In most cases, you won’t know they’re there. But if things change, home remedies often help.
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You received good news after your last colonoscopy: no cancer or precancerous polyps. But with the good news came with a surprise finding: though you don’t have symptoms, you do have diverticulosis and hemorrhoids. The news may be puzzling, but don’t worry. “Both conditions are common and usually don’t cause any problems,” says Dr. Kyle Staller, a gastroenterologist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.
Diverticulosis
Diverticulosis is the term used to describe the presence of diverticula — pouchlike structures that sometimes form in the muscular wall of the colon and bulge outward. “Between 40% and 60% of people have them, and they get more common as we age. They tend to cluster in the sigmoid colon, just above the rectum,” Dr. Staller says.
