I am a third of the way through a nursing degree and am finding what my lecturers said would happen is happening: some of my friends are asking me for advice about minor medical problems. I can help most of the time because I’ve got a zillion medical textbooks now.
I’m stuck with one friend though; he think he may have a haemmorrhoid and I can’t find the kind of information I need anywhere. So!
Is it one in the first place? He’s described it as looking like a thick blister near his anus, but he says it doesn’t hurt or bleed and all the information I can find talks about them both hurting and/or bleeding.
What causes them? As far as I can tell it’s constipation and excess straining but my friend suffers from neither of these.
What can be done about them? All the information I can find talks about dealing with the pain, what to do about bleeding, etc, but other than surgery nothing is being said about how to make them go away.
Now, before I hit submit I’m anticipating a lot of people saying I should tell my friend to see a doctor. While it’s not out of the question this guy is in his early 20’s and very self conscious about having strangers peer at his butt. I’m pretty sure it took him a lot to question me and I know him fairly well. As far as I can see even if it is a haemorrhoid it’s not causing any discomfort, just worry so it’s not an urgent matter.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and I’ve read the first few pages Google brings up about haemorrhoids and they don’t seem to answer my questions well.
well I’m in my early 20’s and I’m not too proud to admit that I’ve been affected by the H-bomb once or twice. Hemmerhoids happen because blood vessels in your anus get infected. I’ve never had one that bled, at least not visibly. They have always been moderately painful. I’ve never gone to the doctor.
There are over the counter medications (preparation H) as well as perscription drugs for dealing with it, but unless you are experiencing pain the extent that you’re ready to buy a donut pillow to sit down I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Mine always go away within a week or so.
I have no idea what your buddy has. Doesn’t sound like hemerhoids to me. My guess is nothing, but IANAD.
I apologize for making light of a serious situation, but certain things are inherently funny. And hemmorhoids are funny. But you’ve managed to even top that with the English spelling, which appears to be pronounced **hammeroids. ** Now that is absolutely hilarious!
Rather than typing hemorrhoids over and over, I’m going to refer to them by their less glorious (but easier to type and spell) name: *piles.
*
Piles can also show up as itchiness - annoying and socially embarassing but not painful. And they don’t usually bleed unless you treat them really roughly - like excessive exuberance with the TP. I’ve had piles several times, but only seen blood once.
As with so many other things, our sedentary lifestyles have a major influence. Any job where you sit a lot will increase your likelihood of hemorrhoidal problems (long-haul truck drivers are legendary). And as with so many other conditions, a little excercise can go a long way towards preventing the problem. You can do “muscle sets” on the anal sphincter that will help condition the muscles and minimize the occurrence of piles. And unless you get really kinky about it, you can do them in the office or while driving your car/truck, and no-one will be any the wiser.
And yes, straining to pass a stool - or a baby - can increase the probability of getting piles. Stool softeners will help with the former, and the latter is just something we have to take as a side effect - probably worth it.
Diagnosis of your friend’s condition over the Internet is probably not a good idea. A minute with his local GP should do the trick in establishing whether he has piles or something else. Embarassment has to take a back seat to your health. Your question to him should be “Well, if you don’t have piles, then what do you have?” We can start at pimples and run the gamut to rectal cancer. But any abnormality needs to be diagnosed by a professional.
Not only did you spell “hemorrhoids” wrong, you explained their cause completely incorrectly. Please don’t scare the poor guy.
Hemorrhoids occur when too much pressure in the blood vessels inside or just outside the anus causes them to bulge out. In this area the skin (outside) or mucosa (inside) is thin and not very supportive of the massive vascular network underneath. Increased pressure from straining or sitting too long can cause the vessels to find a weak spot in the overlying tissue and bulge out. Hemorrhoids happen the same way varicose veins occur. They generally won’t break the skin, they just bulge underneath. They also generally don’t hurt when this happens. An external hemorrhoid can get pinched off and the blood inside can clot; this is called a thrombosed hemorrhoid. Then the sucker hurts…a lot!!
I was surprised to find that a major culprit is sitting on the toilet too long. If someone has no signs of constipation, diarrhea, or straining, they can still exacerbate hemorrhoids but hanging out on the toilet for long periods. You know, finishing the newspaper while on the pot. Reportedly, it’s common wisdom among proctologists that, medically speaking, “the two worst inventions of mankind are toilets and toilet paper.”
So sitting for long periods is bad. Sitting for long periods on a hard chair with a big hole in it is worse. It’s a bathroom, not a library, folks!
My husband gets them, and deals with them through stress reduction techniques. Mostly yoga.
