3 Common Surgical Methods for Treating Severe Hemorrhoid Pain

As common as clouds on a summer day, hemorrhoids afflict millions of people each year. It is the most common ailment never talked about. The good news is that most hemorrhoids can be successfully treated at home; those that can't (approximately 10 to 20 percent with severe hemorrhoid pain) benefit from specialized treatments.

The severity of hemorrhoids is measured in large part by the degree of prolapse. A prolapse occurs when the internal hemorrhoid swells and bulges until it protrudes from the rectum. Sometimes a prolapsed hemorrhoid gets trapped outside the rectum. When that it happens it is called a "strangulated hemorrhoid."

The medical community grades the severity of hemorrhoids as follows: Grade 1 hemorrhoids have no prolapse whatsoever; grade 2 prolapse after a bowel movement, but spontaneously retract; grade 3 hemorrhoids prolapse after a bowel movement, but must be manually re-inserted; and grade 4 hemorrhoids prolapse after a bowel movement but are trapped outside and cannot successfully be re-inserted. Specialized treatments are prescribed for both grades 3 and 4, the stages with the most severe hemorrhoid pain. Some of the many treatments available for grade 3 and 4 hemorrhoids are: ligation, hemorrhoid stapling, and hemorrhoidectomy.

Sometimes called the rubber band treatment, ligation, is the least invasive of the three treatments. In this procedure the physician places a rubber band around the prolapsed hemorrhoid. Within a few days both the hemorrhoid and the rubber band fall off. What remains is soreness and tenderness at the wound site. Usually within a week the soreness is gone.

Hemorrhoid stapling is another often used method to treat hemorrhoids and get rid of severe hemorrhoid pain in the long-term. It is more invasive than the rubber band treatment. In this procedure the physician staples the internal hemorrhoid causing it to shrink. When the hemorrhoid shrinks the symptoms are relieved. Over all, hemorrhoid stapling is more painful than ligation and less painful than having the hemorrhoids surgically removed.