Don’t suffer piles in silence

TOO many people suffer the itchy, painful problem of piles without finding effective help.

Around 17 per cent of the adult population suffers from the irksome symptoms of haemorrhoids, such as bleeding, itching, soiling and pain.

And, in all, 39 per cent of people have piles. Yet, in England, only 1 per cent of the adult population undergoes treatment such as banding or surgery.

Embarrassment and the fear of pain make a fifth reluctant to visit their GP for help, according to a new OnePoll survey. That’s despite 28 per cent feeling that their relationship, sex life, self-esteem and body confidence is affected.

A quarter of people who had piles did go to their doctor, but the treatments they received didn’t work. Less than a fifth got medical treatment and were cured.

But now there is an effective new procedure designed to shrink piles without worry or pain.

The treatment, available only privately at the moment, works by applying a very low voltage current, via a probe, to the base of an internal pile for up to ten minutes, causing it to shrink. This walk-in, walk-out procedure is relatively painless for most patients and requires no general anaesthesia, no enemas and no recovery time. It is non-invasive, with no cutting or needles involved. It takes less than 30 minutes and has the best safety record of all available treatments.

At least 120,000 patients have been treated worldwide with this new procedure, which is the first approved by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for haemorrhoids in more than five years.