Medical history for hemorrhoids
Your health professional will ask questions about diet or bowel habits that may contribute to hemorrhoids. Factors that may cause hemorrhoids or make them worse include:
- Eating a low-fiber diet.
- Drinking fewer than 8 glasses of water, fruit juice, or other noncaffeinated liquids each day.
- Drinking too much alcohol.
- Prolonged sitting, straining, or holding your breath during bowel movements.
- Sitting or standing for long periods of time.
- Frequent heavy lifting or holding your breath when lifting heavy objects.
Medical conditions that make you prone to hemorrhoids include:
- Personal or family history of hemorrhoids.
- Being overweight.
- Pregnancy and being postpartum.
- Long-term diarrhea.
- Infection in the anal canal.
- Liver or heart disease, which results in a backflow of blood that increases pressure on blood vessels in the abdomen and pelvic area.
| Author: | Monica Rhodes | Last Updated: September 29, 2008 |
| Medical Review: | Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine Brent Shoji, MD - General Surgery | |
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