This page is about diagnosing hemroids aka hemorrhoids, dealing with the embarrassment, hemroid symptoms and other important or interesting information on hemroids, such as medically grading them.

Education is always one of the best defenses against hemroids - without, you will most likely end up with hemorrhoids again and again, treating every hemroids outbreak, hoping it will be your last. I know, I use to suffer from hemroids myself. I found the hemroid answers and they're here, and they're free!

Hemroids have been agony to people throughout recorded history, and hemroids have played their part in changing history as well, by their ability to cause us to be grumpy, irritable and quick to anger, to lose focus and to make errors. As to this hermoids website, well, this is likely the most well researched and extensive hemroid web site on the internet, with over 80,000 words, covering just about everything hemroids - from photos, to treatments, diagnosis - even hemroids in animals are covered. Left is an 11th century hemorrhoids picture depicting a hemroid operation. Hemroids are not just an affliction of a modern life style, as some have argued, though lifestyle has been found to be one of the major causes of hemroids.

Real photos pictures of hemroids are now here.

Apart from pregnancy related hemroids, very rarely will hemroids get better on their own. The normal course is for hemroids to just get worse.

How to diagnose, get relief, get rid of and prevent hemroids is therefore our goal.

To this end informative photos are provided and full discussed, and we cover and fully explain the causes and symptoms of hemroids, as well as how to attain fast hemroid relief. Treatments, cures, home remedies, surgery and medical types of hemroids are also fully and indepthly covered.

We try to look after every aspect of your needs related to hemroids, by providing this well written, comprehensive, and informative material in an easy to read, understandable way.

There are also alternative treatments for hemroids available, as well as the online hemroids treatments that we have reviewed.

Navigating our Hemroids Site

Navigation links to our hemroids information / topics / pages are located on the left hand side, toward the top. As well, the page contents of the page you are on, is displayed on the left hand side, but a bit further down. I am curently implementing this format on all the hemroid pages.

Anyway, enjoy the rest of this page, and any other pages you choose. The section on this page on Napolean Bonaparte's hemroids was, well, fascinating. Hemroids basically ended his career and his plans for conquest!

1.. General Information on Hemroids :

Normally, everyone has internal hemroids, but they are not normally noticeable - they typically remain out of sight and show no signs nor symptoms.  Believe it or not, about 10 million people in the world are afflicted by troublesome hemroids every year.

When the hemroids do initially show themselves, the common reaction is one of shock, fear and concern. All of a sudden, one's nice looking bottom has the insides look like they are falling out of it and the hemroids you become aware of may also pain, itch and burn like nothing you ever experienced before!

For some it's the shock of seeing lots of blood suddenly coming out or severe excruciating pain from a hemroid thrombosis. Enough to get any ones attention.

What are hemorrhoids? Fortunately, all hemroids really are, are swollen blood vessel, which for most people, are easily cured or relieved.

But having the problem of hemroids is an embarrassing one. We are trained about how dirty and unmentionable that area of our anatomy is, so when hemroids drop out to say "Hi, I'm down here.", the last thing we want to do is talk to people about the hemroids. Even talking to doctors about the hemroids can be embarrassing for those of us who just don't talk about such things.

The problem of shame may be exasperated even more with hemroids, if we believe we somehow caused the hemroids through a sexual act. One might feel that the doctor will pursue a too personal line of questioning with the hemroids. From my experience in discussing hemroids with doctors and surgeons, they haven't asked questions of a too personal nature - more interested in telling me what to do.

In fact, the problem of hemroids is so widespread in the community, that doctors will often be sufficiently skilled to perform a simple banding or injection while you are there in the office. They possibly see people suffering with hemroids every day and are not typically embarrassed by it from my experience. So, once one gets over one's own feeling of shame and embarrassment, realizing that the doctor wont likely get too personal in their questioning about your hemroids, you might feel a sense of relief about seeing them.

Another good idea, is to write down the hemroid symptoms one has, so that when one goes to discuss the hemroid symptoms with the doctor, it's just a matter of reading the symptoms out. So, even if one was to get a bit flustered, all the hemroid symptoms can be conveyed without the feeling at the end of walking out of the appointment, "Jeees, I forget to say that. Would that change his diagnosis ... "

Think about me and my hemroids. When I saw doctors, most of whom were males, they would have a look, some inside. Yes, that was embarrassing, but it was better for me to get the correct diagnosis and hemroid treatment options.

Self diagnosis of hemroids is difficult. A non-medical person may confuse hemroids with warts, abscess, anal fissure, anal prolapse, cancer or other conditions. A picture of hemroids, actually several pictures are included here to assist you, but medical assessment is strongly suggested.

Here's more of the information on hemroids and the help you may be after:

2... What do hemroids look like? The common appearances of real Hemroids:

3... Another symptom of hemroids to consider is their color.

4... MORE common signs and symptoms of hemroids:

5... What are hemroids? There are several types to be aware of.

Firstly, hemroids are akin to, but not the same as, varicose veins and hemroids only occur in the anal region - enlarged, dilated veins of the hemorrhoidal plexuses ( hemorrhoidal plexuses being the network of blood vessels of the lower rectum and anal canal, to be medically precise ).

