When to see a doctor

Seek immediate medical attention

Have someone drive you to urgent care or the emergency room if you develop:

• A significant amount of rectal bleeding or rectal bleeding that won't stop, particularly if accompanied by lightheadedness, dizziness or feeling faint
• Anal pain that gets much worse, spreads, or is accompanied by fever, chills or anal discharge

Schedule a doctor's visit

Make an appointment with your doctor if your pain lasts more than a few days and self-care remedies aren't helping. Also make an appointment with your doctor if anal pain is accompanied by a change in bowel habit or rectal bleeding.

A hemorrhoid that develops quickly or is particularly painful may have formed a blood clot inside (thrombosed). Removing the clot within the first 48 hours often gives the most relief, so request a timely appointment with your doctor. The blood clot of a thrombosed hemorrhoid, although painful, can't break loose and travel, so it won't cause any of the complications — such as stroke — associated with blood clots that form in other parts of the body.

See your doctor for rectal bleeding, particularly if you're older than 40, to rule out rare but serious conditions such as colon cancer.

Self-care

Depending on the cause of your anal pain, there are some measures you can try at home to get relief. They include:

• Eating more fruits, vegetables and whole grains, exercising daily, and taking stool softeners, if needed, to facilitate bowel movements, reduce straining and ease pain
• Sitting in a tub of hot water up to your hips — known as a sitz bath — several times a day to ease the pain of hemorrhoids, anal fissures or rectal muscle spasms
• Applying over-the-counter hemorrhoid cream for hemorrhoids or hydrocortisone cream for anal fissures
• Taking an over-the-counter pain reliever such as acetaminophen (Tylenol, others), aspirin or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others)