Pregnancy always comes with its share of uncomfortable issues.  I posted about a few of them in a previous post.  Click Here to read about them.  But aren’t they supposed to go away after you have the baby?  Well, no, not necessarily.

One of the most common post pregnancy issues is hemorrhoids and man can it be uncomfortable.

I did struggle a bit with hemorrhoids during pregnancy as well.  They can be caused by the baby’s weight pressing on veins in the groin. And chronic constipation doesn’t help, since it forces you to strain more during bowel movements, aggravating things even more.

Hemorrhoids are dilated blood vessels around the anus — sort of like varicose veins in your butt.  They may appear as itchy, burning bumps and occasionally they’ll bleed, which is why blood in your stool or on toilet paper is one of the most common hemorrhoid symptoms.

The first bowel movement after giving birth can take a while to come and it can be very difficult as well because your muscles there seem to be numb (at least to me it seems that way).  In the hospital I was given a stool softener, but even with that things did not seem to move that easily.  The stress and strain seemed to cause this very umcomfortable thing called a hemorrhoid.

Keeping constipation in check is your best defense against hemorrhoid flare-ups. Drink lots of water and eat fiber-rich foods like high-fiber cereals or bran muffins.   When you experience an episode, keep the area clean and dry, and swab it with witch hazel pads to soothe the swelling.  If they really hurt or don’t seem to be getting better after a few days, contact your doctor who may recommend a hydrocortisone cream to ease the inflammation.

Here is a picture of foods that have a high fiber content: