The effect of alcoholic drinks on hemorrhoidal cones
The problem of whether it is possible to drink alcohol with hemorrhoids is acute for many patients who are unable to give up drinking alcohol, especially during holidays or any special events. It should be immediately noted that alcohol and hemorrhoids are incompatible. Any doctor will confirm that alcoholic drinks have a negative effect on the functioning of the body, without bypassing the pelvic organs.
When drinking alcohol (even weak alcohol, for example, beer, wine), the blood vessels dilate, which is why blood begins to actively flow to the inflamed veins of the rectum, increasing congestion. The result is that hemorrhoids become even more inflamed and enlarged, severe pain appears, and there is a risk of new lumps forming.
In addition, if you regularly drink alcohol if you have hemorrhoids, this will lead to disruption of intestinal motor function. Also, alcoholic drinks cause dehydration of the body, since any alcohol has a diuretic effect. Together with the liquid, the body loses a lot of useful substances, which affects the functionality of all organs, including the intestines. The more alcohol a person drinks, the greater the degree of dehydration. Fluid deficiency causes hardening of stool, plus impaired intestinal motor function. The result is constipation, which is the main provocateur of the development of hemorrhoids.
After ethanol breaks down, toxic substances circulate in the body. They can cause ulceration and damage to the intestinal walls, which negatively affects not only the course of hemorrhoids, but also the general condition of the patient.
While drinking various alcoholic drinks, your appetite increases. A person begins to eat heavy, hot, fatty, spicy dishes/snacks in unlimited quantities. This also does not have the best effect on the condition of the gastrointestinal mucosa - blood flow to the pelvic organs increases, and the risks of exacerbation of hemorrhoids increase.
In addition, it is hot, fatty, spicy foods that cause increased inflammatory processes in hemorrhoidal cones, which increases the likelihood of developing thrombosis, causing severe pain and requiring urgent hospitalization of the patient.
Hemorrhoids: what effect does alcohol have on the patient?
The considered disorders of the digestive system are characterized by an increase in blood vessels in the rectum. They cause pain when moving and even while sitting. Such violations occur for various reasons:
- sedentary work (for example, in an office);
- drinking ethanol-containing drinks and smoking;
- poor nutrition.
Hemorrhoids after alcohol are a common occurrence. With uncontrolled consumption, the appearance of chronic diseases of the digestive system is natural. But hemorrhoids can also occur with moderate, regular drinking of low-alcohol drinks. For example, beer and cocktails. It is important to start treatment in a timely manner . Otherwise, hemorrhoids will increase in size and cause serious problems.
The situation is only aggravated by the consumption of ethanol-containing drinks.
Experts answer the question of whether alcohol can be used for hemorrhoids, in the negative. There is a direct relationship between the deterioration of the human body and the presence of alcohol in the blood. It is easy to understand the reasons for the deterioration of the patient’s condition. It is enough to remember the consequences of consuming ethanol-containing products and what effect alcohol has on the body.
Can alcohol make hemorrhoids worsen?
Drinking alcohol for hemorrhoids is dangerous, since alcoholic drinks dilate blood vessels, increase inflammation, and cause constipation. This causes not only an exacerbation of hemorrhoids, but also the appearance of complications. Dehydration leads to overdrying of the skin and mucous membranes, they begin to crack, cracks appear in the anal area, which not only begin to bleed, but also increase the likelihood of infection.
Every person suffering from varicose hemorrhoidal veins should understand that hemorrhoids and alcohol are incompatible things, especially during an exacerbation. Excessive consumption of alcohol leads not only to increased inflammatory reactions, but also to a decrease in the effectiveness of medications, and this also increases the risk of complications.
