Ingredients and characteristics of OTC drugs for hemorrhoids

Ingredients and characteristics of OTC drugs for hemorrhoids

Ingredients and characteristics

The outer box and package insert. of over-the-counter drug for hemorrhoids show the ingredients of the medicine.
Knowing the ingredients and actions will help you to choose a product. Please refer to the following.

Representative ingredients contained in over-the-counter drug for hemorrhoids

The following ingredient classification and actions are examples, and some marketed drugs may have the same ingredient but different action.

Local anesthesia ingredient

Action
Alleviate pain and itching of hemorrhoids
Names of representative ingredients
Lidocaine, Dibucaine Hydrochloride, Ethyl Aminobenzoate Anti-inflammatory ingredient

Anti-inflammatory ingredient

Action
Soothe inflammation
Names of representative ingredients
[Steroidal drug] Prednisolone acetate, Hydrocortisone acetate
[Non-steroidal drug] Glycyrrhetinic acid, Lysozyme hydrochloride

Antihistamine ingredient

Action
Relieve itching
Names of representative ingredients
Diphenhydramine Hydrochloride, Chlorpheniramine Maleate

Vasoconstrictor ingredient

Action
Suppress bleeding
Names of representative ingredients
Tetrahydrozoline Hydrochloride, Dl-methylephedrine hydrochloride

Disinfectant ingredient

Action
Prevent bacterial infection
Names of representative ingredients
Chlorhexidine hydrochloride, Cetylpyridinium chloride hydrate

Tissue repair ingredient

Action
Support the wound healing
Names of representative ingredients
Allantoin, Aluminium chlorhydroxy allantoinate (Alcloxa)

Vitamins

Action
Promote improvement in blood flow and wound healing
Names of representative ingredients
Tocopherol acetate (Vitamin E acetate)

Herbal medicine

Action
Soothe inflammation
Names of representative ingredients
Lithospermum root (Lithospermi radix), Horse chestnut seed (Rosskastanien)

About the ingredient name

In some of the over-the-counter drugs you have, the names of the ingredients are slightly different from those in the table above, and you may think, “Did the words replace each other?" These are usually because the ingredient names have changed, and the ingredients are the same.

[Example]
Hydrochloride XXX ⇒ XXX hydrochloride
Acetate XXX ⇒ XXX acetate

The part XXX is the body as a medicine.

Steroidal drug and non-steroidal drug

There are two types of external medicines for hemorrhoids: a medicine combined with steroid with a relatively strong action to suppress inflammation and a medicine not combined with steroid with a relatively mild action. When you choose a medicine, tell your symptoms and constitution to the pharmacy/drug store staff, and then consult which drug is appropriate.

Steroidal drug

Action
Relieves inflammation with relatively strong effect.
Conditions suitable for use
When the symptoms such as swelling and bleeding are severe, with no purulence.
[Precautions]
If the affected area is suppurative, do not use steroidal drugs (The symptoms may be exacerbated).

Non-steroidal drug

Action
Relieves inflammation with relatively mild effect.
Conditions suitable for use
When the symptoms such as swelling and bleeding are not relatively severe.
[Precautions]
Glycyrrhetinic Acid, which is often used in non-steroidal products, may occasionally cause side effects such as "swelling of the face or limbs " when used long-term carelessly.

*If the symptoms do not improve after using OTC external medicine for about 10 days or oral medicine for about one month, consult a hospital.

This article is supervised by:
Dr. Junichi Iwadare
Dr. Akio Kurokawa
Dr. Rikisaburo Sahara
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