What causes anal pain in pregnant women?

The cause of anal pain may be due to hemorrhoids or anal fissures. No matter which reason it is, it should be treated in time, especially for pregnant women. If this happens, delivery may be affected. However, you cannot use medicine indiscriminately, because most of the medicines for treating hemorrhoids contain cooling ingredients, which may also cause miscarriage. So what is the reason for anal pain in pregnant women?

Understanding the causes of hemorrhoids

The essence of hemorrhoids is swelling caused by varicose anal venous plexus. Any factors that affect the blood return of the anal veins can cause hemorrhoids. The enlarged uterus of pregnant women causes compression on the rectum (the rectum is directly behind the uterus), which directly affects the peristalsis of the rectum and causes constipation. It also causes compression of the rectal veins and obstructs the blood return of the anal venous plexus.

In addition, the increased blood volume of pregnant women causes an increase in venous blood flow, and the endocrine changes during pregnancy make the pelvic ligaments become more loose, making the anal veins easily over-stretched and damaged, causing hemorrhoids.

Because of the combined effects of the above factors, pregnant women become a high-risk group for hemorrhoids. If a pregnant woman has hemorrhoids before pregnancy or has had hemorrhoids before, the original hemorrhoids will worsen after pregnancy, and the chance of hemorrhoids that have been treated recurring is also higher than that of the average person. According to statistics, about 1/4 to 1/3 of pregnant women suffer from hemorrhoids during pregnancy, and the chance of pregnant women developing symptomatic hemorrhoids is higher than that of the general population.

Common symptoms of hemorrhoids include anal pain and anal bleeding. Other symptoms include itching or irritation of the skin around the anus and tenesmus (the feeling of having to have a full bowel movement but not being able to do so). If a pregnant woman experiences bleeding, it is best to seek medical treatment. Even if a pregnant woman already has hemorrhoids, it may not be hemorrhoidal bleeding. It may be abnormal vaginal bleeding before delivery. It is recommended to seek medical attention to distinguish clearly so that appropriate treatment can be taken.