Q: Good day ma’am. Please can you talk about pile in children?

A: Hey! Thanks for writing in and yes I can 😀

Piles known as haemorrhoids in children is not very common. Indeed, my first suggestion would be to get your baby checked out by a paediatrician to confirm that this is not due to problems like Crohns Disease (a problem-inflammation of the bowel) or even portal hypertension in which there is backwards pressure in the vein (blood vessel) that carries blood from the digestive tract to the liver.

Once these have been ruled out, we can focus on the more common cause of haemorrhoids in children which is constipation. The causes of constipation in children could be dehydration or even a lack of fibre in their diet. So, if you’re fond of feeding your baby highly processed foods without including fruits, vegetables, complex carbohydrates like local rice, beans, oatmeal etc, your baby could be at risk. If your child, also, does not get enough activity daily and spends more time in front of the television, computer or playing handheld/video games, this is a potential problem. Children who drink a lot of soda or soft drinks/minerals, as we call them in Nigeria, tea/coffee are prone to this. The caffeine found in these drinks causes the body to lose water and thus can cause constipation.

What can you do to help relieve the pain that your baby is feeling? Sitz bath is helpful. Help your child sit in a basin or bath tub of warm water several times a day (2 to 3 times). This helps to relieve the pain. When she uses the toilet, using regular tissue paper is out of the question as this will cause more irritation and itching. Unscented baby wipes or even wet tissue is a good way to go.

Pain relief can be with over the counter pain relievers (analgesics) like ibuprofen. You can also wrap some ice in a towel and have your child sit on this intermittently.
Childhood haemorrhoids usually go away with a fibre-rich diet, exercise, sufficient fluid intake in a day and loads of love 😀 If the symptoms persist after about two weeks, please check with the paediatrician again.

For related topic, please click on this link: https://chatwithdrketch.com/2014/03/12/daily-health-tips-help-please-i-have-chronic-piles-haemorrhoids/
Have a great evening, y’all 😀