Hemorrhoids may be an embarrassing subject to bring up with your doctor, but there’s no need to suffer in silence. Nowadays there are several options that can get you out of this painful position.

“Hemorrhoids are natural for everybody to have. It’s just a question of whose hemorrhoids are bothering them,” says Dr. Steve Moenning, who is a general surgeon with Lee Memorial Health System.

Hemorrhoids are simply swollen veins around the anal canal. Either internal or external, they can cause bleeding, itching and pain. Dr. Moenning recommends starting conservatively, like increasing fiber and fluids. If it doesn’t resolve he has another treatment that doesn’t include major surgery.

“There’s other options where if it’s just an internal hemorrhoid we can actually treat that patient in the office with a painless procedure,” says Dr. Moenning.

Called rubber band ligation, doctors are able to destroy the hemorrhoid. An ultrasound probe pinpoints the artery that feeds the inflamed blood vessel. Doctors tie an absorbable suture around it, the technique cutting off blood supply without any cutting.

“It basically sucks up the hemorrhoid, puts a rubber band on the tissue and then that tissue would slough off after about ten days,” says Dr. Moenning.

Rubber band ligation is considered the most effective nonsurgical treatment for internal hemorrhoids over the long term. Making it a good choice for all but the most severe cases.

“That’s a nice procedure because you can do it at the time of the office visit. So somebody could actually miss no work, come in and have the hemorrhoids taken care of,” says Dr. Moenning.

Some people resume normal activity minus heavy lifting almost immediately. Others need to take it easy for a few days. The bottom line is that there are several ways to leave hemorrhoids behind.

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Lee Memorial Health System in Fort Myers, FL is the largest network of medical care facilities in Southwest Florida and is highly respected for its expertise, innovation and quality of care. For nearly a century, we’ve been providing our community with everything from primary care treatment to highly specialized care services and robotic assisted surgeries.

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