Pain is a common symptom of external hemorrhoid disease, but not all hemorrhoids are painful. To understand the difference, it’s helpful to know what hemorrhoids actually are: hemorrhoids (also known as piles) are cushions of tissue inflamed due to swollen veins in the lower part of your rectum. Internal hemorrhoids are common, but since they develop inside of you, where there aren’t any pain-sensing nerves, they are typically unnoticed until they present additional symptoms, such as blood in the stool. External hemorrhoids form around your anus, where there are more pain-sensing receptors. The symptoms of hemorrhoids include itching, swelling, and blood on the toilet paper or in your stool after a bowel movement.
An estimated 75% of all Americans will have hemorrhoids at some point in their life.
Traditional hemorrhoid banding treatments use a metal clamp to draw in the affected tissue, so the physician can place a rubber band around the hemorrhoid. One of the complaints of using this approach is the metal device can pinch the affected area, causing bleeding and pain during the treatment, with a higher incidence of post-treatment pain.
Endoscopic banding is another approach used to treat hemorrhoids, but it brings a typically higher incidence of significant post-procedure pain. For the majority of people suffering from hemorrhoids, surgery is rarely necessary.
While there are many home remedies for hemorrhoids, they only provide temporary relief from some of the symptoms. Rubber band ligation techniques, such as the CRH O’Regan System, effectively treat the affected area without causing more pain. Unlike other hemorrhoid banding procedures, with the CRH O’Regan System, many patients are able to return to work the same day, and less than 1% experience any post-procedure complications, such as pain and bleeding.
