#patholog

🎃 Halloween Hemorrhoids 🍇

Ghoulies and ghosties

And long-legged beasties

And things that thrombose in the night

i♡histo

A dilated vein in the shape of a Jack o’lantern lying beneath the mucosa of the anal canal. His eyes and mouth are artifacts of preparation - splits in the fixed blood that is filling the vessel. To the left is the stratified squamous non-keratinized epithelium of the anal mucosa and the entire vein is surround by connective tissue.

Hemorrhoids are caused when there is a regular increase in pressure in the abdominal cavity. This most likely occurs while straining when going to the bathroom. The need to strain can be caused by a number of things: bad posture (if you regularly ‘make a day of it’ when you visit the bathroom, all hunched over playing with your cell phone, then expect a visit from Jack the hemorrhoid king at some point in the future); IBS/IBD (sufferers regularly go through bouts of constipation and diarrhea); being a new mom (the pushing and straining of labor can bring about hemorrhoids).

Hemorrhoids can bleed. A lot. You can see how much blood is pooled in these vessels in this picture, so any damage to the mucosa can cause bright red blood in the toilet bowl. Bleeding is never a good sign when you go to the bathroom so it is very wise to see a doctor to get this checked out - never assume it’s just hemorrhoids. 

Change in diet, stool softeners, better bathroom habits can help hemorrhoids resolve on their own. However, sometimes they can be fairly persistent and require surgery to remove them. Sometimes, the blood in these vein can even thrombose (form a solid clot) and when this happens the pain can be excruciating.