Internal Hemorrhoids

Put an end to the pain, discomfort, and embarrassment of hemorrhoids.

Hemorrhoids strike millions of people every year. While this condition is not usually life-threatening, it continues to cause many people chronic pain, discomfort, and embarrassment.

• The good news is that hemorrhoids are eminently treatable.
• At our medical facility, we field technologies and staff members capable of taking the sting out of this common condition.

Hemorrhoids: What Are They?

Hemorrhoids are a medical term for abnormally enlarged veins in the rectum and the anus. Medical professionals classify hemorrhoids in several ways, including by grade and by their location on the body. The main varieties are called external and internal hemorrhoids.

Internal hemorrhoids form and do their damage from the inside of the body. They are blood vessels that normally help the body to contain gas and solid waste. Under certain circumstances, these blood vessels become abnormally enlarged and irritated. Over time, they can grow to the point where they interfere with waste-elimination functions, and may even become so large that they eventually protrude completely through the anal opening.

Physicians classify hemorrhoids in easy-to-understand grades.

• Grade 1: These kinds of hemorrhoids rarely cause pain but may bleed occasionally. They also stay completely inside the rectum at all times.
• Grade 2: Grade 2 hemorrhoids also cause bleeding, but may occasionally become so engorged that they force their way through the anus. Known as prolapses, these protruding hemorrhoids usually return to their previous positions without any outside help.
• Grade 3: Hemorrhoids of this grade may also prolapse, but may not return to their original positions unless manual force is applied.
• Grade 4: Grade 4 hemorrhoids are the most serious type, and may remain outside the body unless medical professionals intervene.

Diagnosing Internal Hemorrhoids

Internal hemorrhoids are, by definition, hard to see from the outside, but gastrointestinal doctors have innovative technologies at their disposal that are capable of identifying and curing hemorrhoids. These medical tools include:

• Colonoscopes
• Anoscopes

Treating Internal Hemorrhoids

Doctors treat internal hemorrhoids in several effective ways. The specific method that they use often depends on the grade and severity of the hemorrhoid in question. Common methods of hemorrhoid treatment include:

• Sclerotherapy: This treatment regimen involves injections of special fluids that shrink hemorrhoids.
• Banded Ligations: Rubber-band ligations use flexible bands that wrap around the bases of hemorrhoids, thus shrinking them.
• Coagulation Therapy: Coagulation techniques use infrared light to heat hemorrhoids and reduce them in size.
• Transanal Hemorrhoidal Dearterialization: This incision-free treatment method uses anoscopes combined with ultrasound imaging to find and shrink internal hemorrhoids.