Hemorrhoids?

How do you know if you have hemorrhoids? It doesn't hurt to sit and there's nothing protruding from my bum but passing a bowl movement really hurts and afterwards my bottom will bleed, at one stage the toilet water was cloudy from the amount of blood that came out with a bowl movement. Is that a hemorrhoid or have I just somehow hurt my bottom? I've started taking stool softeners to help but is there anything else I can do?