Sitz Bath

A Sitz bath is a form of a topical therapy actually for treating dilated painful hemorrhoids. Basically what it entails is that a patient sits in two to three inches of warm water, oftentimes in a bathtub, and they can do this for 10 to 15 minutes, two to three times a day. And the way it works is as follows. The warm, gentle water actually enhances circulation in the hemorrhoidal veins. But then also it causes the rectal area of muscles to relax such that these dilated, oftentimes protruded veins can recede back. And so it helps to minimize pain from dilated protruding hemorrhoids. Now it’s important to keep in mind that you really shouldn’t add anything to the water, so you’re just sitting in the water. Don’t add bubble bath. Don’t add anything else.