Does vitamin E help with hemorrhoids?

Name: Does vitamin E help with hemorrhoids?
Published: 2026-10-05

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?

Compiled 2026-10-05 · checked 2026-10-05 · next 2026-11-05 · automated review, how it works

Bottom line

No study has tested whether vitamin E — topical or oral — reduces hemorrhoid symptoms or speeds healing.

A search of the research turned up four records, and none of them actually tested vitamin E against hemorrhoid symptoms in a way that gives a usable answer. That is different from vitamin E having been tried and found useless — it simply has not been properly tested. What we have is an absence of evidence, not evidence of absence.

How certain

No human evidence

No studies were found that answer this question.

What it shows

Not studied

No study has measured this outcome in people with this condition.

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 investigates cancer cell cytotoxicity in vitro and has no relevance to hemorrhoid treatment outcomes 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
This study measures tissue lycopene concentrations in hemorrhoid patients but does not evaluate any clinical outcome or symptom improvement related to hemorrhoids or their treatment.
[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 2026-10-05
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.

4records came back from the search
4were read
0actually answered the question

Common questionsShort answers, drawn from the same studies.

Has vitamin E been proven not to work for hemorrhoids?: No. 'Untested' and 'doesn't work' are not the same thing. Nobody has run the kind of study that would tell us either way, so we genuinely don't know.
Is it safe to try vitamin E cream on hemorrhoids anyway?: Topical vitamin E is generally considered low-risk for most people, similar to other mild skin products, but that's a judgment based on its general safety profile, not a finding from hemorrhoid-specific research. Some people do get skin irritation or allergic reactions to topical vitamin E.
What about the study on vitamin E ointment after hemorrhoid surgery?: One record did look at vitamin E ointment after a specific type of hemorrhoid surgery, but no abstract was available to review its methods or actual results, so it couldn't be used to answer this question reliably.
What should I actually use for hemorrhoid symptoms right now?: Fiber, fluids, over-the-counter hydrocortisone or anesthetic creams, and warm sitz baths all have real evidence behind them for symptom relief. These are a better starting point than vitamin E.
Should I mention vitamin E to my doctor if I want to try it?: Yes. It's reasonable to try alongside known treatments, but tell your doctor, especially if you're also taking oral vitamin E supplements, since high doses can affect blood clotting.

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 office

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.

Allen Kamrava, MD, MBA, FACS, FASCRS · 435 N. Bedford Dr., Suite 308, Beverly Hills, CA 90210 · 424.279.8222

Educational information — not medical advice.