logo
Our Products
About Us
Contact Us
Hello Sign In
Your Account
View
My Cart

Oat Straw and Hemorrhoids: The Perfect Match

Pin it
When painful hemorrhoids flare up, there are many things to try, but one of the most effective treatments you can use both inside and out is oat straw. Find out why below.

If you have hemorrhoids, you might be embarrassed to mention the condition to your doctor, but in truth, over 10 million Americans suffer from inflamed hemorrhoids at any given time. By the time a person is 50 years of age, 50 percent have noticeable hemorrhoids.

So, if you have hemorrhoids, you are certainly not alone. Hemorrhoids are painful, itchy, and agonizing. A variety of conditions can cause and influence the severity of hemorrhoids. Common causes include pregnancy, constipation, chronic diarrhea, other health problems, obesity, and rushing to complete a bowel movement. Certain medications may also lead to an increase in painful hemorrhoids, particularly medications that lead to constipation or diarrhea. In most cases, hemorrhoids are temporary and will ease with time.

In some cases, however, surgery may be necessary to remove the painful flare-ups. However, for many cases, natural treatments are effective at soothing, preventing, and curing hemorrhoid swelling. The biggest benefit of natural methods over conventional medical treatments is that natural treatments do not require painful surgery, rubberband binding, or any other invasive procedure.

What Is a Hemorrhoid?

Hemorrhoids aren’t something that suddenly pop up. They are present in your lower intestines at all times and are actually simply veins. During a normal bowel movement, hemorrhoids swell slightly to help move stool out the rectum. However, under certain circumstances, excessive blood pooling and swelling lead to inflamed and enlarged hemorrhoids, which cause the pain, itching, and bleeding associated with the medication condition for hemorrhoids. While soothing methods are beneficial and necessary for dealing with flare-ups, the best way to stop hemorrhoids is by preventing them from flaring up at all.

How do you do this? By ensuring that your body works efficiently and prevents the blood from pooling in your veins. One effective method to ensure you do not see the painful side effects of hemorrhoids is by ensuring that your bowel is properly regulated so that you avoid constipation and excessive diarrhea.

One of the best ways to do this is by regulating your digestion and elimination schedule by adding products that promote digestion and prevent constipation. Oat straw, is one additive that can be helpful for preventing and relieving painful hemorrhoids.

Properties of Oat Straw

Oat straw is simply one part of the oat plant that has many beneficial uses. The straw is the stalk of the oat plant. Oat straw is sold in many forms, including powder, lotion, and supplement form. You can use oat straw both internally and externally. Oat straw has many benefits and is a surprisingly effective treatment method for a wide range of health concerns. For hemorrhoids, oat straw is particularly helpful because of its soothing and emollient effects on the skin and for the digestion-regulating properties of the food.

Oat Straw Ingredients 

How Oat Straw Helps Hemorrhoids

Oat straw helps hemorrhoids in two ways. First, internally, oat straw and other oat products act as a regulator for digestion. If you are constipated, oat straw can help regulate digestion and loosen hard stool.

A 2001 study conducted by Goulds Naturopathica in Australia looked at 31 patients with irritable bowel syndrome (some with constipation and some with diarrhea). Half of the patients were given a formula supplement containing oat bran, licorice root, slippery elm bark, and a few other ingredients. By the end of the study, participants taking the oat bran mixture had a significant decrease in straining, pain, bloating, and symptom severity. Stool frequency was also increased by about 20 percent.

Externally, oat products are soothing and have an emollient effect on the skin. Basically, this means that applying oat straw externally will soothe itching and ease the painful side effects of hemorrhoids. Just how oat straw is used for soothing itchy skin conditions like eczema and chickenpox, it is also equally effective at reducing itchiness from hemorrhoids.

One possible benefit of oat straw for hemorrhoids is its effect on healthy weight maintenance. Oats are weight-loss promoters. Since obesity is a leading contributor to hemorrhoids, maintaining a healthy weight will help reduce your chances of seeing additional flare-ups in the future.

Other Benefits of Oat Straw

Oat straw also has many other benefits, some extensively studied, and some passed down from traditional medicine.

Colon Cancer Blocker: One of the most studied benefits of oat straw is its ability to fight colon cancer. Numerous studies have looked at how the unique ingredients in oat straw can fight colon cancer, including a 1999 study conducted by the American Health Foundation. In the study, researchers looked at several other studies of both people and animals who switched to high-fiber diets. The researchers found that individuals and animals who ate high-fiber diets saw a reduction in cancer tumor growth and presence. Daily doses of phytic acid can inhibit colon carcinogenesis. Eating oat straw can also block the bacterial enzymes that produce putative colon tumor promoters, but not as much as wheat bran, according to the study.

Healthy Nails: Oat straw contains silica, which is essential for building healthy nails, skin, and hair. Silica is particularly beneficial for nail growth. Silica prevents nails from becoming brittle, splitting, and breaking easily.

Strong Muscles: Many of the ingredients present in oat straw are essential for muscle growth. Some studies have indicated that supplementing with oat straw can increases stamina and energy levels in animals and humans. Improved Cognitive Function: Can oats help your brain? Two studies from 2011 say it’s a possibility. These studies were published in the “Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine” and showed that taking 1600 mg of oat straw per day improved mental clarity, attention, focus, and concentration power of elderly adults.

