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my five cents of remedies for hemorrhoids: follow the standard diet for this problem with lots of vegetables, olive oil, no nuts, little or no pepper etc. Drink a lot of water. Avoid hot and very cold water, if possible, shower as opposed to sitting in the bathtub, many people, including some doctors, will suggest hot or cold baths, but that's really counterproductive because it attracts a lot of blood to the part, which is exactly what we do not want. Go for lukewarm water. Apply a specific cream before and immediately after number 2 - I use a ruscoroid based cream and it helps. Do not spend too much time sitting on the toilet, it's very bad for you, if you get an acute exacerbation it's better to defecate standing up, yes, like in Turkish toilet, but without squatting. I take two Daflon pills per day, and up to 6 when it gets very bad with lots of swelling and bleeding, mostly because I tend to get bored and skip the pills which are pretty big and hard to swallow and I have to dissolve them in a little water and then drink the nasty powdery thing, but I tried other remedies for venous insufficiency and none worked. Needless to say it is also important to avoid tight pants and other forms of constriction. Finally I read about a new procedure they do in Milan, it's described in Italian at http://www.quadronno.it/2010/08/emorroidi/ - it's supposed to be quick, and so very painless that no anesthesia is required at all !!! could not find anything of the kind in the UK or the US though. Briefly: they use a laser fiber to cauterize the tiny arteries upstream that feed the hemorrhoids and that's supposed to be very quick and painless. You may want to look into it and then hope some local clinic will copy the procedure... I'm too old to go showing my butt around so I'll go on the way I've been coping over the last 40 and some years, since I gave birth to my first child. Good luck and Happy New Year. Niki