Does putting honey on hemorrhoids help?
In patients with hemorrhoids, does topical application of honey (including Manuka honey) to the anal area improve symptoms such as pain, bleeding, itching, or swelling compared with no treatment or usual care?
How people search for this, in their own words
- “is honey good for hemorrhoids”
- “is honey bad for hemorrhoids”
- “is eating honey good for hemorrhoids”
- “manuka honey for hemorrhoids”
- “is honey good for piles patient”
Evidence review in plain language · compiled 2026-10-14 · checked 2026-10-14 · next 2026-11-14 · automated review, how it works
What the evidence says
Bottom line
No study has tested whether putting honey on hemorrhoids actually helps with pain, bleeding, itching, or swelling.
The only loosely related research found was a set of interviews with traditional healers in Ethiopia about their general practices, not a study of patients using honey and reporting their symptoms. Honey was also usually mixed with plants or butter rather than used alone, so even this indirect source can't tell us what honey itself does.
How certain
Very low
The 1 human study found measure a related question rather than this one, so they can only be read indirectly.
What it shows
Not studied
No study has measured this in people with this condition.
- answer it directly
- 0answer it directly
- study found
- 1study found
- randomised trials
- 0randomised trials
- people studied
- 15people studied
- years covered
- 2026–2026years covered
What the research shows
Symptom score (pain, itching, bleeding)
No study measured this in patients. The one related record found was interviews with traditional healers describing their own confidence in their remedies, not patients reporting symptom changes.[1]
Not studied
Time to symptom resolution
No study has measured how long it takes for hemorrhoid symptoms to improve with honey.
Not studied
Rectal bleeding frequency or severity
No study has measured whether honey changes how often or how badly hemorrhoids bleed.
Not studied
Wound or tissue healing time (if post-procedural)
No study has looked at whether honey speeds healing after a hemorrhoid procedure.
Not studied
Recurrence or need for further treatment
No study has tracked whether using honey changes the chance hemorrhoids come back or need other treatment.
Not studied
Adverse skin reactions
No study has recorded whether applying honey to the anal area causes irritation, allergic reaction, or other skin problems.
Not studied
Important limitations
- The only related record is interviews with traditional healers describing their general beliefs about their treatments, not a study of patients using honey and reporting outcomes.[1]
- Honey was not tested on its own. Healers reported combining it with medicinal plants, butter, fumigation, or sitz baths, so no finding can be pinned on honey alone.[1]
- There is no patient outcome data at all — no measured pain scores, bleeding counts, or healing times — only healers' personal confidence in their overall practice.[1]
- The sample was very small (15 people), there was no comparison group, and hemorrhoids were not confirmed by any medical diagnosis.[1]
Why people try it
- Honey has a folk reputation as a natural antiseptic and soothing substance for irritated skin.
- It is cheap, already in most kitchens, and doesn't require a doctor's visit or prescription.
- Traditional medicine in many cultures recommends honey for skin complaints and minor wounds.
- Manuka honey in particular is marketed as having special antibacterial or healing properties.
What the studies found
- Mixed or unclear1 · 100%
What kind of studies
- Retrospective1 · 100%
The studies that decided it
Alula et al. 2026
Assessment of the perceptions and practices of traditional hemorrhoid healers in the North Gondar Zone, Ethiopia
No real evidence on honey alone.RetrospectiveVery low qualityRelated question
15 people2026
Healers reported confidence that their treatments (plants, butter, honey, fumigation, sitz baths) worked for early-stage hemorrhoids but were less effective for severe cases; no outcome data specific to honey were given
- Who was studied
- Traditional hemorrhoid healers in a rural zone of Ethiopia, interviewed about their practices
- What they received
- Topical honey, used by traditional healers but combined with medicinal plants or butter, not tested alone
- Compared with
- No comparator; interviews describe healer practices generally
- Main outcome
- Healers' perceived effectiveness of their traditional treatments for hemorrhoids
- Quality
- This is a qualitative interview study of healers' opinions about their own mixed treatments, not a trial measuring whether honey itself improves hemorrhoids.
- Limitations
- Qualitative design based on healer self-report, no patient outcome data, honey not tested in isolation from other substances, no biomedical diagnosis or follow-up.
Taken word for word from the abstract
- population
In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 purposively selected traditional healers.
- intervention
Treatments mainly involved locally sourced medicinal plants, often combined with substances such as butter or honey, and administered through topical applications, herbal fumigation, or sitz baths.
