A review article on the managements of Arshas (haemorrhoids)

Abstract

A haemorrhoid is the most common affecting up to one quarter of all adults according to some estimates. Numerous interventions exist for their management, ranging from topical and medical therapies to outpatient treatments and surgical interventions that aim to fix or excise. The word Arsha is self-explanatory, indicating that the disease troubles a person like an enemy. Arshas can be corelated to haemorrhoids in modern science. Arshas is clinically an engorged condition of haemorrhoidal venous plexus characterized by prolapsed mass per anum, bleeding per anum mainly. In contemporary science there are treatments for haemorrhoids like sclerotherapy, banding, laser ablation, lifestyle modifications, surgical procedures like haemorrhoidectomy and other invasive technique. In Ayurvedic tests Chaturvidha Chikitsa is said, such as Bheshaja (medicinal), Kshara Karma (caustic treatment), Agni Karma (thermal hear burn) and Shastra Karma (surgery). In this review article, treatments from modern as well as Ayurvedic texts are documented so that proctologists around the world get a better understanding about the disease and its exact treatment modalities in both the sciences.