Reader\'s Digest India - 09.2019

IMPACT FEATURE

HEALING

HAEMORRHOIDS

HAEMORRHOIDS, or piles, is more
common than you think. It’s just that not
many people admit suffering from it.
“Once thought to affect only pregnant
women, heart patients and those with
spinal cord injuries, the list is now longer.
I would say 30 to 40 per cent of people
above 40 years suffer from problems re-
lated to piles,” says Dr Hitender Suri,
MD, Rana Piles Hospital in Sirhind, Pun-
jab. Even those in their 20s and 30s are
frequenting hospitals with haemorrhoid
problems he says. “Unhealthy diets, sed-
entary lifestyles, regular consumption of
beverages, instead of water, and not re-
sponding to nature’s call in time are lead-
ing causes of piles.” Anorectal diseases
are painful conditions related to anal ca-
nal injuries. They are classified as haem-
orrhoids, fissures and fistula, which are
the most serious. There have been a lot
of advancements in recent years, says
Suri, (a Guinness World Record holder)
who entered the Limca Book of Records
for the largest number of piles surgeries
in a day and invented the RIKT technique
for fistulas. There are even claims that the
largest-ever fistula may have been oper-
ated on at Rana Hospital. “Today we can
treat haemorrhoids and fissures without
surgical intervention and non-invasive
devices that offer great relief,” Suri says.
But as the adage goes, ‘prevention is
better than cure’.

Dr Suri recommends these precau-

tions to avoid developing haemorrhoids:

™Eat a high-fibre diet

™Drink lots of water. Avoid excessive

intake of beverages.

™Never ignore or delay the urge

to relieve yourself.

™Never strain or exert yourself

excessively while doing so.

™Avoid taking newspapers or mobile

phones to the toilet (as they dis-

tract you from doing your ‘job’)

™Avoid using bidet toilets as the

force of high-pressure water can

cause injuries z

Dr Hitender Suri