What's the best way to reduce the pain of hemorrhoids?

anitacat,

I'm sorry you're battling those dreaded hemorrhoids. While I think you should continue using preparation H, make sure sure the area is clean and that you do the sitz bath, ice pack, diet changes as well.

* Sitz baths—sitting in plain, warm water two to three times a day for about 10 minutes each time
* Ice packs—putting cold packs on the anus for short durations to relieve pain and swelling
* Medication—applying hemorrhoidal creams or suppositories to the affected area
* High-fiber diet—Eating more whole fresh fruit, raw, or cooked vegetables, and whole grains has been consistently shown to reduce symptoms of hemorrhoids, including bleeding. Also, if you enjoy spicy foods, you can continue eating them. Studies have shown that they do not worsen hemorrhoidal symptoms.
* Fluids—drinking six to eight, 8-ounce glasses of nonalcoholic fluids daily to soften stools

I also wanted to stress that for the sitz bath, do not make the water too hot-- this can actually cause increase blood flow to the vessel and cause the hemorrhoid to be more painful than it is. You can also add a daily stool softener to your diet, such as Colace to make it easier to go to the bathroom without so much pain. Colace will not give you a bowel movement, it is just meant to be a stool softener. If you already have a diet high in fiber and drink lots of daily fluids, then there is no need for the stool softener.

Hope this helps. Here is more information on hemorrhoids: https://www.empowher.com/media/reference/hemorrhoids