There are many drugstore and alternative Internet products for treating hemorrhoids. Most of the products are not made to cure or eliminate hemorrhoids but to give you temporary relief of itching, pain, swelling or bleeding. I don't recommend using any type of product that is not natural or that comes from a drugstore.

If the product contains petrochemicals, additives, coloring, dyes, or other chemicals, which enhance its appearance and feel, I would not use them. Most, if not all, of these chemicals will be absorbed into your body where your organs of elimination will have to deal with eliminating them.

All products whether drugs, drugstore medications, or natural formulations use chemicals, substances, oils, and herbs that have the following properties:

" Anesthetics - suppresses pain and gives relief…any name with the suffix "caine" like tetracaine

" Analgesics - suppresses and give pain relief - some of them are Anacin, Tylenol with Codeine, OxyContin, Darvocet, Ultracet

" Vasoconstrictors - helps to narrow or constrict hemorrhoidal veins…any name with the suffix "rine" like phenylephrine

" Lubricants - provide lubrication in the colon to relieve constipation - mineral oil, flax seed oil, castor, oil olive oil

" Astringents - help to tighten tissue, which have been pushed out by hemorrhoid action - zinc oxide, witch hazel, calamine

" Keratolytics - help to remove excess hemorrhoidal tissue. They are compounds of sulfur and salicylic acid

Many of the drugstore medications have anesthetics. They can aggravate and irritate the hemorrhoids you're trying to eliminate. If you are using one of these drugstore medications, consider using a more natural remedy.

In 1975 Carl I. Flath, wrote a book called The Miracle Nutrient - How Dietary Fiber Can Save Your Life. In his book he talks about the effectiveness of drugstore suppositories,

"Suppositories quickly work their way up in the rectum beyond the location of most internal hemorrhoids, and so are of limited value in reducing local pain. As antiseptics they are essentially worthless, since the surface areas they are supposed to protect are under constant exposure to new bacteria…. Anesthetic agents do offer temporary relief from local irritations and pain… Neither the suppositories nor the ointments, however, do anything whatever to correct the basic cause of hemorrhoids-constipation."