8 ways to prevent Hemorrhoids

 Exercise For Wellness, Post of the Week Archive, Wellness Solutions
Sep 282011
 

7 Ways to Prevent Hemorrhoids

Published: 9/28/2011                             

By Dr. Andrew Weil

8th. Addition by Eddie Katz

If you have experienced hemorrhoids, you aren’t alone – according to the National Institutes of Health, about 50 percent of the United States population above the age of 50 has had hemorrhoids. The good news is you can help prevent hemorrhoids with some simple steps:

1.Increase your intake of fiber

. It helps relieve constipation and consequent straining at stool. Start by eating plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole grains, or take psyllium seed husks, in any of the forms available in drugstores and health food stores. Another healthy option is freshly ground flaxseed.2.Avoid dietary irritants

including strong spices such as red pepper and mustard, and drinks such as coffee, decaffeinated coffee and alcohol, all of which can inflame the lower GI tract.3.Drink lots of water,

more than you think you need, to help maintain a soft stool consistency.4.Get regular exercise

to promote optimal bowel function and digestive health.5.Avoid prolonged sitting

, which is linked to hemorrhoids.6.Manage your stress.

Consider learning and practicing a relaxation technique. Unhealthy stress can lead to gastrointestinal issues by disturbing the balance of the nervous system, which controls bowel function.7.Consider natural remedies

 Triphala, a combination of three bowel-tonifying herbs from the ayurvedic tradition, can help support bowel health. You might also try taking one teaspoon of liquid aloe vera after meals.If you do have hemorrhoids, try applying aloe vera gel to the anal area frequently; use compresses of witch hazel (which acts as an astringent) to clean the anal area after bowel movements, and apply a warm compress for 10 minutes at a time several times a day to promote blood flow and healing.

8.No Cost Natural Remedy. Kegel Technique….. Butt Squeeze 

 Get into the habit after a bowel movement to squeeze your anus to where you feel your rectum sucking upward. You can aid your squeezing by pulling each buttock apart. Gravity and age seem to extend the rectum to where hemorrhoids can appear. This works great!

Kegel Exercises for Men are used to strengthen the PC
or pubococcygeus muscle, just as they are for women. The muscle is similar in both men and women, stretching from the pubic bone to the tail bone and forming a hammock-like floor that supports the organs of the pelvis and contributes to the function of the sphincter muscles.

The exercise is recommended for treating prostate pain and swelling that result from benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostatitis, or inflammation of the prostate gland. It is used as a first step for treating urinary incontinence. It may be beneficial for reducing pre-mature ejaculation, and other sexual benefits have been reported. Overall, the exercise is good for you.
To begin, you must first be able to find your PC muscle. You can do this during urination. Once your flow begins, try to stop it completely. The muscle that you feel tightening is the PC muscle.
Once you have become accustomed to tightening the muscle, Kegel exercises for men can be done anytime, anywhere. They require no special equipment, although several aids are available, including “Peristal” and the “Prostate Massager”.

In order to improve strength of the muscle, you use a “squeeze, hold, release” pattern. You squeeze the muscle, hold for several seconds, and release. Gradually, you would like to be able to build up to a hold of 10 seconds, repeating the “squeeze, hold, and release” ten times.

When you perform the exercise correctly, you should be able to feel or see the testicles lift. This takes time for some men. But, if you practice the routine regularly, you should notice an improvement in 4-6 weeks.
There are many things that you can do to support the health of the prostate and reduce your risk of urinary incontinence, including the use of herbs and nutritionally supportive supplements. The risk of problems increases with age. One out of every 10 people over the age of 65 has some problems, although women are most often affected.

Since kegel exercises for men help reduce your risk of problems and reduce pain in the prostate, as well an effective therapy for hemorrhoids why not give them a try? Back to top

 

Exercise For Wellness

 Exercise For Wellness
May 282010
 

Exercise May Buffer Effects of Stress

Vigorous Exercise May Put the Brakes on Stress-Related Cellular Aging, Study Finds
By Denise Mann
WebMD Health News

May 28, 2010 — Short bursts of vigorous exercise — the kind that makes you really break a sweat and increases your heart rate — may help buffer the devastating effects that stress can have on cellular aging, a new study finds.

Brief bouts of vigorous physical activity reduced one of the key signs of cellular aging: telomere shortening. Telomeres are tiny strips of genetic material that look like tails on the ends of our cells. Telomere shortening is a known indicator of aging in cells. The study appears in the May 26 online issue of PLoS ONE.

In the study, 63 healthy older women were divided into an inactive group and an active group, based on their exercise levels over a three-day period. Many of the women were highly stressed caregivers for spouses or parents with dementia. The women in the inactive group who reported high stress levels had shorter telomeres; the active women in the high-stress group did not have shorter telomeres.

Put another way: the women who engaged in brief vigorous physical activity — at least 40 minutes over the three-day study period — and were stressed had longer telomeres than their inactive, stressed-out counterparts. The authors conclude that 13 minutes or more of vigorous exercise daily appears to be the critical amount correlated with longer telomeres.

 

“Physical activity is so good for you and stress is bad for you, but the new study shows the stress-buffering effects of physical activity in those who are chronically stressed,” says study author Eli Puterman, PhD, a health psychologist at the University of California at San Francisco.

“People know stress is bad for the heart and makes you look tired and haggard and makes us more vulnerable to infections,” Puterman says. “And there is so much accumulating evidence that links stress to health, so to show that there is something we can do when we are stressed that can delay or buffer the impact is exciting.”

As far as a stress-busting exercise prescription goes, Puterman says that the CDC recommendation of 75 minutes of vigorous activity or 150 minutes of moderate activity, plus weight-bearing exercise every week for adults, will suffice.

“That is a great prescription in my mind,” he says.