Better Bone Health: According to the University of Maryland, supplementing with oat straw can benefit bone health. Oats are high in calcium, which may be why eating a diet with oats or oat straw supplements can benefit bone health. Magnesium, phosphorous, and potassium are also beneficial for bone health.

Reduced Cholesterol: Oats have been proven in many studies to help lower cholesterol levels. The fiber in oat straw can also help contribute to maintaining a healthy weight, which also lowers total cholesterol. According to a 2011 study from the University of Manitoba, oats are responsible for up to 7 percent reduction in LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol levels.

Directions for Use

Oat straw is beneficial in a variety of ways for hemorrhoids. You can use it both internally and externally to soothe the side effects of hemorrhoid flare-ups.

Internally

Oat straw provides the biggest benefit when taken internally over several months. You can take oat straw as a powdered supplement, or add it to a tea and ingest it that way.

Supplement Dosage: The best dosage for oat straw is unknown. Recommended doses range anywhere from around 5 mg a day to 1600 per day. Most supplement manufacturers recommend that you take between 50 and 800 mg per day.

For hemorrhoids, adding too much fiber to the diet at once could actually backfire and lead to increased constipation, so a lower dose to start with will provide better quick relief than taking a large dose at once.

Header

During flare-ups: 50-80 mg daily

After flare-ups: Up to 1600 mg per day


Make a Tea: Oat straw tea is another effective way to get the benefits of oat straw into your body. Many companies sell oat straw tea already in loose or bagged tea form. Steep the tea in some boiling water for about 10 minutes to see the maximum benefits of the oat. Oat straw tea has a woody flavor that is surprisingly delicious.

Externally

The unique properties of oat straw offer a soothing effect on the skin. Any formulation of oats, such as in an oat bath, oat-based soap, or oat-containing location will be beneficial for soothing swollen hemorrhoids.

Soothing Itching: Oat straw is particularly helpful for soothing itchiness, which is one of the biggest benefits for hemorrhoids. Taking a bath with oat straw inside the bath is one way to soothe painful hemorrhoids and reduce itchiness. Try creating an oatmeal bath by adding oats and oat straw (about 1 cup for each inch of water) to 1-2 inches of water in the bath. Sitting in this bath will have a soothing effect. Don’t use water that is too-cold or too-hot, as this could make the bath painful. Look for oat straw in powdered form for maximum effectiveness.

You can also try placing a cream with oat-straw powder on the affected area or using an oat-straw poultice to soothe itchy skin. Soak a soft cloth in oat straw tea (brew the powder or extract for 10 minutes in hot water) and try using that as a soothing pad to ease hemorrhoid pain.

Where to Find Oat Straw

Oat straw is a common supplement that you may be able to find locally, or you can look online. There are hundreds of retailers that sell them online. If you want to provide the biggest benefit for hemorrhoid symptoms, look for combination supplements that also contain other hemorrhoid-fighting ingredients, like cayenne, red root, bilberry, horse chestnut, butcher’s broom, plantain leaf, slippery elm bark, and licorice root.

Combination supplements will reduce all symptoms of hemorrhoids, including swelling, constipation, blood pooling, itching, bleeding, and general pain.

Complementary Supplements for Hemorrhoids

Slippery elm bark- Soothes membranes and promotes healthy digestion

Licorice root- Promotes healthy digestion and soothes intestinal irritation

Horse chestnut- reduces inflammation

Bilberry- reduces inflammation and shrinks hemorrhoidal veins

Cayenne- promotes blood circulation

Red root- Shrinks tissues and veins

Butcher’s broom- Tightens veins and promotes healthy circulation

Plantain leaf- Reduces pain and swelling from hemorrhoids


Oat straw products for external use, including creams, lotions, powder for bathing, soaps, and pastes can also help fight the pain of hemorrhoids externally. It can be somewhat difficult to find products containing oat straw in local stores in the United States. Looking online may provide better results for external oat straw products. Other formulations containing oat can also be beneficial externally. Watch out for ingredients that may make hemorrhoids worse, such as alcohol, chemical additives, and fragrances.

Risks of Oat Straw

There may be some risk factors when supplementing with oat straw. According to Web MD, there are two specific risk categories for oat straw products. If you have trouble chewing, don’t take the chewable form of oat straw. Stick to powdered supplements or tea. If you have digestive tract disorders that increase the length of digestion time, oat straw may cause additional problems. Oats take a while to digest, which could cause a problem with these conditions. Additionally, adding too much oat straw to the diet at once could lead to bulky stools that are hard to pass. As stated above, start slowly with oat straw supplementation to avoid making hemorrhoids worse.

Preventing and Soothing Hemorrhoids with Oat Straw

Oat straw is a surprisingly beneficial supplement for hemorrhoids. It is one of the few supplements that can help the same problem both internally and externally. Oat straw taken internally is beneficial for regulating digestion and preventing stool buildup and blockage in the intestines. Externally, it fights itching and soothes irritated skin. For hemorrhoids, these features are win-win. For best results, however, you should also take additional supplements that promote healthy digestion, bowel movements, and stop hemorrhoid swelling like the ones listed above.

Sources


http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/hemorrhoids-topic-overview?page=2

http://www.mdidea.com/products/new/new03207.html

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10089109

[+] Show All
Next Article: Hemorrhoid Product Reviewed