Health Topic

Hemorrhoids

Hemorrhoids (piles) are swollen veins that sometimes protrude from the anus. Read these tips to find relief from uncomfortable symptoms.

Reviewed Reviewed by a registered pharmacistGeneral information

Also called: Piles

Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.

About Hemorrhoids

Hemorrhoids are swollen, inflamed veins around your anus or the lower part of your rectum. There are two types:

  • External hemorrhoids, which form under the skin around your anus
  • Internal hemorrhoids, which form in the lining of your anus and lower rectum

Hemorrhoids happen when there is too much pressure on the veins around the anus. This can be caused by:

  • Straining during bowel movements.
  • Sitting on the toilet for long periods of time.
  • Chronic constipation or diarrhea.
  • A low-fiber diet.
  • Weakening of the supporting tissues in your anus and rectum. This can happen with aging and pregnancy.
  • Frequently lifting heavy objects.

The symptoms of hemorrhoids depend on which type you have:

With external hemorrhoids, you may have:

  • Anal itching
  • One or more hard, tender lumps near your anus
  • Anal pain, especially when sitting

Too much straining, rubbing, or cleaning around your anus may make your symptoms worse. For many people, the symptoms of external hemorrhoids go away within a few days.

With internal hemorrhoids, you may have:

  • Bleeding from your rectum - you would see bright red blood in your stool, on toilet paper, or in the toilet bowl after a bowel movement
  • Prolapse, which is a hemorrhoid that has fallen through your anal opening

Internal hemorrhoids are usually not painful unless they are prolapsed. Prolapsed internal hemorrhoids may cause pain and discomfort.

You can most often treat your hemorrhoids at home by:

  • Eating foods that are high in fiber.
  • Taking a stool softener or a fiber supplement.
  • Drinking enough fluids every day.
  • Not straining during bowel movements.
  • Not sitting on the toilet for long periods of time.
  • Taking over-the-counter pain relievers.
  • Taking warm baths several times a day to help relieve pain. This could be a regular bath or a sitz bath. With a sitz bath, you use a special plastic tub that allows you to sit in a few inches of warm water.
  • Using over-the-counter hemorrhoid creams, ointments, or suppositories to relieve mild pain, swelling, and itching of external hemorrhoids.

You should see your health care provider if you:

  • Still have symptoms after 1 week of at-home treatment.
  • Have bleeding from your rectum. Hemorrhoids are a common cause of bleeding, but other conditions can also cause bleeding. They include Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, colorectal cancer, and anal cancer. So it's important to see your provider to find the cause of the bleeding.

To find out if you have hemorrhoids, your health care provider:

  • Will ask about your medical history.
  • Will do a physical exam. Often providers can diagnose external hemorrhoids by looking at the area around your anus.
  • Will do a digital rectal exam to check for internal hemorrhoids. For this, the provider will insert a lubricated, gloved finger into the rectum to feel for anything that is abnormal.
  • May do procedures such as an anoscopy to check for internal hemorrhoids.

If at-home treatments for hemorrhoids don't help you, you may need a medical procedure. There are several different procedures that your provider can do in the office. These procedures use different techniques to cause scar tissue to form in the hemorrhoids. This cuts off the blood supply, which usually shrinks the hemorrhoids. In severe cases, you may need surgery.

You can help prevent hemorrhoids by:

  • Eating foods that are high in fiber
  • Taking a stool softener or a fiber supplement
  • Drinking enough fluids every day
  • Not straining during bowel movements
  • Not sitting on the toilet for long periods of time

It sits within Digestive System.

The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.

Research on Hemorrhoids

253 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.

What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.

Research currently under way

Research already completed

Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.

Where to read more

Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.

Start Here

  • HemorrhoidsAmerican Academy of Family Physicians
  • HemorrhoidsNational Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Diagnosis and Tests

Treatments and Therapies

Clinical Trials

Medical subject headings

Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Hemorrhoids. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.

This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Hemorrhoids, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.