Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsSit ComfortablyChange Position on the ToiletTake a Sitz BathUse an Ice PackSoften Your StoolsGet Things MovingPractice Good Anal HygieneA Word From VerywellFAQNext in Hemorrhoids GuideWhat Are Hemorrhoids?
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Sit Comfortably
Change Position on the Toilet
Take a Sitz Bath
Use an Ice Pack
Soften Your Stools
Get Things Moving
Practice Good Anal Hygiene
A Word From Verywell
FAQ
Next in Hemorrhoids Guide
Learning the right way to sit can help easehemorrhoidpain. This is one of many holistic methods of relieving pain, inflammation, and other hemorrhoid symptoms without the need for drugs. And with a few changes in the restroom, you might also be able to prevent your hemorrhoids from recurring.
This article offers a few tips for sitting with hemorrhoids, reducing strain, and easing your bowel movements. It covers how to soften your stools so they are easier to pass, how to make sitting on the toilet more comfortable, and more.
Verywell / Emily Roberts
Making changes to your daily routine can help you feel more comfortable, both in the bathroom and out.
The way in which you sit has a big effect on how well you recover from a bout of hemorrhoids.
Do yourself a favor and get asoft pillowor aninflatable “donut” cushionto sit on. The latter prevents the anorectal tissues from stretching. Most drugstores sell them for around $10.
Sitting on a hard surface puts pressure on thegluteal musclesof the buttocks and can cause the area around the hemorrhoids to stretch, forcing the swollen veins to be further pushed out.Sitting on the toilet for a long time can worsen hemorrhoids too, as it causes blood to pool around the area and the veins to bulge.
If you’re prone to hemorrhoids, sitting on a hard chair for too long can even trigger them.
Try raising your feet with a step stool when you sit on the toilet. Bringing your knees above your hips alters the angle of your rectum. This gives stool a more direct route out of the body.
If you are constipated, you should also avoid sitting on the toilet for a long time. The wide opening of the seat promotes anorectal stress and can make your hemorrhoids far worse.
Instead, get up and move around to help stimulate the bowels. Or, better yet, take a long walk around the block.
Asitz bathis a practical way to ease hemorrhoidal pain, itchiness, and inflammation.
The bath itself is a plastic tub you can purchase at the drugstore for around $10. It fits over the toilet bowl and is filled with warm water. Some people also add Epsom salt,witch hazel, or baking soda.
Sitting in warm water tempers the body’sinflammatory response, reducing swelling and pain in your anal area.
Always clean the sitz bath before you use it. Asolutionof 2 tablespoons of bleach to a 1/2 gallon of water works great; be sure to rinse it well afterward.
You can also do a sitz bath in the bathtub, but it may not be as comfortable as using a sitz tub on the toilet.
How to Use a Sitz Bath
Place a clean washcloth or kitchen towel between the ice pack and your skin and leave it there for no more than 15 minutes. While it’s OK for the skin to feel a little numb, you should remove the pack if you start to feel a sharp, prickly sensation.
The trick with ice packs is to never place them directly on bare skin or leave them in one place for too long. Doing so can causefrostbiteand may damage skin tissues.
If you don’t have an ice pack handy, a pack of frozen peas wrapped in a towel can also work.
In addition to finding ways to cope with hemorrhoids, two very helpful things you can do include making stools easier to pass and keeping your rectal area clean.
Ahigh-fiber dietis a greatlong-term solutionfor constipation.
Avoid coffee, alcohol, and caffeinated drinks:These beverages can dry out your stool and cause excessive urination.
Water:Drink extra water to stay hydrated whenever you’re drinking prune juice or using a laxative of any kind. Aim for at least eight glasses of water per day (1/2 gallon).
One way to get your stool moving is to use anenema bagordouche ball. You can buy these from drugstores for $10 to $15.
Using either one, gently fill your rectum with warm water to ease out hard, pebbly stools. Just be careful not to overfill your rectum. Doing so can stretch out tissues that are already inflamed.
Wash the enema bag or douche ball inside and out, between each use (or dispose of them as directed).
If you have internal hemorrhoids, you need to be extra gentle.
It is crucial to keep your anal area clean, especially after you have a bowel movement.
Aperianal irrigation bottlecan help you gently clean and soothe your anal area. You can get one from the drugstore for around $10, or you can use any clean, squeezable bottle you have on hand.
Like aloe vera, you can trypure vitamin E oilorpure coconut oiltoo. But avoid creams that have these oils in them because other substances in the creams could bother your skin.
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Summary
There are a handful of steps you can take when dealing with hemorrhoids. They range from drinking prune juice to changing how you sit on the toilet.
The goal is to make stools easier to pass, practice good anal hygiene, and reduce pain and swelling. If you find something that helps you, try to be consistent with it.
The holistic approaches covered here are safe and simple and don’t require you to take any drugs. If your hemorrhoids are smaller and not too severe, these approaches might be enough for you.
That said, manyover-the-counter (OTC) treatmentsare safe and effective options as well. If you want to try an OTC product but you’re not sure which one, talk to a healthcare provider. They will help you choose a product that works well and feels right for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. If you have an internalprolapsed hemorrhoid, it may bulge out of your anus.Sometimes, it will go back in on its own, but you can also try to gently push it back in place.