The relationship between alcohol and hemorrhoids
Doctors warn that excessive alcohol consumption can provoke the development or exacerbation of hemorrhoids. This happens due to the specific effect of ethanol on some internal organs and systems of the body:
- Heart and blood vessels. Alcohol provokes a sharp narrowing and then expansion of the capillaries, which worsens the tone of the walls. Also, when drinking alcoholic beverages, the intensity of myocardial contraction increases, which causes the pressure in the blood vessels to increase. If a person does not have problems with the walls and capillaries of the rectum, such fluctuations will not cause harm. However, with hemorrhoids, when the nodes are enlarged, such interruptions can cause disruption of blood circulation, which leads to destructive changes in the walls and blood vessels. As a result, cracks and bleeding appear.
- Exchange processes. Under the influence of alcohol, metabolism slows down, causing tissues to receive insufficient amounts of vitamins and minerals, and dehydration occurs. All this negatively affects blood vessels and can provoke inflammation. Additional stress on the capillaries is caused by toxins contained in alcoholic beverages.
- Liver. When drinking alcohol regularly, the liver is subjected to increased stress, which causes the functioning of the organ to deteriorate. The likelihood of circulatory problems increases.
Effect on the body
Drinking alcohol if you have hemorrhoids is also harmful because alcohol promotes dehydration. As a result, the course of the disease worsens. Some patients who drink too much alcohol over a short period of time find that the symptoms of exacerbation of hemorrhoids cannot be eliminated even with the help of medications.
With exacerbation of hemorrhoids
Attention! During an exacerbation of hemorrhoids, it is forbidden to drink any alcohol-containing drinks, including low-alcohol ones.
This is due to the fact that even a minimal dose of alcohol has a detrimental effect on the condition of internal organs and provokes a jump in blood pressure, which causes an increase in hemorrhoids. In this case, the symptoms of the pathology intensify, and the effect of therapy is reduced to zero.
During the period of remission of the disease
During remission, there are no symptoms of the disease, so most patients forget about the ban on alcohol. But, despite the calm, doctors warn that it is often enough to drink a couple of bottles of beer once for the nodes to become inflamed again. In order not to provoke an exacerbation of the disease, it is better not to drink alcohol even during remission.
Consequences of drinking alcohol for hemorrhoids
Whether to drink alcohol for hemorrhoids or not, each person decides for himself. However, when drinking even small quantities of beer, wine (red or white does not matter), vodka or other alcohol, the patient must understand the seriousness of the situation and bear responsibility for the decision made.
Hemorrhoids become inflamed from alcohol, an exacerbation phase begins, and severe pain appears. This increases the risk of anal fissures and rectal bleeding. In severe cases, thrombosis may develop, which is accompanied by unbearable pain and nodes falling out. And such conditions require urgent surgical intervention.
Factors that provoke the occurrence of hemorrhoids
A person in modern society is surrounded by too many factors that provoke this delicate disease. This:
- malnutrition;
- passive lifestyle;
- hard physical labor;
- a sport that involves lifting weights.
If, despite all these factors, you drink beer or drink other alcoholic beverages, then the risk of disease is almost one hundred percent. The fact that drinkers suffer from hemorrhoids is confirmed by official medicine. But this disease is delicate, therefore, as they say, the patient suffers in silence.
Rarely does an alcoholic complain of hemorrhoids, believing that he can drink vodka and then feel better. This is all self-deception; alcohol has never helped with hemorrhoids, as with other diseases. Moreover, it is strictly contraindicated.
In the modern world, it is common to drink alcohol for any reason or just like that, after a hard day. If a person drinks drinks in small quantities, this has virtually no effect on the body’s activities. But the harmful habit of consuming it daily, in large quantities, cannot but affect human health.
Considering that the snack in this case is not always a healthy food, the cardiovascular system and gastrointestinal tract are at risk. Drinking alcohol means provoking an exacerbation of all these diseases.
How to reduce the effects of alcohol?