  The veins in this area of your body are quite flexible and stretchable to coexist with the bowel expanding and contracting.  This is why a hemroid can only occur in this area of the body - no other veins in the body can stretch as much and become so huge when pressurised with blood. 

To understand hemroids, think of the hemroid as the weakest part of a weakened area of blood vessels. The hemroid, as such, develops when one of the weakened veins expands under pressure - such as when straining on the toilet.  Once expanded AND if unable to return to normal size, it is then called a hemroid.

If the engorged vein is outside the anus, but really close to it, it is described as an external hemroid. Specifically, external hemroids have three main symptoms: They are seen as little bleeding areas that occur under the skin near the anus, which can be felt as hard lumps. They also do not show through the opening, but develop more on the rim, just outside and, because external hemroids develop in the often darkened area of skin near the opening, they are often brownish in color.

Some doctors will even call a varicose vein on the upper part of the leg a hemroid - but this is a different way of using the term. 

If the engorged vein is inside, it is referred to as an internal hemroid although they may bleed, they are seldom painful unless infected. 

If the engorged vein is internal, but hangs outside where you can see it or feel it, it is referred to as a hemroid prolapse or a prolapsed hemroid and, they are generally reddish in color.

The more veins affected, the more hemroids you have.

6... Hemroids and Hemorrhoidal Cushions - A Point of Clarification:

(No, not the hemroid donut shaped cushions you sit on)

An alternative definition of internal hemroids that I have come across states that hemroids are normal and helpful, as they protect and cushion the rectum. It is only when they become troublesome that we have to worry.  Although this hemroids definition is a little wrong, it does have some merit, as I'll explain below:

Everyone has hemorrhoidal cushions, all the time. Hemorrhoidal cushions are cushions of tissue within the anal canal that are fed from a rich blood supply. These cushions exist to help provide anal sphincter control, and without them people would have a hard time knowing "when to go." When one of the many blood vessels in this area enlarges, which also swells some of the supporting tissue, then you have a hemroid.

When this process takes place below the dentate line, which is the line where internal mucus membrane transitions to external skin, then you have an external hemroid. While there are no hemorrhoidal cushions on the outside of the body, many of the veins that supply those cushions with blood drain down to the outside before going back up to empty into larger veins. It is from this "dip" in the anal veins that external hemroids develop.

The large blood vessels of the hemorrhoidal cushions enlarge from a variety of reasons, not least of which is pressure on the blood vessels. This pressure can come from sitting too long on the toilet, at a desk, or on a car seat, constipation, or pregnancy. The blood vessel walls can also weaken with age, which makes the elderly population particularly prone to hemroids.

7... Are Hemroids Tumors?

An alternative definition for external hemroids - one encyclopedia I read referred to them as non-cancerous tumors! Medical jargon, enough to scare any one silly I think.

8... Some symptoms of hemroids are used as the basis of classifying hemroids into Grades:

Grade 1 hemroids do not prolapse, may bleed. Grade 2 hemroids prolapse - pop out - when straining, but the hemroids go back in of their own accord; they may bleed. Grade 3 hemroids pop out when straining, tend to bleed more and have to be gently pushed back in. Grade 4 hemroids are showing all the time and bleed much more.

So, if your doctor starts to talking about your hemroids as a specific grade, you'll have an idea of what he is on about, as well as the hemroid symptoms he used to make the grading.

9... Napoleon Bonaparte and his fight with Hemroids.

It has been identified by Dr. Paul Wolf, 2001, that Napoleon Bonaparte could have won the Battle of Waterloo by attacking earlier in the day, but Napoleon Bonaparte delayed his attack because he suffered greatly from hemroid pain that morning. By the time the afternoon came, the weather and so on, advantaged the British.

Napoleon Bonaparte suffered greatly from hemroid pain during many of his battles, as the tension of battle apparently caused his sphincter muscles to tighten horrendously on his hemroids, thereby generating massive pain and discomfort for him.

Napoleon Bonaparte used bathing to help control his hemroid pain, but during the battle of Waterloo he was constipated which made his discomfort and possibly his pain much worse, and so he left the battlefield, left his army in the command of a subordinate, and sat in a bath to ease his miserable state, then went back to the battlefield later in the day, resumed his command, and then he lost the war.

An interesting bit of hemroid history there, one I think many of us can understand and sympathize with!

10.. Alternative SPELLINGS AND NAMES for hemroids

Alternative spellings for hemroids : Hemorrhoids and haemorrhoids. Hemorrhoids is the most common spelling and hemorrhoids is also the modern label in medical circles. Next in popularity comes hemroids, which is the way I and many others naturally spell it. Haemorrhoids is a term seldom used now - haemorrhoids is an older label that you will still find occasionally used in medical journals and texts. Why do I mostly use the word hemroids, instead of hemorrhoids? Hemorrhoids takes more letters to type and hemorrhoids is not the way I normally spell it - I frequently misspell hemorrhoids as hemorroids.

