Hemorrhoids are a fairly common disease among middle-aged people, including women. Due to the fact that a rather delicate area of the female body is affected, many ladies are embarrassed to come to the clinic for help with this disease, and quietly suffer from painful manifestations. Often, many women are confident, or at least hope, that the disease will go away on its own, although this happens extremely rarely. What is the cause of this insidious disease, and what are the first signs of hemorrhoids in women? We will try to find the answer to these and other questions in this article.
Why do hemorrhoids occur in women?
There is no need to be ashamed of the proctologist
The defeat of the female body by such an insidious disease as hemorrhoids happens quite often. Usually the disease begins to develop inside the body without symptoms. The main reasons leading to the development of hemorrhoids in the female body are the following factors:
- Passive lifestyle;
- Excessive physical labor;
- Genetic predisposition of a woman;
- Frequent occurrence of constipation;
- Pregnancy;
- Wrong type of nutrition;
- Alcohol.
Let's consider these reasons in more detail. A woman's sedentary lifestyle is one of the main causes of hemorrhoids. With it, some difficulties arise with the outflow of blood, which leads to its stagnation in the lumen of the rectum. Excessive physical activity also negatively affects women's health, leading to damage to the body by hemorrhoids. Contraction of muscle fibers leads to compression of blood vessels and deterioration of blood flow.
Many women have a certain predisposition in their genotype to damage the body with hemorrhoids. Nothing can be done about this, since scientists are not yet able to change the set of genetic material, so we should be wary of the development of this disease in the body. Constipation, which often occurs in the female body, contributes to the appearance of hemorrhoids. Especially if constipation is chronic. The impaired movement of formed feces in the intestinal lumen helps to retain blood moving in a certain direction. This leads to an increase in the volume of the blood vessel and a decrease in the intestinal lumen.
Pregnancy also leads to the development of hemorrhoids in the female body. According to statistics, hemorrhoids are more likely to affect the body of a woman who has given birth, as opposed to a woman who has not given birth. The reason for this is the great pressure exerted by the enlarged uterus on the pelvic floor area. The force of this pressure that occurs during pregnancy also affects the venous plexus located here, leading to the development of this disease. Failure to comply with the diet also leads to the appearance of various stages of hemorrhoids in the body. By abusing spicy or fatty foods, or all kinds of spices, a woman exposes herself to the risk of hemorrhoids.
Pregnancy can also cause hemorrhoids
Excessive alcohol intake also leads to the appearance of this pathology. Once inside the body, alcohol and its derivatives increase blood flow in the pelvis. In this regard, this is where hemorrhoidal bleeding occurs, which causes discomfort. Hemorrhoids occur at any age. The disease develops gradually. First, internal nodes are formed, which are quite difficult for an ordinary person to detect. Often, a woman may confuse the occurrence of hemorrhoids with an upset stomach.
Feeling a deterioration in their own health, representatives of the fair sex will seek help from a doctor, where they can find out the diagnosis with accompanying symptoms. Only now will a woman understand the significance for her health of those weak signs that foreshadowed the development of a serious illness in her body. Treatment of advanced hemorrhoids is much more difficult and troublesome, in contrast to its initial stage. To avoid damage to the body by the chronic stage of hemorrhoids, a woman should know its first signs, based on which, go to the hospital in time and begin treatment.
Without noticing the initial symptoms of this disease, a woman will not fight them, which can lead to the transition of hemorrhoids to a more serious stage.
Harbingers of the disease
The appearance of hemorrhoids in a woman’s body is preceded by the appearance of its precursors. It is by the precursors that you can independently determine the development of the early stages of the disease and begin to fight them. In many cases, the symptoms of hemorrhoids that appear vary from woman to woman. Various sensations arise when internal nodes appear, a feeling of heaviness occurs, and during the act of defecation. At the same time, emerging pain or new unpleasant sensations always signal changes occurring in the body, which may not always be positive. If the symptoms of the disease that appear are quite tolerable, and you do not consider it necessary to go to the doctor, then you should at least find information about them in specialized literature or online resources.
Itching and burning
Itching and burning may occur in the following cases:
- Skin irritation if mucus appears near the anus. May appear due to anal fissures.
- Healing of cracks. With a temporary lull in the disease and its transition to a latent phase, healing of cracks occurs, which causes itching and burning.
- An allergic skin reaction caused by medicinal suppositories. If suppositories administered for the treatment of hemorrhoids contain substances that can provoke an allergic reaction.
Important note. Burning and itching in women are also caused by thrush. These are different diseases and their treatment is different.
You should take discomfort in the anus seriously. This may be a symptom of hemorrhoids. We must not forget that it is always easier to cure a disease at an early stage. There is no need to lead to undesirable consequences that could lead to surgery.
The reason to visit a doctor should be the first signs, not severe consequences. Modern diagnostics will allow us to detect the presence of the disease, its phase and determine treatment methods.
Symptoms of hemorrhoids
Hemorrhoids: schematic representation
One of the first symptoms of developing hemorrhoids in women is the appearance of a feeling of heaviness that occurs in the anus. The occurrence of this symptom is difficult to attribute to normal discomfort during bowel movements. The sensation that appears is initially expressed rather weakly, and the woman may practically not notice it. Over time, this feeling of heaviness becomes similar to the sensation of a foreign object in the anal area. The unpleasant feeling that arises begins to intensify over time and cause inconvenience. Subsequently, characteristic pain may appear here.
