Hemorrhoids R Us

I developed hemorrhoids at age 15 as a result of a physically demanding summer gig I did. The work was outdoors, in very hot weather, with lots of bending and stooping and lifting. I developed severely thrombosed hemorrhoids from this. I had no idea what it was, naive as I was at the time. Bowel movements were incredibly painful. Did I have cancer (the thought crossed my mind)? The doctor (primary care physician) examined my anus and told me what I had. I was given suppositories containing cortisone to use at home. This didn’t help all that much but probably better than nothing. I also did “sitz baths” which definitely gave temporary relief and helped with hygiene. Despite the humiliation as a teenager of having such a problem, I regret not having the thromboses properly drained. I would have had much better anal and rectal health over the years had I done so, because my anus and rectum have not been the same since, even though the thromboses are long gone and bowel movements are not painful. I suspect these types of problems are just too taboo to deal with properly. Or at least they were back then (early 1970s).

While the experience was humiliating and certainly didn’t help my already poor body self-image (what teenager has hemorrhoids???), it taught me that putting things (like suppositories) in the rectum can be a good thing. People, especially teenagers, try not to think about things like anal and rectal health. This made me very aware of it, and my quest for anal and rectal health is the purpose of this blog. I’m pleased to say it eventually had a good outcome but it was a long journey.

BTW, I was not instructed on how to insert the cortisone suppositories. I had to learn this by doing.