What do Hemorrhoids look like?
Hemorrhoids look like bright red, purple or skin color bumps on the skin. If they are open, bleeding or oozing, you may find red streaks on the stools or mucous in the area. Never touch the area with unwashed hands because you may mistakenly infect the hemorrhoid with bacteria. An infected hemorrhoid is very difficult to heal.
Most hemorrhoids don’t look the same. Because it is such an embarrassing situation, very few people have actually seen a hemorrhoid. Also, it is extremely difficult to see one’s own buttocks which are where hemorrhoids are usually found.
External hemorrhoids are said to be of round shaped or flat shaped like a marble and looks like excess skin. When we strain and put pressure on that area during elimination, hemorrhoids become more pronounced and may be easily seen. If a clot is produced in the hemorrhoid as in thrombosed hemorrhoids, we can see the pooled blood in the clot. The usual way this clot can be removed is by surgically draining it.
Although hemorrhoids is a very common condition which is experienced by almost 50% of the world’s population, many of us have never seen one because it does not form on the surfaces which are easy for a human being to view.
Pictures of hemorrhoids look like a tight fist holding one or two pink marbles. The fist represents our anus and the muscles and tissues surrounding it while the marbles are actually the enlarged, inflamed veins pushing against the anal cavity.
As mentioned before, hemorrhoids look very different depending on the location, size, color, infection level, outside or inside and prolapsed or thrombosed.
Hemorrhoids are classified into four different grades depending on the severity:
1. These are the least serious, may bleed sometimes, and can be cured with smart changes in diet.
2. This hemorrhoid may bulge during bowel movements and may return back to its place without any effort on our part
3. A prolapsed hemorrhoid which bulges with bowel movements and may stay outside of the anus until pushed back inside.
4. These are external hemorrhoids which may become thrombosed or develop clots. The thrombosed hemorrhoid will be dark red or almost purple in color.
One type of hemorrhoid, the external thrombosed hemorrhoid, may initially look like a marble with red or purple blood pooled in it. This is because of the clot that forms in this type of hemorrhoid. These may also look like a grape or clusters of grapes. If these are not removed or healed, they dry up and look like raisins.
On further aging, these become like skin tags which are rolled up skin similar to the ones that show up under our arm or wherever the body parts tend to rub against each other.
As you can see, hemorrhoids may look very different at various stages of their development. If there is intense pain that keeps you from going to the bathroom or if you have a lot of bleeding, it is time to see a doctor.