Help for Hemorrhoids
December 21st, 2007 Posted by: Dr. Cox
FREE! Download
Windows Media Player
PHILADELPHIA (Ivanhoe Newswire) — The same technology that warms your fast food may quickly treat a common adult medical problem. Just about everybody will have them at some point. Nobody likes to talk about it, but hemorrhoids are a fact of middle-aged life. Doctors are beginning to use a quick and painless treatment option that has some patients feeling better in minutes.
Spend lots of time behind the wheel? Chained to your desk at work? Maybe thereâs a new addition to your family. If so, thereâs a good chance your body is rebelling in one small, but very uncomfortable way.
“Just about every woman who has a baby will get hemorrhoids at some point in the process,” says Benjamin Krevsky, M.D., the Director of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy at TempleUniversityHospital in Philadelphia.
Hemorrhoids are embarrassing to talk about even though theyâre very common for both men and women. With hemorrhoids, the veins of the lower rectum become inflamed, swollen and painful. For patients with moderate pain, doctors are turning to a tool called an infrared coagulator to bring relief.
“It uses infrared light, which is the same sort of light that fast food restaurants use to keep your food warm while youâre waiting to buy it, only itâs much more focused,” Dr. Krevsky says.
The doctor applies infrared light for a little more than one second to the top of the hemorrhoid. It seals off the blood flow, so the tissue naturally shrinks back. An alternative is a procedure called rubber banding.
Tiny bands are wrapped around the hemorrhoid, cutting off the circulation. Doctors say it works, but can be painful if the bands miss their mark, which is rare. With the infrared light, patients feel a mild warmth — or nothing at all — and theyâre back to normal activities within one day.
For mild cases of hemorrhoids, doctors say the best treatment is still hemorrhoidal cream or suppositories. For very severe hemorrhoids, surgery is sometimes the only option.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
TempleUniversity Health System
Patient Information Line
(800) TEMPLE MED
(800) 836-7536