Hemorrhoids occur when the veins around your rectum or anus become swollen and enlarged. Anything that causes increased pressure around these veins can lead to hemorrhoids, including pregnancy or straining too hard on the toilet.
No matter if hemorrhoids are a frequent experience for you or you’ve only had a few, you know how uncomfortable and even painful they are to deal with.
While most hemorrhoids resolve with at-home treatments, some can become severe and require additional medical interventions.
Typically, stubborn hemorrhoids have been dealt with surgically. However, at Midwest Hemorrhoid Treatment Center in Town and Country, Missouri, Betsy Clemens, MD, and our team offer an alternative treatment for severe hemorrhoids called infrared coagulation (IRC).
In this month’s blog, we discuss everything you need to know about this innovative treatment.
IRC is a treatment used to address hemorrhoids that haven’t responded to at-home treatments but aren’t severe enough to require invasive surgery. The goal of IRC is to cut off the blood supply to the hemorrhoid, which is similar to many other hemorrhoid treatments.
A popular medical treatment used by healthcare professionals to treat stubborn hemorrhoids is rubber band ligation. During this procedure, a rubber band is placed around the hemorrhoid to block blood flow, encouraging it to shrivel and fall off. However, this process can often be painful.
IRC is a quick outpatient procedure that differs from other hemorrhoid treatments. It doesn’t require any prep on your part or any recovery time.
During IRC, beams of infrared light heat the tissues around the hemorrhoid, which eventually becomes scar tissue. The scar tissue blocks blood flow to the hemorrhoid, causing it to fall off.
IRC works best for internal hemorrhoids (enlarged veins inside the rectum). So, if you have an internal hemorrhoid that’s causing a lot of discomfort and isn't improving, it’s time to consider IRC.
When you visit our team at Midwest Hemorrhoid Treatment Center for IRC, you start by lying on your side before our team directs the lasers from the IRC device towards the hemorrhoid. You might experience some warmth or mild discomfort, but the procedure isn’t painful.
Symptom relief can be expected within 10 days of getting IRC.
If you choose to undergo IRC for your stubborn hemorrhoids, you can expect the following benefits:
To learn more about IRC and how it can help you get relief from your stubborn hemorrhoids, schedule a consultation with our team by calling our office or using our online booking feature today.