Tell your friend to try sitting on the ground, directly on top of one of his heels (as if you’re cross-legged, but one leg is extremely crossed). It looks and feels funny at first, but relieves a lot of pressure in the area (and, if you’re into that sort of thing, opens up the root chakra).
“A precise definition of hemorrhoids does not exist, but they can be described as masses or clumps (“cushions”) of tissue within the anal canal that contain blood vessels and their surrounding, supporting tissue made up of muscle and elastic fibers. The anal canal is the last four centimeters through which stool passes as it goes from the rectum to the outside world. The anus is the opening of the anal canal to the outside world.”
If it’s a “thick blister near the anus,” it could be what is commonly called a “tag,” or a dried-up remnant of a hemorrhoid. In some cases, this can take on an almost leathery appearance. What this means is your friend may have had hemorrhoids in the past, but been completely unaware.
In any case, he should go see the doctor. Even if he’s in his 20s, it’s still a good idea. And there shouldn’t be a stigma; many, many cases of hemorrhoids are started off by a single passing of a large/dry stool.
Here is everything you never wanted to know about them. A hemorrhoid is simply a varicose vein inside the anus. BUT, no pun intended it could be a pilonidal cyst.
That’s why nursing students should beware of giving advice to their friends.
When I answer a question here, I talk about the physiology of a specific pathology. I don’t diagnose, because that would be illegal. I might suggest, but with the disclaimer to “go see your healthcare provider.”
Your nursing education only provides a licence to learn.
Until you understand how it all works together, until you are able to automaticly think in “critical paths” your answers will be incomplete.
I don’t say this to hurt or offend. I hope you will take my advice in the spirit its given, that being one of love and protection for a “child” of my species.
That said, when I was a senior nursing student, I knew everything. Its amazing how much I’ve forgotten in 36 years!
It always amazes me how pompous doctors can be without realizing it. I once went to a clinic and told the doctor I had a hemmorhoid to which he responded… “What makes you think you have a hemmorhoid?” A lot of things went through my mind like, “Well I guess it’s because I have a swollen vein hanging out of my ass.”, but all I could think to say was “What makes you think I don’t? You haven’t even looked at the bloody thing yet.” So about five minutes later he had taken a good look at the offender peaking at him from from betwixt my cheeks and pronounced from on high that I had… a hemmorhoid. I guess that will teach me to self diagnose! For the record, if you are a doctor and someone says they have a hemmorhoid, the proper response is “Well let’s take a look”.
I also get a kick out of how, oh-so-very-careful everyone is to always say that you should see your doctor or lawyer about medical or legal questions before they give you their opinion. It really has less to do with getting bad advice or bad information than it does with trying to protect the incomes of doctors and lawyers and trying to insulate oneself from being sued in our overly litigious society. IMO anything that puts a damper on the sharing of information is bad and having to put a disclaimer on everything one says is at least irritating if not downright infantile and condescending. OF COURSE you should see a doctor with a medical problem. Who else are you going to see… a car mechanic? (or an anonymous internet poster?)
Hemmorhoids tend to be dark blue bulges in the anal area. Something that looks like a blister could be a genital herpes blister that hasn’t popped yet. Once it pops you get the characteristic painful ulcer. In any case, seeing a doctor would be a good idea. It’s probably nothing, butt…
lol, sorry all about my bad explanation for the cause of “piles.” I’m just repeating what my dad told me when I went to him with my uh…problem. I really should leave anything my dad told me out of GQ, sorry for the inconvenience.
picunurse, 90% of the time I’m just looking up drugs in MIMS for people. The rest of the time it’s pretty low level stuff, like this. At this point in my career I’m more useful for the textbooks I’ve got than anything I know!
Thanks for your help, everyone! I think he’s decided to wait a week or two and hope it clears up by itself. Failing that I’ve told him to bite the bullet and see a doctor before something worse happens!
Tell him to see a doctor.
A “blister” near the anus could be anything from the harmless (a spot, a skintag, haemorrhoids) to annoying (genital warts, a pilonidal cyst) to the down right unpleasant (syphilis).
Don’t just buy prearation H or ignore. Get it checked out.
Silentgoldfish Ok then, Its been said the Nursing is the only profession that eats it young. I wasn’t trying to do that.
[soapbox]In fact, I hope I’ve helped change the mindset that causes it.
Nurture, encouragement, advice, protection, and even warnings are my tools.
I’ve always tried to step back and allow the fledglings to test their wings.
Many experienced nurses will, instead, make you reinvent the wheel everyday. Don’t lose heart.
I’ve worked all over the country, and even after years of experience, and special training, I too, have reinvented the wheel (and bed pan and colostomy bag) at every institution I’ve entered.
At some point we have to learn that our profession has a standard of practice, and we must learn to trust our colleagues and their education.[/soapbox]
