Causes

• Obesity, pregnancy, prolonged sitting, straining during bowel movements and heavy lifting, poor diet, constipation and old age can contribute to hemorrhoids.
  
  

Piles

• Piles is a Latin term meaning "ball or pila" that has been used to describe hemorrhoids since the fourteenth century.
  
  

Surgery

• Surgeries date back to 25 B.C. when the ancient Romans would tie, cut and remove prolapsed hemorrhoids.
  
  

Symptoms

• Symptoms include bloody stool, blood on toilet tissue after wiping, itching, pain, swelling around the anus (external hemorrhoids) and prolapsed hemorrhoids (inner rectal tissue protruding from the anus).
  
  

Considerations

• Each year, over 10 million Americans are diagnosed with hemorrhoids, or roughly one in twenty-six people.
  
  

Severity

• Most hemorrhoids cases are not serious and symptoms disappear by themselves.
  
  

Prolapsed Hemorrhoids

• Prolapsed hemorrhoids are the most dangerous kind, prompting an immediate visit to the doctor for treatment and possible surgery.