Saturday, November 27, 2010

PILES RELEVANCE

The incidence of piles is on the rise now a days. The reasons attributed are our sedentary lifestyle, lack of exercise coupled with erratic & unhealthy food habits. According to modern medicine piles or hemorrhoids are dilated or swollen veins which some scientist attribute as a penalty for our erect posture. Modern medicine categorize piles from degree I to IV.

Management of piles have been a problem from time immemorial. Ayurveda has included piles under 'maha gataa' (disease which is hard to treat). At the same time there are many excellent methods in the management of piles (especially first and second degree piles).

First method is by controlling food habits and activities (Ahaara and vihaara). According to ayurveda piles is caused by indigestion of food. When the life-force of digestion/excretion (apana vaayu) is not able to digest and eliminate food properly piles are formed. So first line of management is eating food which are not 'hot potent' (ushna veerya). In simple term avoid foods like chicken, beef and pork, eggs from you diet. At the same time one can include buttermilk, items like yam (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius) in food. This will difinitely help to get rid of nascent piles. Eat more food with lot of fibre in it and drink plenty of water so that constipation never sets in. Neglecting a recurrent constipation is an open invitation for piles in your body.

Secondly keep guard on your activities, never do job sitting for long. Take occasioanal breaks once in every 45 minutes if you are doing a desk-bound job. Do some stretching if possible. Travelling long distance in vehicles like bikes should also be discouraged. Always sit on a chair with plenty of aeration (coushins) so that your butts does not get heated too much. Recent studies have shown that even the usage of laptops (if placed on lap) can heat our body to a level which can trigger/aggrivate piles formation. So place laptop on your 'desk top' if you are workin on it for long.

If one is willing to do some asanas (postures) mentioned in yoga that can also help a patient. Poses like sarvangasana (shoulder stand), pavana muktha asana (knee-to-head posture starting fron supinate position), salabhasana (butterfly pose) and sheersasana can help you to get rid of piles.

On the medicinal level there are some medicines like 'chirivilwadi decoction', ahbayarishtam, and tablets like kankayanam gulika which can help in first/second degree piles. But remember these are medicines and one must not use these medz without consulting an ayurveidic doctor. Even a health tonic like 'thriphala' can be considered as medicine for piles.

Apart from these there are some procedures called 'khsara sutra' whch will help eliminate piles without undegoing a surgery. But, beware this (piles treatment without operation) is one area dominated by qwaks who makes tall claims and cheat poeple.

As a last resort one can opt for surgical removal after consulting a surgeon who is adept in ths sort of disease. Only a suregon with experice can able to do a piles surgery efficiently. Even in diagnosis an expert hand (read finger) can find out the degree of piles. Some times a doctor may also be able to send a patient for biopsy in an unliklly event of colon cancer which often mimics piles in symptoms.

Latest techonogies have come like laser surgery which can be done without the loss of blood and other tissues. For advanced degrees of piles it is mandatory to have surgery done.

Piles is one disease which will re-emerge even after surgical managemnt. So it is advisable to stick to a diet and activity which will not trigger piles formation once again.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Very well elaborated. Thanks for covering so many aspects of this disease from the light of ayurveda.

Dr Hashmi said...

Great Blog.Thanks For Sharing. There are several risks, most which correlate with the causes. Heredity, age, activity, and diet can play a large role in the risk for piles. Pregnant women are at an extreme risk due to the extra strain that is placed on the anal cushions.There are natural treatment options for piles that can alleviate the symptoms and provide a great amount of relief from the swelling and pain.visit http://www.hashmidawakhana.org/treatment-of-bleeding-piles-hemorrhoids.html