Haemorrhoids are cavernous tissue that has become much too large. What causes cavernous tissue to degenerate into haemorrhoids is still unknown. Possible causes include: weak connective tissue, too spicy food, alcohol, obesity, coughing, use of laxatives and diseases of the rectum.
How are haemorrhoids caused?The most common complaint is blood loss. The patient loses clear red blood during or after bowel movement. Another complaint is itching. Itching develops because the haemorrhoids are squeezed full of blood. A third complaint is that the patient has the feeling of something in the rectum that feels like a swelling or faeces that does not come out. This feeling arises because of the presence of very large haemorrhoids, which are stowed up with blood on top of that. These haemorrhoids give the feeling of needing to defecate without being able to. Such a large haemorrhoid can sometimes also make it difficult for faeces to come out of the rectum. Pushing during defecation has no result in such cases. Should you do this regardless, the haemorrhoids will come to hang outside of the anus in the long term, and then we speak of a rectal prolapse.