What are hemorrhoids
?
Discover important facts about
hemorrhoids and hemorrhoids classification
Hemorrhoids are normal structures of the
human anatomy and need treatment only when they
are inflamed.
He
morrhoids should not be
treated when
there are no physical signs for their
activation.
Hemorrhoids are swollen but
normally present blood vessels in and around the anus
and lower rectum that stretchunder pressure, similar to
varicose veins in the legs.
Video picture of hemorrhoids: hemorrhoids
rubber band ligation:
Piles are found in three locations of the
anal canal, one at the left center, and one each in the right
upper and lower "corners".
Hemorrhoids are
important for helping us keep ourselves continent, i.e. keep us
from having a bowel movement at an inappropriate time. They do
this by becoming engorged when abdominal pressure is increased
(such as whenstraining to lift something) so that the anal
canal is completely ‘blocked’. Hemorrhoidal disease is a result
of chronically increased intra-abdominal pressure and
swelling.
This increased
pressure can be caused by constipation and subsequent
straining to get stool out, pregnancy, cirrhosis of the liver,
some forms of cancer, or for no good reason at
all.
Hemorrhoids are
not tumors or growths. Hemorrhoids are unique to humane beings.
No other creature develops this problem.
Hemorrhoids
classification
Hemorrhoids can be classified
as external, internal and interno-external (when both types are
associated). The external piles are situated in the lower
one-third of the anal canal and are covered by skin.
Video of Dr.
Noorali Bharwani about external and internal
hemorrhoids:
External
hemorrhoids beneath the anal skin enlarge over time
due to dilatation or repeated thrombosis. The overlying skin
may stretch to develop a skin tag, which prevents
adequate hygiene. Occasionally, a clot within an external
haemorrhoid will cause severe pain and may bleed if the clot
erodes through the overlying skin.
External
haemorrhoids usually cause pain and itching even after a small
thrombosis as they are beneath richly innervated skin. This
type of hemorrhoid most often affects younger people. External
haemorrhoids produce severe pain only if they are actually
thrombosed. The thrombosed hemorrhoids form a clot in your
blood that prevents the blood from flowing normaly.
Internal
hemorrhoids are seen in the upper two-thirds of the
anal canal and are covered by the mucous membrane. Mucose
membrane is the moist layer of tissue linining the digestive
tract and anal canal which makes mucus –a thick, slippery
fluid.
Internal
hemorrhoids, which are covered by mucosa, typically bleed or
prolapse, but do not cause pain. In this case you may complain
of rectal fullness, mucous discharge and bright red blood
dripping into the toilet or on the toilet paper. Occasionally,
internal hemorrhoids will incarcerate within the outer ring of
the anal canal and develop thrombosis and necrosis. Internal
haemorrhoids usually cause painless, bright red bleeding
associated with defaecation.
Many patients
with internal hemorrhoids also have an anal fissure,
which can co-exist with the hemorrhoids and in time causes
spasm of the internal sphincter resulting in further tearing
and ulceration and a lot of pain.
Internal
hemorrhoids are also classified by degree as:
first, second,third degree and fourth degree.
- First-degree
, where bleeding is the
predominant symptom and piles do not prolapse out of the
ano-rectal region.
- Second
degree-rectal prolapse is spontaneously
reducible.
- Those that
prolapse on defaecation but need to be replaced back
manually and then stay reduced are called
third-degree
- Hemorrhoids in grade IV cannot be
replaced back once they are
prolapsed.
You may also be interested
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