Hemorrhoids and Strength Training

Hey Doctors.

I’ve been running your beginner template for a few months now. Today, after a heavy session of romanian deadlifts, I started feeling a pain in my anus irradiating to the gluteus and legs, a self-physical examination while calling my GP revealed it’s probably an internal hemmorrhoid. He said I should lay low at home and wait it out, if it gets worse I should see a proctologist.

It is getting worse to the point of disturbing my concentration and work productivity.

I already imagine what the proctologist will say (“don’t lift heavy, don’t squat, don’t deadlift, don’t use the valsalva maneuver”).

My question is, is there any merit to these claims? Should I avoid lifting heavy while I’m in this great amount of pain? I’m really unsure where to go to from here. I’m very familiar with your contents regarding pain - by the way - and have successfuly dealt with upper back, lower back and other sorts of physical pain.

Thanks for your attention.

I think you should get a proper diagnosis before concerning yourself with these things, since it seems that this is entirely based on your own self-examination.

If that is in fact the issue, there are interventions that a surgeon can offer for hemorrhoids that would be worth discussing.

Hey doc, I did get an examination from a proctologist, she said “it’s a small hemorrhoid, go home and wait it out to see what happens, don’t change your routine and keep exercising like you were”

Would you agree with an assessment like that? She said resistance training can make it worse or not, depending on the person, I guess I’m just kinda afraid of making it worse, but I definitely do not want to stop training.

In your experience, can lifters live with hemorrhoids and lift heavy or do they need to remove them surgically?

Lifters can and do live with this issue frequently.

Sometimes individuals benefit from surgical intervention, and sometimes it’s not necessary. Since I am not a surgeon, I would defer that advice/decision making process to a surgeon.

I’m currently waiting to see how to approach the problem. If it gets to a bad point with regards to pain, I’ll consider seeing a surgeon.

Thank you for taking the time to answer, I’m somewhat embarassed by this subject but it was worth it posting here.