Riddle: What’s one thing that most people don’t want to talk about but many people have experienced, and is sometimes the butt of a joke? Hemorrhoids! The humorist writer Dave Barry says that a person knows he’s “middle aged” when hemorrhoid jokes stop being funny.
But all kidding aside, hemorrhoids aren’t such a laughing matter when you actually have them. Hemorrhoids are extremely common and are caused by a number of factors such as genetics, pregnancy, or sitting for long periods of time just to name a few.
According to Dr. C. Stone Mitchell, Medical Director of the Premier Hemorrhoid Treatment Center, hemorrhoids are swollen veins in your anus and rectum. “It’s a venous pressure issue. We live on earth and there’s gravity, which increases venous pressure,” says Dr. Mitchell. “We can’t change that.”
An internal hemorrhoid is located inside the rectum, but may protrude out of the anus with increased pressure or straining, often during bowel movements. An external hemorrhoid appears as a bump or bulge under the skin around your anus. Depending on the location of the hemorrhoid, symptoms may include pain, throbbing, itching, or bleeding. If the hemorrhoid is external or a protruding internal, creams and salves might result in temporary relief of swelling or throbbing. However, they don’t solve the root cause, which is internal hemorrhoids. Thankfully, there’s a painless, non-surgical option for removing them.
The Premier Hemorrhoid Treatment Center offers a non-surgical hemorrhoid removal procedure. The in-office treatment, called Infared Coagulations (IRC), uses an infrared laser that generates short bursts of warm light, causing the hemorrhoid to shrink and recede. The procedure can typically be done in a minute, and is effective in eliminating hemorrhoids 95% of the time. While two to four separate treatments may be required, the procedure requires no anesthesia and no down time.
Dr. Mitchell says, “People think they need a referral from another doctor to come to us, but they don’t. The procedure doesn’t require any pre-testing, and it’s pretty obvious for most patients that they have a hemorrhoid. Most people also don’t realize that the procedure is typically covered by insurance.”
Dr. Mitchell and his team see about 100-120 patients per month, and he says many come in afraid because they’ve heard horror stories about older ways of surgically removing hemorrhoids. “But we’re good at putting people at ease, and they usually leave with big smiles saying they wished they’d done this sooner,” he says.
If it’s time for you to stop living with discomfort from hemorrhoids, call Premier Hemorrhoid Treatment Center in Knoxville, the only dedicated non-surgical hemorrhoid treatment center in East Tennessee, today at (865) 588-9952 or request an appointment online.