Does vitamin E help with hemorrhoids?
In adults with symptomatic hemorrhoids, does topical or oral vitamin E reduce symptoms (pain, itching, bleeding) or speed resolution compared with no treatment or standard care?
How people search for this, in their own words
- “vitamin e for hemorrhoids”
- “vitamin e oil for hemorrhoids”
- “vitamins to shrink hemorrhoids”
- “what vitamins are good for hemorrhoids”
- “vitamin c for hemorrhoids”
Evidence review in plain language · compiled 2026-10-25 · checked 2026-10-25 · next 2026-11-25 · automated review, how it works
What the evidence says
Bottom line
No study has tested whether vitamin E, taken orally or applied topically, relieves hemorrhoid symptoms or speeds healing.
A search found only four related records: a lab study on vitamin E and cancer cells, a study of a different nutrient (lycopene) after hemorrhoid surgery, an old general article on vein treatments, and one study whose title mentions vitamin E ointment after hemorrhoid surgery but has no available abstract to confirm what it actually found. None of these answer whether vitamin E helps hemorrhoid pain, itching, or bleeding. Untested is not the same as ineffective — it simply means nobody has done the work.
How certain
No human evidence
No studies were found that answer this question.
What it shows
Not studied
No study has measured this in people with this condition.
- answer it directly
- 0answer it directly
- studies found
- 0studies found
- randomised trials
- 0randomised trials
- people studied
- 0people studied
What the search returned
Every record the query brought back, and why each one does not answer the question. Follow any of them to PubMed and check.
- Synergistic cytotoxic effects of combined δ-tocotrienol and jerantinine B on human brain and colon cancers
J Ethnopharmacol · 2016 · PMID 26947901
This study is about cancer cell cytotoxicity in laboratory conditions, not about vitamin E treatment of hemorrhoids in humans.
- Reduction of postoperative pain and improvement of patients' comfort after Milligan-Morgan hemorrhoidectomy using topical application of vitamin E ointment
Int J Colorectal Dis · 2016 · PMID 26715437
No abstract is available for this record.
- Lycopene in serum, skin and adipose tissues after tomato-oleoresin supplementation in patients undergoing haemorrhoidectomy or peri-anal fistulotomy
Br J Nutr · 2003 · PMID 13129444
Tests lycopene supplementation, a different treatment from vitamin E, with no measurement of hemorrhoid symptoms or outcomes.
- [VENOUS TONICS]
Rev Prat · 1963 · PMID 14093327
No abstract is available for this record.
What actually helps, on this site
More about the condition:
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 2026-10-25
- The exact search — paste this into PubMed to repeat it
(hemorrhoids[MeSH] OR hemorrhoid*[tiab] OR piles[tiab]) AND (vitamin E[MeSH] OR "vitamin E"[tiab] OR tocopherol*[tiab] OR tocotrienol*[tiab])- PubMed expanded that to:
("hemorrhoids"[MeSH Terms] OR "hemorrhoid*"[Title/Abstract] OR "piles"[Title/Abstract]) AND ("vitamin E"[MeSH Terms] OR "vitamin E"[Title/Abstract] OR "tocopherol*"[Title/Abstract] OR "tocotrienol*"[Title/Abstract]) - What came back
- 4 records found · 4 read · 0 answered the question
- Included
- Human, animal or laboratory studies reporting an outcome relevant to the question
- Excluded
- Records about a different condition or intervention
- 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.
- A search finding nothing shows that nothing is indexed for these terms. It cannot prove no study exists anywhere.
- 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.
- 4records came back from the search
- 4were read
- 0actually answered the question
Common questionsShort answers, drawn from the same studies.
- Does vitamin E oil help hemorrhoids?
- No study has tested applying vitamin E oil directly to hemorrhoids. One surgical study mentions a vitamin E ointment used after hemorrhoid removal, but its results aren't available, so it can't confirm an effect either way.
- Do any vitamins shrink hemorrhoids?
- No vitamin, including vitamin E, has been shown in a study to reduce hemorrhoid size. This outcome simply hasn't been measured in the research that exists.
- What vitamins are good for hemorrhoids?
- There's no solid evidence that any vitamin treats hemorrhoids. The approaches with actual evidence behind them are dietary fiber, fluids, and topical treatments like hydrocortisone, not vitamin supplements.
- Does vitamin C help hemorrhoids?
- No study was found testing vitamin C for hemorrhoid symptoms either. Like vitamin E, it's commonly suggested but untested for this specific use.
- Is it safe to try vitamin E on hemorrhoids even though it's unproven?
- None of the records found in this search assessed the safety or side effects of vitamin E used for hemorrhoids, so there's no evidence base to draw a safety conclusion from for this specific use. Being untested means we simply don't know whether it helps or whether it carries any risks when used this way — it is not the same as being confirmed safe.
What has changedEvery re-check, and whether it changed the answer.
2026-10-25
Re-reviewed under a revised method.
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.