Market Overview

Though few people like to talk about them, hemorrhoids are extremely common.  By age 50, about half of the population will have experienced this potentially painful condition, which results from an increase in pressure inside the veins of the rectum.  Common causes include constipation, pregnancy, childbirth, obesity, heavy lifting, sitting for long periods and diarrhea.

According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the prevalence of hemorrhoids in the United States is 10.4 million people, with approximately 1 million new cases diagnosed every year.  Yet only 3.5 million of the 10.4 million people with the condition seek medical treatment, making it a dramatically under-treated problem.

Rubber band ligation is one of the least expensive and most popular procedures for non-surgical hemorrhoid removal in the world.  As the baby boomer population ages, and awareness of non-surgical treatment options grows, it is expected that the number of banding procedures will rise.

That’s a good thing for a number of reasons.  For one, more patients will enjoy a permanent cessation of symptoms that may have plagued them for years.  Additionally, proper treatment of hemorrhoids allows for accurate screening for colorectal cancer. That’s because it removes hemorrhoids as a cause of blood in the stool.