Hemorrhoids

Okay, I know this is not anyone’s favorite topic. But, if you have them, you definitely want to get rid of them, and if you don’t have them, you should know anyways, in case you ever do.

Unfortunately, they are often a result of pregnancy and child birth. Despite the fact that I went my whole pregnancy without them and that I did hypnobirthing, and learned how to have a pain-free drug-free labor and give birth without pushing (which is totally unnessecary in the birth proccess and actually hinders it), but at the very end the midwife just could not stop telling me to push and, I (impatient as I was to meet this little critter after more than 24 hours of labor and 9+ months of her inhabiting my body) was thinking “Isn’t she all the way out yet? How long is this child?” So I pushed, and she was born, along with OUCH!!! the hemorrhoids. Which are, hands down, the most incredibly painful thing I’ve ever experienced. They feel remarkably like sitting on a million tiny pins, sometimes even when you’re not sitting, and they make going to the bathroom the absolute most excruciating experience in life. They are, of course, slightly embarassing. So nobody ever talks about them. But I know there are more of you out there because my doctor said mine were “not too bad, really” (they sure didn’t feel ‘not too bad’ to me!) and told me there was nothing to be done and they were just a result of childbirth, “a battle scar,” and I could get some ointment and treat them but they’d never really go away. So, sorry, but I was stuck with them for life. Well, enough of my little rant.

Rest assured that there are alternative therapies for hemorrhoids. Here are the ones I found helpful.

1.) Billberry.

My doula, who is also an herbalist, recommended this. bilberry is good for microcirculation and hemorrhoids are basically varicose veins. It really works.

The dosage was 2 pills with 80 mg billberry extract 3 times a day and within 2 days they had vanished. They occasionally returned and then I would take it again. They didn’t disappear for good until i learned to:

2.) Relaaaax!

Overexertion is one of the main culprits in causing hemorrhoids. Often this is easier said than done, but over time anyone can build relaxation into their daily schedule.

3.) Witch Hazel.

Great for emergency temporary relief. Apply directly with a cotton ball.

4.) Daily baths or sitz baths with a few drops of lavender essential oil.

5.) Pranayam.

Breathing exercises that help with relaxation. See a qualified yoga instructor for recommendations. Or look for a future post about pranayam here.