9 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Harvard Health.Hemorrhoids and what to do about them.George SE, Borello-france DF.Perspective on physical therapist management of functional constipation.Phys Ther. 2017;97(4):478-493. doi:10.2522/ptj.20160110Mott T, Latimer K, Edwards C.Hemorrhoids: Diagnosis and treatment options.Am Fam Phys. 2018 Feb;97(3):172-179.Fox A, Tietze PH, Ramakrishnan K.Anorectal conditions: hemorrhoids.FP Essent. 2014;419(1):11-9.Yang J, Wang HP, Zhou L, Xu CF.Effect of dietary fiber on constipation: a meta analysis.World J Gastroenterol. 2012 Dec;18(48):7378-83. doi:10.3748/wjg.v18.i48.7378Lever E, Cole J, Scott SM, Emergy PW, Whelan K.Systematic review: The effect of prunes on gastrointestinal function.Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2014 Oct;40(7):750-758. doi:10.1111/apt.12913Sugerman DT. JAMA patient page.Constipation.JAMA. 2013;310(13):1416. doi:10.1001/jama.2013.278592Portalatin M, Winstead N.Medical management of constipation.Clin Colon Rectal Surg. 2012;25(1):12-9. doi:10.1055/s-0032-1301754American Academy of Family Physicians.What are hemorrhoids?
9 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Harvard Health.Hemorrhoids and what to do about them.George SE, Borello-france DF.Perspective on physical therapist management of functional constipation.Phys Ther. 2017;97(4):478-493. doi:10.2522/ptj.20160110Mott T, Latimer K, Edwards C.Hemorrhoids: Diagnosis and treatment options.Am Fam Phys. 2018 Feb;97(3):172-179.Fox A, Tietze PH, Ramakrishnan K.Anorectal conditions: hemorrhoids.FP Essent. 2014;419(1):11-9.Yang J, Wang HP, Zhou L, Xu CF.Effect of dietary fiber on constipation: a meta analysis.World J Gastroenterol. 2012 Dec;18(48):7378-83. doi:10.3748/wjg.v18.i48.7378Lever E, Cole J, Scott SM, Emergy PW, Whelan K.Systematic review: The effect of prunes on gastrointestinal function.Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2014 Oct;40(7):750-758. doi:10.1111/apt.12913Sugerman DT. JAMA patient page.Constipation.JAMA. 2013;310(13):1416. doi:10.1001/jama.2013.278592Portalatin M, Winstead N.Medical management of constipation.Clin Colon Rectal Surg. 2012;25(1):12-9. doi:10.1055/s-0032-1301754American Academy of Family Physicians.What are hemorrhoids?
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Harvard Health.Hemorrhoids and what to do about them.George SE, Borello-france DF.Perspective on physical therapist management of functional constipation.Phys Ther. 2017;97(4):478-493. doi:10.2522/ptj.20160110Mott T, Latimer K, Edwards C.Hemorrhoids: Diagnosis and treatment options.Am Fam Phys. 2018 Feb;97(3):172-179.Fox A, Tietze PH, Ramakrishnan K.Anorectal conditions: hemorrhoids.FP Essent. 2014;419(1):11-9.Yang J, Wang HP, Zhou L, Xu CF.Effect of dietary fiber on constipation: a meta analysis.World J Gastroenterol. 2012 Dec;18(48):7378-83. doi:10.3748/wjg.v18.i48.7378Lever E, Cole J, Scott SM, Emergy PW, Whelan K.Systematic review: The effect of prunes on gastrointestinal function.Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2014 Oct;40(7):750-758. doi:10.1111/apt.12913Sugerman DT. JAMA patient page.Constipation.JAMA. 2013;310(13):1416. doi:10.1001/jama.2013.278592Portalatin M, Winstead N.Medical management of constipation.Clin Colon Rectal Surg. 2012;25(1):12-9. doi:10.1055/s-0032-1301754American Academy of Family Physicians.What are hemorrhoids?
Harvard Health.Hemorrhoids and what to do about them.
George SE, Borello-france DF.Perspective on physical therapist management of functional constipation.Phys Ther. 2017;97(4):478-493. doi:10.2522/ptj.20160110
Mott T, Latimer K, Edwards C.Hemorrhoids: Diagnosis and treatment options.Am Fam Phys. 2018 Feb;97(3):172-179.
Fox A, Tietze PH, Ramakrishnan K.Anorectal conditions: hemorrhoids.FP Essent. 2014;419(1):11-9.
Yang J, Wang HP, Zhou L, Xu CF.Effect of dietary fiber on constipation: a meta analysis.World J Gastroenterol. 2012 Dec;18(48):7378-83. doi:10.3748/wjg.v18.i48.7378
Lever E, Cole J, Scott SM, Emergy PW, Whelan K.Systematic review: The effect of prunes on gastrointestinal function.Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2014 Oct;40(7):750-758. doi:10.1111/apt.12913
Sugerman DT. JAMA patient page.Constipation.JAMA. 2013;310(13):1416. doi:10.1001/jama.2013.278592
Portalatin M, Winstead N.Medical management of constipation.Clin Colon Rectal Surg. 2012;25(1):12-9. doi:10.1055/s-0032-1301754
American Academy of Family Physicians.What are hemorrhoids?
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