We sit all the time. Be it on your days off or at work, we always sit. Unless of course you work as a salesperson on shopping malls or you’re a human statue on theme parks, most people, sit. On a normal day, a person sits an average of 7.7 hours, long enough to put pressure on the plump muscles that we have on our behind. On our offices, relaxing at coffee shops, picnic at the park, during meetings, conferences, when we eat our meals, read our books or even when we are passing stool. Maintaining a sitting position for hours can be very uncomfortable. Now imagine yourself with aching, throbbing, itching and worse, bleeding hemorrhoids on your behind and you have to sit for hours?

Hemorrhoids or sometimes called piles, is a condition on which small veins located on the walls of the rectum and anus becomes swollen and bulge. This condition is commonly caused by constant pressure on the veins by straining when you pass stool. This is further aggravated by poor diet, constipation or diarrhea, improper lifting of heavy objects, pregnancy, being overweight or obese, poor posture and well you guessed it, prolonged sitting.

Medical professionals advise that when you absolutely have to sit the whole day, take a break every hour to stretch, stroll for a few minutes or to just stand up. Aside from preventing a whole lot of other medical condition, the risk of hemorrhoid formation will also lessen. But what if, you already have them and your job requires you to sit in front of a computer the whole day? Well, it’s easy. Although none of the following sitting methods will treat hemorrhoids, these will surely help in decreasing the pressure you put on your buttocks thus lessening the pain and making it easier for you to go through out your day.

1. Take a 5-10 minute little break every hour.

Same if you’re still hemorrhoid-free, try to sneak in 5-10 minutes (as your schedule permits) of stretching, walking and standing. Again, this would decrease the pressure on your hemorrhoids.

2. Use a donut or hemorrhoid pillow/ cushion.

These are types of pillow with a hole in the middle made to relieve pressure on your anus. The difference between a donut cushion and hemorrhoid pillow is that hemorrhoid pillow maintains and holds its shape even after hours of use. Most available donut cushion are inflatable and thus easy to bring when traveling.

3. Use a cushioned chair.

If for some reason option number 2 is not available, a regular cushioned chair would be fine. Although would not effectively relieve pressure on your hemorrhoids, it would, at some level provide comfort compared to a regular chair.

4. Elevate.

To aid bowel movement effectively and decrease the time spent in the toilet, elevate your feet on a step stool. It will change the position of the rectum and anus allowing easier passage of the stool. If possible, do not spend too much time sitting on the toilet as it puts too much pressure on the veins located on your rectum and anal wall.

All this, together with consulting with a doctor, increasing dietary fiber, drinking a lot of water, maintaining a good posture and exercising, would help make hemorrhoid-associated pain tolerable and before you knew it, you’re pain-free and hemorrhoid-free.