Latest / Digestive Health Answers with Dr. Kyle Barnett / The 60-Second Hemorrhoid Treatment That Doesn’t Require Surgery

Transcript

The 60-Second Hemorrhoid Treatment That Doesn’t Require Surgery · Digestive Health Answers with Dr. Kyle Barnett

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Can you really treat hemorrhoids in 60 seconds without surgery?
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: And if you've heard the horror stories about old school hemorrhoid surgery, you're definitely going to want to hear this.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Dr.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Kyle Barnett, a board certified gastroenterologist, and I've been in practice for 32 years.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about what those 60 seconds involve, how easy it is to get treated, and how quickly you can get back to doing the things you love without hemorrhoids ruining the party.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people hear hemorrhoid treatment and immediately picture somebody cutting something off.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Understandably, they decide they have other plans that day.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: And for years, that's pretty much what treatment involved.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: We used to send a lot of these patients to surgeons because there weren't a ton of good alternative options.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody would have surgery, then tell their friends that they couldn't sit comfortably for a week or two.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: The recovery hurt.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: Going to the bathroom wasn't much fun either.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: So practitioners like myself wanted other alternatives.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: One alternative treatment we used to do involved a little device to burn the hemorrhoid tissue.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: You would wear something like a miner's hat on your head so you could see what you were doing down there.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: And people could feel the burning sensation while you were treating them.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody liked it.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: Patients didn't like it, and I certainly didn't like doing it.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: So it's no wonder you hear these stories and think, well, mine don't bother me that much.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: Well, trust me, you aren't alone.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Roughly 4-5% of adults have symptomatic hemorrhoids at any one given time.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: 50% of people experience hemorrhoid symptoms at some point before age 50, and up to 75% of people have hemorrhoids during their lifetime.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: But meanwhile, people suffer from bleeding, something sticking out during a bowel movement or trouble getting yourself clean afterward.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've even started dreading going into the bathroom, or you're worried that the bleeding could mean something a lot worse.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: These aren't just minor inconveniences.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: For some people, hemorrhoids can make everyday life completely miserable.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: But if getting them fixed sounds worse than putting up with them, you're probably going to put it off.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: And that's exactly what people did.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: They were embarrassed, they'd heard treatment was terrible, and they figured they'd just live with it.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Fortunately, we have another option now.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Some people do still need surgery, but a lot of the people who expect the worst find out we have a much faster, much simpler procedure we can do in the office.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: The treatment is called hemorrhoid banding.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: And here's what the device I use looks like.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: And the band does its work after you leave the office.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Basically, we put a small band around an internal hemorrhoid that cuts off the blood supply, so the treated part falls off and the area heals.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: We used to have to send many of the patients to a surgeon.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: Being able to help them right here has been one of the best things we've added to our practice.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Placing the band generally takes about 60 seconds.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: Not long.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: There's no bowel prep like you'd have to do for a colonoscopy.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: You don't need to be put to sleep either.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: We do the treatment while you're awake.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe you're hearing that thinking, eh, I'm not sure I want to be awake.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: Does it hurt?
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: So, how do we put a band around a hemorrhoid while you're awake without making you miserable?
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: Well, there are internal hemorrhoids and external hemorrhoids.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Let me show you this diagram, which shows both internal and external hemorrhoids.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: The internal hemorrhoids are much less sensitive to pain, which is why we can put a band around them while you are awake.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: Fitting a band around an external one would really hurt.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: You don't want that.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: So this treatment only works on internal hemorrhoids.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: And a bizarre thing about internal hemorrhoids is sometimes they actually show up on the outside too.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: They may be hiding most of the time, but can then sort of stick out during a bowel movement.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: So when you feel a lump, it's easy to assume it's external and not treatable with this procedure, but you really want to get it evaluated properly because if it's just an internal one sticking out, we can definitely use banding on that.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: You can also have internal hemorrhoids sticking out and a separate external hemorrhoid.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to be clear about what you have going on and what's treatable so you know what you can expect.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: And it's important to know that what you think is a hemorrhoid can also be something else entirely, like a small tear called an anal fissure, which is why I need to do a comprehensive assessment before recommending anything.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: And look, you don't need to come in with all this figured out.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: Just come in and tell me what's bothering you.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: I do this for a living.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: I've heard and I've seen it all.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: So I guarantee you you're not gonna embarrass me.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're in the Salt Lake City area or the surrounding area, contact our office to schedule an appointment.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: We'll find out what's going on and whether banning is an option.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: Now comes the question everyone wants answered, which is how quickly are you actually gonna feel better?
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: So the band goes on in about a minute after insertion of the device, which shows this small rubber band on the end of the syringe, and many people are back to their usual daily activities either later that day or the next day.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: You may feel some pressure, fullness, or a dull ache for a few days.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: So you're gonna want to take it easy on the day of treatment and follow the aftercare instructions about harder exercise, prolonged biking, heavy lifting, things like that.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: But most people are able to get back to the basics pretty quick.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: That said, getting back to your day and finishing treatment are two different timelines.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: So we're born with three main areas of hemorrhoid tissue.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: So when we treat one hemorrhoid, there are still other areas that may need to be treated.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: With the technique we use, we generally do those one at a time.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: After we place the band, it cuts off the blood supply to that hemorrhoid.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: The treated part falls off after a day or so, it leaves a little sore where it was attached.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: We give that about two weeks to heal before bringing you back to treat the next one.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Then we do the same thing again.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: Place the band, let that area heal, and bring you back for a third treatment.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: So the usual course is three visits over roughly a month.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: Now that doesn't mean that you have to wait a month to feel better.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: In my experience, more than 75% of patients get a lot of relief after one or two bands.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: But that's where somebody starts thinking, well, you know, the bleeding, it's better.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: It isn't bothering me like it was.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe I don't need that last appointment.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: I get it, I do.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: But I really recommend completing the third treatment.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: The hemorrhoid we treat may be causing most of the trouble, so you feel a lot better, and that's great.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: But we want to tie up all the loose ends, so to speak.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: Occasionally somebody needs additional banding too.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: So we look at how you've responded and how, whether or not you still have problems before deciding that.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: For some people, it can really throw a wrench in their day today, and I take that seriously.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: So I do everything I can to get it over and done with for you quickly.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: I actually had a patient about halfway through training for the Boston Marathon, whose hemorrhoids were so bad, blood started running down his legs while he ran.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's the stuff of nightmares, right?
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, training for a marathon like that is hard enough already.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure hemorrhoid treatment was not on his training plan.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: But we treated him, he went on to run the marathon and did great.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what I really care about is getting my patients back to their lives without having them worry about that pain and discomfort.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: And obviously, you don't have to be training for a marathon to want to get them fixed.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: Getting through a bowel movement without bleeding or struggling to get clean is a pretty good goal too.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: So if fear of surgery has kept you from getting help, come in and find out whether banding is an option.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: It may be a whole lot more simple than what you've been imagining and definitely faster.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: And if you've been assuming the blood you see is from hemorrhoids, but you want to make sure you're not ruling out other concerns prematurely, watch my video on the early warning signs of colon cancer next.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: I explain which symptoms deserve a closer look, even when you think you already know what's causing them.