Your health professional will ask questions about diet or bowel habits that may contribute to hemorrhoids. Factors that may cause hemorrhoids or make them worse include:

• Eating a low-fiber diet.
• Drinking fewer than 8 glasses of water, fruit juice, or other noncaffeinated liquids each day.
• Drinking too much alcohol.
• Prolonged sitting, straining, or holding your breath during bowel movements.
• Sitting or standing for long periods of time.
• Frequent heavy lifting or holding your breath when lifting heavy objects.

Medical conditions that make you prone to hemorrhoids include:

• Personal or family history of hemorrhoids.
• Being overweight.
• Pregnancy and being postpartum.
• Long-term diarrhea.
• Infection in the anal canal.
• Liver or heart disease, which results in a backflow of blood that increases pressure on blood vessels in the abdomen and pelvic area.