Haemorrhoid pain

Advice centre / Understanding haemorrhoids / Leading symptoms

Haemorrhoid pain

Everyone’s threshold for pain is different. What seems like a slight niggling pain for one might be an intolerable pain for another.

The pain caused by hemorrhoids can range from a slightly uncomfortable soreness, to pain that means it’s hard just to sit down.

For the most part, internal piles are less likely to cause extreme pain. Internal piles are those that are far enough inside your bottom that you can’t see or feel them or, if they do come out, they are attached inside.

External piles are found under the skin around the anus where there are far more pain sensing nerves. For this reason, they are likely to give you more pain and general discomfort.

One of the more severe causes of pain from external piles can occur when a blood clot forms inside. The blood clot turns the hemorrhoid purple and blue like a bruise. This is called a thrombosed hemorrhoid and it can hurt and itch a lot. When the clot has naturally dissolved you may still have a bit of skin left over that can become irritated.

If your internal hemorrhoid has “prolapsed” or enlarged causing it to bulge outside your bottom, this can be the cause of sudden pain. You might be able to see these as moist pink bumps that have suddenly appeared. Prolapsed internal piles may go back inside your bottom by themselves or can be gently pushed back in. A prolapsed pile can be quite painful especially when you are opening your bowels as they are an obvious barrier to get past.

Is there anything I can do to relieve the pain of haemorrhoids?

Take warm baths more often during a time when your piles may be particularly painful.

Use haemorrhoid creams or witch hazel.

Drink plenty of water and swap to a high fibre diet.

Using ice packs to sit on (even a packet of frozen peas) can bring some comfort.

Over the counter relief tablets will keep the pain at bay for short periods.

Please click here for more information on haemorrhoid creams.

What should I do?

The first thing is: Don’t suffer in silence. You may feel embarrassed but discussing your condition with your GP is one of the first steps to finding the treatment that best suits you. They will be very used to discussing hemorrhoids, as you will be one of the 8 million sufferers in the UK.

If you’re very concerned and would like to see an expert as soon as possible then our advisors can arrange an appointment with one of our eXroid consultants usually within two weeks. To speak with an eXroid consultant, please call us on 0800 999 3777 or click here for all other queries.

Is there a permanent fix for haemorrhoids?

If you get to the point where you feel the pain and general discomfort of piles is preventing you from living a full life, then there are options open to you that will eradicate the piles you have. Nothing will cure you of ever having another hemorrhoid again but at least you can treat the ones you have right now.

There are a number of surgical and non-surgical treatments available. You can read about the main ones in our haemorrhoid treatments page.

eXroid electrotherapy is one such non-surgical treatment. It’s safe, effective and one of the least invasive treatments available. Please click here for more details.