What causes the swelling, the pain, and that weird color change anyway? More importantly, what does one do about them, exactly?
Thrombosis can happen anywhere in the body, and in fact is just a fancy name for an internal blood clot. Your blood carries the ability to create scabs, which is quite important with the normal banging about we as humans get throughout our lifetime. People who do not have the ability to create blood clots or scabs are called hemophiliacs, and suffer from quite intense health problems throughout their lives. However, because of this ability, blood will tend to coagulate, or form clots, any time it sits still for too long. The lower half of the body is highly prone to developing blood clots, because blood tends to remain in the legs for relatively long periods of time. The blood flows down by way of highly pressurized arteries, but only comes back up by way of a series of one-way valves and the squeezing action of muscles, which happens during such activities as walking or running.
Due to the combination of location and volume, piles are also prone to developing blood clots, or thrombosis.
A pile is basically a swollen detour within a vein. The veins that lead to piles are below the heart, and as such, less able to drain efficiently. So, if the blood flow through a pile gets sluggish enough, a blood clot can develop and get trapped within the pile. At that point, the circulatory system can no longer carry away cellular waste as efficiently, and so that cellular waste gets trapped in the surrounding tissue. The immune system responds promptly to what it percieves as a toxic invasion, and there you go. Inflammation, pain, itching, burning, the whole nine yards is yours to enjoy.
A thrombosis stuck in a pile can cause some entertaining problems if not dealt with promptly, such as gangrene or systematic infection.
Because the blocked vein is no longer carrying cellular waste away, and the waste is seeping into surrounding tissue, cells can start to die in their own toxins. Because not all of the veins are blocked in such a manner, these toxins and dying cell tissues can start migrating back out into the body. For this reason, it's quite important to see a doctor fairly promptly if you're suffering from a thrombosed pile. Talk to your doctor about the best way to permanently deal with it.
Until your appointment take warm sitz-baths for twenty minutes at a time, alternate by sitting on a towel wrapped icepack, and if no medications conflict with it, take ibuprofen to help deal with the pain and inflammation. You and your doctor will discuss and decide upon the best procedure for you from there.
