Hemorrhoids are one of the most common conditions people experience, yet many people live with them quietly for years before seeking help.
At first, symptoms may seem minor — slight bleeding, swelling, irritation, or discomfort after bowel movements. Then the symptoms settle for a while, only to return again.
For some people, hemorrhoids flare after constipation.
For others, after pregnancy, prolonged sitting, travel, physical strain, or periods when stress begins affecting digestion and bowel movements.
Over time, many patients notice that the condition is not completely random. The flare itself may feel sudden, but usually the body has been under strain long before symptoms become obvious.
Hemorrhoids are enlarged veins in the rectal or anal area. They may be internal or external and can present with bleeding, swelling, pain, thrombosis, protrusion, or irritation.
From a Western medical perspective, hemorrhoids develop when pressure and impaired circulation gradually weaken the supporting tissues around these veins. Common contributing factors include constipation, prolonged straining, pregnancy, aging, chronic sitting, heavy lifting, and increased abdominal pressure.
Conventional treatment may include dietary changes, fiber supplementation, stool softeners, topical medications, banding procedures, or surgery depending on severity.
These approaches can be very important, especially in acute or advanced cases.
But many people notice something frustrating:
even after symptoms improve, hemorrhoids often return again.
Hemorrhoids may be internal or external. Internal hemorrhoids develop inside the rectum and are classified into four stages. In Grade I, there may be bleeding or irritation without prolapse. In Grade II, the hemorrhoid protrudes during bowel movements but returns inside on its own. In Grade III, it must be pushed back manually, while Grade IV hemorrhoids remain prolapsed outside permanently and may become swollen, painful, thrombosed, or inflamed.
External hemorrhoids develop closer to the anal opening and are usually more painful because they involve more sensitive tissue. They may cause swelling, irritation, itching, or difficulty sitting comfortably. When a blood clot forms inside, it can lead to a sudden, painful thrombosed hemorrhoid.
Most hemorrhoids can be managed conservatively, especially in earlier stages. But in more advanced cases — particularly with severe prolapse, thrombosis, persistent bleeding, or significant pain — procedures such as rubber band ligation or surgery may sometimes become necessary. From a Chinese medicine perspective, these procedures may remove the hemorrhoid itself, but they do not always address the deeper patterns that contributed to its development, such as chronic constipation, digestive weakness, poor circulation, prolonged strain, or weakness of the body’s supportive function.
In Chinese medicine, chronic hemorrhoids are often seen as a weakness of the Spleen Qi — the body’s ability to properly transform, lift, and hold tissues in place.
Over time, chronic stress, overwork, digestive weakness, pregnancy, prolonged illness, aging, or repeated straining can weaken this supportive function.
As the tissues gradually lose support, circulation in the rectal area becomes impaired more easily, allowing swelling, bleeding, prolapse, dampness, heat, or blood stagnation to develop.
This is one reason Chinese medicine rarely sees hemorrhoids as only a local vascular problem.
The condition often reflects broader patterns involving digestion, circulation, inflammation, chronic tension, exhaustion, and the body’s ability to regulate pressure and blood flow in the lower part of the body.
Interestingly, modern research increasingly supports this broader understanding. Studies now show that hemorrhoids are influenced not only by enlarged veins themselves, but also by connective tissue weakness, pelvic floor dysfunction, chronic inflammation, impaired circulation, constipation, and increased abdominal pressure over time.
Traditional Chinese Medicine does not treat all hemorrhoids the same way.
Some hemorrhoids are associated with damp-heat:
swelling,
burning,
redness,
itching,
heaviness,
or irritation after bowel movements.
Others are connected to dryness and constipation, where hard stools repeatedly injure the vessels and tissues during straining.
Some cases become more chronic and painful, with darker swelling and fixed discomfort. In Chinese medicine, this is often described as blood stagnation, where circulation no longer moves smoothly through the area.
And many long-standing hemorrhoids are associated with what Chinese medicine calls “Spleen Qi sinking” or “Central Qi falling.”
Patients with this pattern often describe:
In Chinese medicine, healthy Qi helps hold organs and tissues in their proper place.
When this lifting function weakens, the tissues gradually lose support.
This is why treatment is often not only focused on reducing swelling locally, but also on strengthening digestion, supporting energy production, improving circulation, and restoring the body’s supportive function more broadly.
Constipation is one of the strongest contributors to hemorrhoids, but it is rarely only about “not enough fiber.”
Some people become constipated from dehydration.
Others from stress and nervous system tension.
Some from irregular eating habits, poor sleep, hormonal shifts, or chronically ignoring the urge to have a bowel movement.
Chinese medicine has long recognized that bowel movement depends not only on the intestines themselves, but also on moisture, circulation, nervous system regulation, digestive strength, and smooth movement of Qi.
When these functions become impaired, bowel movements become more difficult and straining gradually damages the local tissues.
Research increasingly supports the connection between stress, gut function, pelvic floor dysfunction, and chronic constipation.
Chinese herbal medicine has been used for hemorrhoids for centuries, especially when bleeding, swelling, pain, constipation, or prolapse are present.
But there is no single “hemorrhoid formula.”
Treatment depends on the pattern.
For bleeding with heat, herbs such as Huai Hua Mi and Di Yu are traditionally used to cool blood and reduce bleeding.
For damp-heat with swelling and irritation, herbs such as Huang Bai, Cang Zhu, Qin Jiao, and Ze Xie may be used depending on the presentation.
For constipation and dryness, treatment may focus more on moistening and improving bowel movement rather than aggressively purging.
For prolapse and fatigue, herbs such as Huang Qi, Dang Shen, Bai Zhu, Sheng Ma, and Chai Hu are often used to support Qi and restore the body’s lifting function.
Modern research has investigated several traditional herbs for their anti-inflammatory, vascular-protective, circulation-supportive, and hemostatic properties.
Acupuncture has long been used in Chinese medicine to help reduce:
Certain classical acupuncture points are strongly associated with hemorrhoid treatment, particularly:
Modern research has explored acupuncture’s effects on postoperative hemorrhoid pain, inflammation, circulation, and recovery.
Clinically, many patients report:
especially when acupuncture is combined with dietary and herbal support.
Not all rectal bleeding is caused by hemorrhoids.
Persistent bleeding, severe pain, anemia, dark blood, unexplained weight loss, or major changes in bowel habits should always be medically evaluated.
Hemorrhoids are common, but assumptions can delay diagnosis of more serious conditions.
Hemorrhoids are often treated as an isolated local problem.
But in many cases, they reflect broader patterns involving digestion, circulation, stress, chronic strain, inflammation, exhaustion, and weakness in the body’s supportive function.
This is why symptoms often return when treatment focuses only on temporary relief.
Chinese medicine approaches hemorrhoids differently.
Not only:
“How do we reduce swelling?”
But also:
“What has gradually weakened support and circulation in this area of the body over time?”
For many patients, that changes the entire direction of treatment.
