What are hemorrhoids ?

Fire in the hole!

You want to know "what are hemorrhoids" or (if you are British, Australian, New Zealander) "what are haemorrhoids", or if you just spell badly, "what are hemoroids?"

Most likely, you wouldn't be asking if you didn't already have an unpleasant idea...

Hemorrhoids (or any of those alternate spellings) are like varicose veins of the asshole. Sorry to be blunt.

Your rectum and anus (like pretty much every other body part) has a blood supply. Arteries come to the area, delivering fresh blood from the heart - veins take used blood back toward the heart. Arteries are usually tough, but well-protected by being buried deep in your fleshy bits (between muscles, close to bones, etc.). Veins are much less tough, and they often occur near the surface.

Have you ever seen a car tire (tyre for you Brits and Aussies) with a weakness in the sidewall? You inflate it and the insides bulge out and maybe burst? Or a garden-hose with the nozzle closed off, and too much pressure for too long - if there's a weak spot, the hose bulges out at some point. A varicosity (like varicose veins in the legs) or like hemorrhoids in the butt-hole is much like that bulge at the weak point of an over-pressured hose or tire.

The vein is squeezed like a toothpaste tube, by you straining to defecate (shit) or by you straining against the enlarged prostate that is throttling the outlet of your bladder.

The sidewall of the vein bulges out. The vein is near the surface, so it also stretches the thin layer of skin that is the only thing between it and the outside of your body.

So you get this ugly blue-ish bulge at your anus (or possibly inside where you can't see it). If it gets bad enough, it hangs away from your body.

Usually, hemorrhoids are not serious (though they can indicate a lot of serious medical conditions, so they shouldn't be ignored).

If you stop causing them to get worse, they can get better on their own.

Now that you know "what are hemorrhoids", you probably want to know:

• what are the symptoms of hemorrhoids?
• how long does a hemorrhoid last?
• what can you do to treat any active ones that you've got?
• what can you do to prevent any future occurrences?

If this page wasn't where you wanted to be, then from this 'what are hemorrhoids' page, go back to the home page.