Learn about a gentler, nonsurgical treatment

thinking manIf you’re over 40, there’s a good chance you’ve felt the discomfort and pain of hemorrhoids from time to time.

Conservative treatments, such as dietary changes and stool softeners, often help ease hemorrhoids. But if those haven’t helped you enough, you may want to consider a newer treatment that can have you hemorrhoid-free and feeling better without the need for surgery or downtime.

It’s called hemorrhoid energy treatment (HET), and only Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital offers this treatment option in our large metropolitan area.

A virtually painless alternative

Hemorrhoids are swollen veins in the anus. Some hemorrhoids are treated with a rubber band ligation procedure. The doctor places a band around the hemorrhoid, which cuts off its blood supply and causes the vein to fall off. While that’s still a good way to treat some hemorrhoids, HET is an equally effective option, but it has advantages over ligation, because it is painless, says Dhruvan Patel, MD, FCPP, a gastroenterologist at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital.

With HET, specialists use a proctoscope (lighted tube) to deliver cauterizing energy to hemorrhoidal veins within the anus. This causes the veins to shrink and fall off in about one to two weeks.

HET is approved to treat internal hemorrhoids grades 1 and 2. These hemorrhoids can cause bright red rectal bleeding (seen in the toilet bowl or on toilet paper), itching and pain. They also may stay inside the anus or, if they prolapse (fall through the anus), they can be pushed back inside.

A 2019 head-to-head study found that HET was just as good at treating hemorrhoid symptoms as rubber band ligation, but with less pain. Another plus: HET can be completed in one procedure. Ligation may require multiple treatments to complete.

What to expect

HET is performed under what’s called twilight sedation, and it takes only about 10 minutes. Patients may feel only very minimal pain after the procedure. And they can return to work and other daily activities the next day.

“Patients will have a resolution of their symptoms,” Dr. Patel says. “And their quality of life will improve significantly.”