I am considering having either banding or surgery for both internal and external hemorrhoids that seem to be getting very bad over the past several months. The internal ones are only grade 2 and don't bother me , but the external flares are really painful and constant. I have been squatting to use the bathroom for the past two or three months and initially I thought it was helping, but for the past month or so, I have been having problems with external hemorrhoids, even though I seem to be having fairly easy bowel movements. The only thing I can figure is that the squatting is putting added pressure on the rectum and creating these problems. I have read conflicting info. on this as some sites insist that squatting is actually good for eliminating hemorrhoid flares and some sites say that squatting actually leads to higher incidence of hemorrhoid flares. I'm not sure what to do, because my bm's have been better since I started squatting, but I don't want to continue if it is leading to the hemorrhoid issues. I also have recurrent fissures, but since the hemorrhoids have taken over, I don't notice the fissure pain much. Any feedback?

as long as you are not straining to push out BM in any state - sitting or squatting, you should be able to avoid further hemmy flares or minimize it.
again, i think it all depends on what type/how progressive your hemmies are that even under no straining, in any position, could possibly create a flare situation.