Even after you’ve delivered your child, you are still prone to suffer hemorrhoids even months later. But first, you should understand the reasons behind this trend. These are the factors that lead to postpartum hemorrhoids.
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Delivery
The amount of straining and force that you have used to deliver your child… I don’t think I even need to describe how astronomical the force and pressure was. Unfortunately, all that enormous pressure may have also strained your rectal muscles during the process, so the veins in your anal canal are still likely to swell and result in forming postpartum piles, especially if you do not take care of yourself and take preventive measures.
Progesterone
There may still be high levels of the hormone progesterone left in your body, that was secreted during pregnancy. This hormone makes your veins more relaxed, which can cause your rectal veins to swell.
Constipation in Postpartum Hemorrhoids
Did you know that 20% of mums face constipation after delivery? Basically, any factor that affects bowel movements, especially delaying its speed, contributes to constipation, which in turn aggravates hemorrhoids. These are reasons that mainly result in postpartum hemorrhoids symptoms.
Progesterone
The progesterone hormone also slows down peristaltic motions and affects the passage of your feces as it stimulates the muscles in your gut to relax, leading to constipation.
Drugs
There are a lot of drugs involved in a pregnancy that it’s almost to the point of insanity. Drugs like anti-depressants to prevent or treat depression and help you maintain a stable psychological state during birth. Then we’ve got pain reliever drugs like pethidine that may be injected into you during your delivery itself, right before the pushing starts. And then, there are the anesthetic drugs like morphine are sent directly into your back during child delivery (a process that is also known as an epidural). Adding on, there are the drugs to ease postpartum pain such as analgesia. To top it off, there are the iron supplements and tablets to replenish your blood loss or prevent anemia. All these combinations of drugs can slow down your bowel movements.
Caesarean Section
If you had a Caesarean section (incision on your abdomen and uterus) during labor for a large baby or of any other similar scenario, your bowel movements will be affected.
Perineum
If your perineum (the vagina and anus segment) tore during pregnancy, it can cause you pain, and cause you to subconsciously use more force to hold back your feces.
Multiple Deliveries
If this is not your first child labor, the vaginal and rectal muscles may be weakened further.
Stitches
Similarly, if you had stitches, chances of being constipated are elevated.
Tool
The odds are also raised if the surgeons used equipment like ventouse or forceps to aid your delivery.
Although most postpartum hemorrhoids factors are more or less inevitable (it’s not as if you got a choice to tell the doctor not to give you an epidural or a stitch), you can still take precautionary measures to avert hemorrhoids pregnancy type. The more important ones would include increased fiber intake, more fluids. Go for a slow walk if your stitches hurt, especially if you’ve gotten c-section. Do some Kegel exercises too, and you’ll be on a recovery cure for hemorrhoids.