- comparator
A qualitative cross-sectional study design was employed.
- primaryOutcome
Participants reported strong confidence in the effectiveness of these treatments for early-stage hemorrhoids, while acknowledging limited effectiveness in severe cases.
- result
Participants reported strong confidence in the effectiveness of these treatments for early-stage hemorrhoids, while acknowledging limited effectiveness in severe cases.
- n
In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 purposively selected traditional healers.
BMC Complement Med Ther · PMID 42163169 · Read it on PubMed ↗
What actually helps, on this site
More about the condition:
All 1 studyEvery study that answered the question, with its design, size and result.
How we searchedThe exact query, the date it ran, and what came back — so you can run it yourself.
- Searched
- PubMed · ClinicalTrials.gov · Crossref on 2026-10-14
- The exact search — paste this into PubMed to repeat it
("Hemorrhoids"[Mesh] OR hemorrhoid*[tiab] OR piles[tiab]) AND ("Honey"[Mesh] OR honey[tiab] OR "Manuka"[tiab])- PubMed expanded that to:
("Hemorrhoids"[MeSH Terms] OR "hemorrhoid*"[Title/Abstract] OR "piles"[Title/Abstract]) AND ("Honey"[MeSH Terms] OR "Honey"[Title/Abstract] OR "Manuka"[Title/Abstract]) - What came back
- 9 records found · 9 read · 1 answered the question
- Included
- Human, animal or laboratory studies reporting an outcome relevant to the question
- Excluded
- Records about a different condition or intervention
- Studies of multi-ingredient products in which honey is not isolated — a different treatment from the one asked about
- Records reporting no outcome
- Retracted publications, which are listed but excluded from every count
- Limits
- Details were read from abstracts, not full papers, so anything reported only in a paper's methods section is not captured here.
- Fields were read from abstracts, not full text, so detail reported only in a paper's methods section is not captured.
- Evidence strength is adapted from the GRADE framework. It is not a GRADE assessment and was not produced by a GRADE panel.
Automated evidence review — PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov, Crossref. Search strategy, grading rules and the checks that must pass before anything publishes were written by Allen Kamrava, MD, MBA, FACS, FASCRS, colon & rectal surgery, Beverly Hills. The pages themselves are compiled by software running that method and are not read one by one before publication — saying otherwise would be the one claim here that could not be checked.
- 9records came back from the search
- 9were read
- 1actually answered the question
Common questionsShort answers, drawn from the same studies.
- Is honey good for hemorrhoids?
- No clinical study has tested whether putting honey on hemorrhoids improves symptoms like pain, itching, or bleeding. The only loosely related record found was interviews with traditional healers describing their own confidence in mixed remedies, not patient results, so there's no real evidence either way.
- Is honey bad for hemorrhoids?
- No study has reported any harm from applying honey to hemorrhoids, but no study has actually looked for harm either. That means we can't say it's safe, and we can't say it's unsafe — it simply hasn't been studied.
- Is eating honey good for hemorrhoids?
- This hasn't been studied either. The one related record on this topic looked at honey applied to the skin by traditional healers, not honey eaten, so there's no evidence about swallowing honey for hemorrhoids.
- Manuka honey for hemorrhoids — does it work?
- No study has tested Manuka honey specifically for hemorrhoid symptoms. The single related record didn't distinguish between types of honey at all, so there's nothing to say Manuka honey works any differently.
- Is honey good for piles patients?
- "Piles" is another name for hemorrhoids. As with the other questions, no clinical study has tested whether honey — of any kind — improves piles symptoms in actual patients.
What has changedEvery re-check, and whether it changed the answer.
2026-10-14
Re-reviewed under a revised method: question type, study relevance and the harm rule. 5 no longer retrieved · conclusion possible benefit → not studied.
The conclusion changed.
This is information, not advice
This page summarises published research. It cannot tell you what is happening in your own body, and evidence changes. If something is bleeding, painful, or new, it is worth being looked at — that is a different question from the one on this page, and a better one to bring to a consultation.
Contact the officeAutomated evidence review — PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov, Crossref. Search strategy, grading rules and the checks that must pass before anything publishes were written by Allen Kamrava, MD, MBA, FACS, FASCRS, colon & rectal surgery, Beverly Hills. The pages themselves are compiled by software running that method and are not read one by one before publication — saying otherwise would be the one claim here that could not be checked.