Conditions
“Safe, Effective, Painless Non-Surgical Treatment of Hemorrhoids in the comfort of our offices.”
1
Hemorrhoids
Hemorrhoids or piles are spongy columns filled with blood near the opening of the anus (or rectum) that help regulate our bowel control, so we don’t soil ourselves with stool. Hemorrhoids are normal. We all have them for a reason. Swollen, painful, itchy hemorrhoids are NOT normal. These can be treated safely and painlessly in our office.
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Stool
Also known as feces, kaka, and poop- among other names.
3
Bowel movement
A bowel movement, or “BM”, or “pooping” occurs when external anal sphincter relaxes, the internal anal sphincter pulls open and waves of colonic contractions (peristalsis) push stool out of the body.
4
Anal Fissure
An anal fissure is a crack in the skin inside or outside of the anus that often causes itching, pain and can bleed. It is caused by spasm of the anal sphincter so that the skin is repeatedly pulled open. In the old days, the treatment was to be put under general anesthesia in the operating room and have the sphincter cut through completely. It would never heal completely together again.
5
Constipation
Constipation is difficulty in moving one’s bowels. This may mean that stools are hard or large and require straining. When the stool appears as hard little pebbles, this is another form of constipation. Moving one’s bowels only every 3 days or more, is another form of constipation. Constipation is a risk factor for problematic hemorrhoids.
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Anal spasm
The internal anal sphincter is a part of the pelvic floor muscles that wraps around the opening of the rectum, or the anus. Anal spasm occurs when the internal anal sphincter reflexively contracts chronically. It does not relax properly for a bowel movement. Chronic anal spasm can cause constipation, painful bowel movements, and anal fissures.
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Pelvic Floor Hypertonicity Disorder
The pelvic floor is made of a group of muscles that fill the bottom of our pelvis. At the back, a portion of this muscle group circles around the anus and attaches to our tail bone. This portion is the internal anal sphincter. These muscles hold our organs in and support our body weight. They also regulate bladder, bowel and sexual function. These muscles are primarily controlled by reflex, but we have some voluntary control. When they chronically contract or “spasm”, there is chronically high muscle tone also known as “hypertonicity”.
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Anal tags
Anal tags or Residual perianal skin tags are stretched out skin that is left over after an external hemorrhoid has retracted. These may be asymptomatic or may interfere with hygiene and lead to itching.