If you are currently suffering from hemorrhoids you probably can't believe that anyone can see a lighter side! At this time, these embarrassing, rather disgusting, very uncomfortable and often painful swollen veins can only be all bad! When you're suffering with indignity and discomfort, being the butt of a hemorrhoid joke is just adding insult to injury. It is said that you know you're "middle aged" when hemorrhoid jokes stop being funny.

However the following are just some lighter side stories that may help you feel better or, at least, make you understand that your affliction has a wide variety of interest and that you are in the company of many famous people.

The Hemorrhoids are a rock band. Imagine the introduction "ladies and gentlemen put your hands - er, cheeks - er, no, hands together for the pride of Lawrence, Kansas, The Hemorrhoids!" Although their mothers must be proud I'm sure that when you listen to them on YouTube, and depending on your age and "musical" appreciation, it will be a toss up on whether the band or the condition is more painful.
Hemorrhoids are part of a song lyric written by Frank Zappa, about among other things, a groupie's hemorrhoids. But at least it's not the only subject of the song. A folk musician, by the name of Peter Cross actually wrote a whole song about hemorrhoids. His fans, who probably aren't suffering from hemorrhoids, regularly request this song. If you are interested you can find the lyrics are on his web site so you can sing along!

Bleeding hemorrhoids made at least two classical composers miserable. Consider this diary entry from the great Giacomo Meyerbeer from 1851: "Friday 23 May. I suffered all day from a cramping, diarrhetic condition that affected me badly, as did back and side pains. I suspect that these symptoms, which so often recur, are a sign of hemorrhoids." Not much progress had been made on hemorrhoid treatment when, about a half-century later, Gustav Mahler had them, too. "(1900) also brought Mahler's resignation from the (Vienna) Philharmonic and a frightening hemorrhoid-related incident in which he lost a great deal of blood".

According to a review hemorrhoids are also a real problem for drummers. Hours and hours of sitting on a little stool and pounding away at the drums plus all that constipating bar food - altogether not a good combination for hemorrhoids!

Beyonce's little sister, Solange, Tweeted that she doesn't know how to spell "hemorrhoids". She probably wouldn't make it to the second round of the spelling bee, and if she needed hemorrhoid treatment, she probably wouldn't want to sit down when she lost!

Hemorrhoid ointment is featured in a Jimmy Buffett novel,"Where is Joe Merchant?" A rock star goes missing and his "hemorrhoid-ointment heiress" sister wants to know for sure if he's dead. Really I didn't make this bizarre stuff up - Jimmy Buffett did!

If you have hemorrhoids, you have something in common with some very famous people.

Napoleon Bonaparte, the French Emperor, had such severe hemorrhoids that he couldn't sit on his horse and command his army at the Battle of Waterloo! Historians may debate that the weather, overconfidence, and miscommunication with field generals caused Napoleon's defeat - but hemorrhoid sufferers know better... who knows how history may be altered if Napoleon didn't have piles?

George Brett, the star player of the Kansas City Royals, unfortunately had a severe hemorrhoid flare up which caused him to miss parts of the 1980 World Series with the Phillies! Fans were surprised, because George was only 27 at the time. Some even offered home remedies ranging from eating orange peel and whole wheat to applying Listerine to the hemorrhoids! Needless to say, George opted for surgery.

Even American presidents are not immune to this condition as, in 1992, President Jimmy Carter underwent surgery to get rid of his hemorrhoids.

And finally, besides an anthrax infection, a cut eyeball, kidney trouble, a torn groin muscle and a broken arm from a car accident, Ernest Hemingway, the famous writer also suffered from hemorrhoids!

But(t) If your hemorrhoids are past being a joke, or you can't see the lighter side, there are fortunately a number of ways in which you can get relief from the symptoms and also find completely natural cures.  Patrick Millerd