Understanding Hemorrhoids: Causes, Symptoms, and Effective Relief

What Are Hemorrhoids?

Hemorrhoids are swollen blood vessels in the anus or lower rectum. They can be painful, itchy, and uncomfortable, and they often cause rectal bleeding. There are two kinds of hemorrhoids, and they’re both very common! Internal hemorrhoids form inside the rectum, and external hemorrhoids form under the skin around the anus. Depending on which kind you have, hemorrhoid symptoms can range anywhere from light bleeding to can’t-sit-down-right-now pain. No matter where you fall on the spectrum, we’re here to help you find soothing hemorrhoid relief ASAP.

Hemorrhoid Causes

Hemorrhoids form when tiny blood vessels, called sinusoids, in the rectum or anus get inflamed or irritated and start to swell. Usually, hemorrhoid flare-ups are caused by increased pressure around your stomach, rectum, or anus. Anyone can get hemorrhoids, but your risk increases with pregnancy, being overweight, repeated heavy lifting, straining during bowel movements, constipation, or anal intercourse.

Your bathroom habits can also increase your chances of a hemorrhoid flare-up. Sitting on the toilet for too long puts extra pressure on the blood vessels near the anus, which can lead to swelling and inflammation. We know bowel movements seem like the perfect time to catch up on social media scrolling, but bringing your phone into the bathroom with you probably isn’t the best idea.

Any distraction — even a book or magazine — makes it hard to realize how much time is passing while you’re on the toilet. Next thing you know, you’ve been straining off and on for half an hour or more, creating the perfect environment for hemorrhoids to develop. When it comes to bowel movements, boredom is your best friend! With nothing to do (aside from the obvious), you can cut down your time on the toilet and help prevent future hemorrhoid flare-ups.

Hemorrhoid Symptoms

Internal hemorrhoids are usually painless. Most of the time, you can’t see or feel them, but you may notice bright red blood on the toilet paper or in the toilet after a bowel movement. If internal hemorrhoids swell up enough, they can start to prolapse or slip through the anal opening. A prolapsed hemorrhoid can get very itchy, painful, or uncomfortable, and it can also create wetness around the anus that makes it hard to keep the area clean.

External hemorrhoids are more likely to cause obvious symptoms like anal itching, rectal bleeding, swelling, and pain that gets worse when you sit down or after a bowel movement. If a blood clot forms in the hemorrhoid, called a thrombosed hemorrhoid, you may feel a small, hard bump near the anal opening. Thrombosed hemorrhoids aren’t dangerous, but they can cause some pretty intense pain. Over time, your body will absorb the clot, and the swelling (and pain!) will go down. After the clot is gone, you may be left with a small skin tag near the anal opening.

Healing + Treatment

Hemorrhoid symptoms sometimes go away within a week, but they can also stick around for longer. (And when you’re waiting for hemorrhoid pain to go away, even a week is about 7 days too long!) At the beginning stages of Bloop, we really listened to what our customers needed. “What I discovered to my dismay was there were so few products on the market that worked for me. I had tried everything. Until one day, I discovered this amazing product Bloop Hemorrhoid Relief Topical Cream,” said a prominent radio and television personality who is also a Bloop product user. We created Bloop’s Hemorrhoid Relief Cream to provide fast, soothing relief for hemorrhoid flare-ups using our unique combination of these powerful ingredients:

• Phenylephrine: An active ingredient that constricts blood vessels to help shrink swollen hemorrhoids, reduce inflammation, and stop bleeding.
• Pramoxine: A numbing agent that works on your nerves to ease pain, itching, and discomfort from hemorrhoids.
• Andiroba oil and copaiba oil: Plant-based oils from the Amazon rainforest with natural anti-inflammatory properties that help relieve pain and reduce hemorrhoid swelling. Andiroba oil also helps promote fast healing, and copaiba oil helps calm the irritated skin around the hemorrhoids.

Bloop’s Hemorrhoid Relief Cream also contains skin protectants to help shield the sensitive skin around your hemorrhoid as your body heals. And our fast-absorbing formula means maximum strength relief without the gooey mess you’d expect from other over-the-counter hemorrhoid creams. For immediate, soothing hemorrhoid relief, we recommend using Bloop’s Maximum Strength Hemorrhoid Relief Topical Cream up to four times daily, especially before bed, when you first wake up, or after a bowel movement. Click here to learn more.

Article by The Bloop Team, reviewed by Dr. Joe Terlizzi, MD