Piles, a colloquial term for hemroids, are pretty embarrassing as far as ailments and illnesses go. I'm speaking from experience by the way, I've been afflicted by these numerous times in the past, yet each subsequent time doesn't lessen the embarrassment of it. There's just something that makes you more uneasy speaking about piles than many other illnesses.

Yet thousands upon thousands of people suffer from it. Statisticians even estimate that over 50% of Americans aged over 50 have suffered from piles at some point in their lives - so there's really nothing to be embarrassed about.

In the following article, I'll run through a few of the main piles symptoms. But first, a word of warning: final medical advice should be sought by experienced medical professionals. More nefarious illnesses, like colon cancer, can manifest themselves as piles symptoms (i.e. blood being produced by the anus).

Anyway, on to the piles symptoms.

Firstly, there are two different types of piles; internal and external. The former, internal piles, has few symptoms. These include blood being produced with waste and minor discomfort and irritability. External piles on the other hand are a lot more problematic and painful.

External piles are visible protrusions around the anus, and when passing waste they produce quite high amounts of pain, itching and burning. In bad cases, the external hemroids can result in waste leakages, blood and high amounts of pain. So piles can be identified through a) external protrusions, though this is not always the case b) pain, discomfort, itchiness and burning around the rectal area before, during and after passing waste and c) blood being produced before, during and after the passing of waste.

While these symptoms are clearly not life threatening, they are very discomforting. That's why it's always best to go see an experienced medical professional after your own research for their own opinions on your desired course of action.