If for some reason the patient cannot give up alcoholic beverages, he needs to become familiar with measures that can reduce the negative impact of alcohol on hemorrhoids. The most important rule is not to abuse it! For hemorrhoids, it is allowed to drink no more than 250 ml of weak alcoholic drinks and 100 ml of strong alcoholic drinks. And to prevent dehydration, intoxication, constipation, during the feast you should drink a lot of liquid - water, compotes, juices. You should not drink carbonated drinks, they irritate the intestinal mucous membranes. Besides:
- It is necessary to avoid eating fatty, smoked, spicy, and pickled snacks. You should give preference to light dishes - vegetable salads, lean meats/fish, fruits.
- To prevent intoxication, before drinking alcohol, you should drink 2-3 tablets of activated carbon. This drug acts as a sorbent - it removes toxic substances from the body and improves intestinal function.
- If you have already drunk alcohol, you should give up strong coffee, tea, energy drinks, and chocolate. They contain caffeine, which also has a diuretic effect and leads to dehydration.
It is useful for people suffering from hemorrhoids to periodically take multivitamin complexes. This will reduce the symptoms of the disease and reduce the risk of complications after drinking alcohol.
Hemorrhoids and cigarettes
In addition to alcohol, hemorrhoids are aggravated by smoking. It would seem, what is the connection between them? Nicotine stimulates all body systems, including the gastrointestinal tract. It constantly keeps the intestines and stomach under tension, causing it to contract even when it is not necessary, which leads to problems with bowel movements. Smokers may also frequently drink coffee during their smoking breaks, causing a double whammy to the body. Caffeine dehydrates the body, which makes the problem even worse.
Cigarettes contain tar, which not only settles in the lungs, but also remains in the mouth. Tar enters the gastrointestinal tract with food. In addition to hemorrhoids, smoking provokes heartburn, peptic ulcers, the formation of gallstones, and damages the liver. Poor liver function creates conditions for veins to become overcrowded with blood, increasing pressure on the walls of blood vessels, which can cause hemorrhoids.
Smoking weakens the sphincter, which prevents food acid from entering the esophagus. Stomach acid accumulates in the esophagus, the inner lining of the stomach, causing damage and constipation, which leads to hemorrhoids. Any malfunction of the digestive system can be considered potentially dangerous for the development of hemorrhoids or for the exacerbation of this disease, if it already exists.
Smoking affects all systems of the human body. Nicotine, entering the blood, significantly increases its pressure on the walls of blood vessels, blood flow increases in the pelvic area, including hemorrhoids. Because of this, irritation may appear in the veins, their walls become thinner, and blood flow is disrupted. Blood clotting also increases several times; it stagnates in the veins. This greatly increases the risk of blood clots in hemorrhoidal cones, which provokes their suppuration and rupture.
Nicotine accelerates intestinal motility, so a smoker more often experiences the urge to defecate, which is sometimes false. But still, the person sits on the toilet, constantly pushing, which causes the vessels of the rectum to stretch and thin, fill with blood and become pinched, and the blood stagnates. Nicotine leads to problems with the gallbladder, the digestive system works intermittently, constipation and diarrhea alternate. Smoking provokes the development of cancerous tumors in the intestines. They put pressure on the hemorrhoids, causing constipation, as a result of which the veins become thinner or even burst, which causes bleeding.
Alcohol after surgery
Even if a person got rid of hemorrhoids through surgery, alcohol still remains prohibited, especially during the recovery period. Alcoholic drinks impair blood clotting, which slows down the healing process of wounds. If the patient continues to drink alcohol, this increases the risk of bleeding.
In addition, after surgery, all patients are prescribed a course of antibiotics. These drugs are incompatible with alcohol. The simultaneous use of alcohol and antibiotics can provoke a violation of the intestinal microflora, stool upset, the return of itching/burning in the anus, and increased bleeding of wounds.
You should not drink alcohol after surgery for at least 2 weeks. But even after this time, it is not recommended to abuse alcohol. Wounds that appear after surgery take about 5-6 months to heal. If you start drinking alcoholic beverages earlier, there is a high risk of scarring, which also negatively affects the functionality of the intestines.