Alternative names for hemroids : Piles. The term piles has been used to describe hemroids for more than a century. In one of my medical texts from the 1833's, the term piles was evidently in common usage along with haemorrhoids. From what I can tell, piles was the term used by ordinary folk, while haemorrhoids may have been more restricted to use by doctors. The terms hemroids and hemorrhoids don't appear to have been used back then.

Common misspellings (? - may change from country to country) of the word hemroids: Hemmroids, hemoroids, hemeroids, hemerroids, hameroids, hammeroids, hemorroids, haemorroids, hemmoroids, hemmeroids, hemmorhoids, hemorrhoides and hemorhoids. Of these apparent misspellings, hemorroids comes at the top of the list - I guess people forget about the silent h in the middle of hemorroids.

11.. Origin of the condition "hemroids".  How the name became linked to the condition.

"Hemorrhoid" is actually an anatomical term for the cushions of tissue rich in blood vessels that naturally occur at the junction of the rectum and the anus, but, seeing as most people don't have to think about anorectal anatomy that often, the name got passed on to the annoying as heck swellings that occur around that area, even when the varicosity and swelling does not occur on the hemorrhoidal cushions themselves.

The lay person use of the word hemorrhoids appears to be slowly becoming shortened to "hemroids".

Some trivia information on hemroids, which you may or may not, have found interesting.

12.. Hemroids Summary

In summary, there is much you can do to bring relief from the discomfort and pain of hemroids. Surgery will normally be a good treatment option for hemroids as it removes them, diet and lifestyle may be able to cure them and stop them coming back, while pain medication and herbs, soothing creams, baths, hemroid pillows cushions and so on, can quickly bring relief to hemroids that are showing themselves.  Some herbs and vitamins may be able to cure you without surgery.

To remain cured of hemroids, or to prevent them from developing, you can try the suggestions on this web site - for example, by avoiding those things that can cause them to develop, by taking in therapeutic doses of certain herbs, fruits, vitamins and minerals. By avoiding the causes of hemroids, we have a much greater chance of preventing hemroids from coming back or developing in the first place, but there are no guarantees unfortunately.

We even review and provide links to popular and worthwhile online hemroids treatments, like Heal Hemorrhoids if you prefer a lotion to apply, and for a pill to swallow Venapro stands out as the best.  You can also read about them and much more on our hemroids medication review page.

Off topic links

These two hemroid treatments may be very different to each other, but we rate them both at 5 stars. Both appear very good for easing hemroid pain and discomfort fast.

Shipped world wide A 100% natural and organic topical solution. 11 ml small bottle - $26.95 (120 applications) 33ml economy bottle - $69.95 - A SAVING of 10% - For now and later It's good to have some on hand, to get rid of them again, really fast, as hemroids can return.

Shipped world wide The drops and herbal pills, are both taken orally. $40 for a 1 month supply - fantastic for symptom relief. $160 for a 6 month supply - A saving of $80 / 33%. Maximum results with helping to heal the blood vessels and minimising the risk of hemroids returning.

LOOKY.. Our latest Awards and Hemroids page updates:

Firstly, thank you to the many, many people that take the time to say "what a great a site, thankyou".

More real hemorrhoids photos have been added, bringing the total to about 8 hemorrhoid ones I think, plus one on anal skin tags.

Totally redesigned again, hope you all like it better.

Www.hemorrhoidshemroids.com is now being referred to as an authority site on hemroids / hemorrhoids. Lots of emails from people thanking us for providing it as well.

Our web site is now about 80,000 words of concise writing.  Well researched and up to date and unbiased.

The web site has had many more pages added to it.  In brief, one of the changes we made was to add two new sections (several web pages each), one on animal hemroids and one on conditions that mimic hemroid symptoms.

Moved the graphical real photo pictures of hemroids from this main page to their own page and purchased another photo.  So we now have pictures of a prolapsed internal hemroid, of an external hemroid and of a grade 4 prolapsed internal hemroid which also appears to be thrombosed - These are real medical pictures of hemroids, so don't look if you don't want to see.

Added a new page on external hemroids.

November, 2007, received this award from Ezine and also "earned Expert Author status" with them.

Updated sections include the page you are now on, Pregnancy, Bleeding Hemroids and, Home Remedies. The latter includes many home remedies for hemroid relief.

We have added a hemroid treatment overview page to help people see the range of treatments available.

Several of our pages have been broken up to be more relevant to people searching for a particular hemroid treatment or cure.

The hemroids cure page includes vitamins, foods and herbs that help prevent and possibly cure them.

The sections on What Do Hemroids Look Like, What Hemroids Are and Thrombosed Hemroids have been recently updated.

Considering surgery? Surgical Treatments for Hemroids has been updated and now includes a simple means of determining which surgical procedure, if any, you may benefit the most from. We have added three more surgical treatments to the list of hemroid surgeries you may be able to choose from.  Hemorrhoidectomy, being such a specialised and different hemroid surgery, is on it's own page.

Have added a page on alternative medicine for hemroids.

If you are returning to the web site, as many of you do, now may be a good time to book mark us again with our new URL ( web address ). Also, trust the new web site design and name is more appealing and easier to navigate.

Written from a sufferer's past experience with hemroids. Down to earth, understandable and helpful.