Diet Cure for Piles - Home remedies, symptom, cause, treatment of Piles

What is Piles?

Piles or Haemorrhoids are among the most common ailments today, especially in the western world. They are a varicose and often inflamed condition of the veins inside or just outside the rectum. IN external piles, there is a lot of pain but not much bleeding. In the case of internal piles, there is discharge of dark blood.

What are the symptom of Piles?

Pain at passing stools, slight bleeding in the case of internal trouble, and a feeling of soreness and irritation after passing a stool are the usual symptoms of piles. The patient cannot sit comfortably due to itching, discomfort, and pain in the rectal region.

What are the causes of Piles?

The primary cause of pile is chronic constipation and other bowel disorders. The pressure applied to pass a stool to evacuate constipated bowels and the congestion caused by constipation ultimately lead to piles. The use of purgatives to relieve constipation, by their irritating and weakening effect on the lining of the rectum, also result in enlargement and inflammation of veins and bleeding of mucus lining. Piles are more common during pregnancy and in conditions affecting the liver and upper bowel. Prolonged periods of standing or sitting, strenuous work, obesity and general weakness of the tissues of the body are the other contributory causes of piles.

Dietary Treatment of Piles and home remedies

There is no local treatment to cure piles. The treatment of the basic cause - namely, chronic constipationis the only way to get rid of the trouble. To begin the dietetic treatment, the whole digestive tract must be given a complete rest for a few days and the intestines thoroughly cleansed. For this purpose the patient should adopt an all -fruit diet for atleast seven days. He should have three meals a day of fresh juicy fruits such as grapes, apples, pears, peaches, oranges, pineapples and melons. For drinks, unsweetened lemon water or plain water either hot or cold may be taken.

In long-standing and stubborn cases, it will be advisable to have a short fast for four or five days before adopting an all-fruit diet. When on a short fast, the patient may have the juice of an orange in a glass of warm water, if desired. An enema with lukewarm water should be taken daily in the morning while fasting. This will cleanse the bowels and give much needed rest to the rectal tissues.

Vitamin B6 is also considered highly beneficial in the treatment of this disease. Piles have been produced in volunteers deficient in vitamin B6 and corrected when this vitamin was given. The patient with piles should supplement his diet with 10 mg. of B6 after each meal.

The patient should drink atleast six to eight glasses of water a day. He should avoid straining to pass stool. Cold water treatment helps the veins to shrink and tones up their walls. The treatment is done by sitting in a tub filled with cold water for two minutes with knees drawn up to your chin. The water level should cover the hips. This should be done twice a day. Cold compress applied to the rectal area for an hour before bedtime is also very helpful.