris]

Oh, and get rid of the magazines and books stacked behind the toilet. Sitting there reading puts you in a posture that encourages hemmorhoid formation.

 

 

BTW, in Colonial New England, these were called "emrods," at least when speaking technically. The term comes up in transcripts of the Salem Trials. In the Southern colonies, they were more likely to be called "piles."

[willa]

I didnt read all the post,and I dont post much so I am not a familiar name but.............. I SUFFERED from hemorroid trouble severely for years,finally last March I had the surgery.Let me tell you the 2 weeks of pain after wards is worth it.I can push mow this summer and other things I have not been able to do for years!!!!!!That said if you dont want sugery get srip cream and suppostetories from your doctor they work so much better than over the counter.Plus heat and cold appied as needed.I use to set on the heating pad alot.