The woman begins to experience an unpleasant sensation when defecating. If the patient does not take any measures to find out the causes of the pain and eliminate it, the pain will begin to intensify and appear not only at the time of bowel movement, but also after it or before it. Over time, the pain that appears will be permanent, causing great inconvenience. Over time, the woman will feel a slight tingling sensation that may occur in the lumen of the rectum or anus. The tingling sensation often accompanies the sudden onset of itching. In this case, the woman will experience not only mild inconvenience, but also severe discomfort.
The itching that appears is often not permanent; it either disappears or is felt again. With such a disappearance of symptoms, the woman tends to think that she is healthy and this will contribute to postponing her trip to the hospital.
Although consultation and assistance from a specialist in this case could not be more helpful. These signs of hemorrhoids, if contacted in a timely manner, can be quickly and effectively treated, which is very pleasant for the patient. If you treat this category of signs carelessly, the disease will not only develop into a more serious form, but will also cause the sick woman a lot of suffering. With further development of hemorrhoids, a woman may experience bleeding. These bleedings are always detected after a bowel movement with traces of blood on toilet paper.
A proctologist is a doctor like everyone else, so you shouldn’t be afraid or embarrassed of him
As soon as you discover these manifestations in yourself, you should not withdraw into yourself, but quickly run for advice and help to a medical institution. Whatever the cause of the bleeding, you should come to the hospital. Remember that bleeding from the rectal area is always a symptom of pathologies developing in this area. As you know, hemorrhoids are not the most terrible human disease; cancer, which also causes bleeding from the rectum, is much worse. Therefore, you do not need to treat yourself with these manifestations, but run to the hospital for help.
There are cases when, with hemorrhoids, streaks of blood were found in the stool after defecation. This also requires consultation and emergency assistance from a specialist. In the first stages, the discharge from the rectum that appears is scanty and unnoticeable, but over time its volume increases and it becomes abundant. Pregnant women should especially be wary of this harbinger of hemorrhoids, since there is a certain threat to the baby developing in the mother’s body.
Precursors of hemorrhoids are often swelling that appears in women. Typically, swelling is external and occurs in the mucous membrane covering the surface of the anus. The occurrence of edema in this area indicates the transition of the disease to the acute stage of damage to the body. Inflammation developing in the body leads to pain when sitting on a hard surface. A woman can experience manifestations of unpleasant sensations not only when sitting, but also when performing statistical work, characterized by a long-term immobile state of a person. This condition is unpleasant and painful for the fairer sex.
Often, women may experience pain when performing the cough reflex, which is very unpleasant. Performing even a small amount of physical work with this pathology in the body becomes painful for a woman.
Even if in such a case, the woman ignores her own pain and suffering without seeking treatment at the hospital, she may develop hemorrhoids visible to the naked eye. Such nodes appear in the anal area and signal further progression of the onset of the disease. In the first stages, hemorrhoids are located in the lumen of the rectum and look like small compactions. Over time, these nodes enlarge and begin to fall out. The process of prolapse of nodes initially occurs only at the time of bowel movement, but subsequently this phenomenon occurs constantly. Particularly often, the loss of knots is felt when lifting heavy objects.
Bleeding during bowel movements
When visiting the toilet and finding traces of blood, mucus and blood coming from the anus, you should immediately consult a doctor. Treatment in this case begins immediately. This will help avoid serious consequences:
- large blood loss;
- development of anemia.
Important note. The greatest danger is the occurrence of bleeding in women during pregnancy. The appearance of anemia in a pregnant woman before childbirth can lead to a disruption in the oxygen supply to the fetus and a decrease in hemoglobin, which negatively affects its development.
Take your health seriously, do not ignore these signs. It is necessary to visit a doctor, since similar signs can occur with other serious diseases of the rectum - tumors and polyps. The treatment of these diseases occurs using other methods and differs from the methods of treating hemorrhoids.
How to deal with hemorrhoids?
Anuzol suppositories are especially effective in cases of heavy bleeding due to hemorrhoids
The manifestation of all the above symptoms signals the patient to immediately contact a medical institution for help. The sooner this happens, the shorter the treatment will be and the faster the recovery will come. In the treatment of hemorrhoids, it is important to follow a special, proper diet that normalizes the activity of the entire digestive tract and promotes a speedy recovery. The patient's diet should not contain spicy foods, saltiness or spicy dishes. Smoked foods, fatty foods and anything fried should be avoided. Alcohol is also contraindicated for hemorrhoids. Compliance with this diet will help reduce the likelihood of the patient developing new hemorrhoids and prevent further growth of existing ones.
When fighting hemorrhoids and its manifestations, a woman should be more careful about observing personal hygiene requirements. It is advisable, when this pathology progresses in the patient’s body, to use wet wipes after defecation, so as not to further injure the inflamed skin around the anus and not to irritate its mucous membrane. When treating hemorrhoids, you should follow all recommendations and instructions of your doctor. By observing all of the above, you can overcome even the advanced stage of hemorrhoids.
