Blood is a stool or rectal bleeding can be painless bleeding or painful conditions, allied with pain in the rectal area.
However, blood in the mucus and stool may become a serious health issue, it may indicate a warning that something is not good inside the body.
You may hear that blood in the stool can be a sign of cancer, but in most cases, bleeding is a sign of a less serious condition.
So today’s topic will describe to you possible things about blood in the stool.
Poop: What Say About Your Health plus, Smell, Types, And More
Causes of blood in stool
Contents
There are several causes of blood in the stool refer as “hematochezia” which include:
Piles
It is also known as “Hemorrhoids” in Hindi (बवासीर) which is very commonly seen in 40 above people.
When the inside of our anus, the blood vessels swell, they block the passage of stool, and when the stool is going passed, it hurts it, which leads to bleeding called piles.
It is very common in 45 to 60-year-old people, and more than 75% of people experience piles at least once in their life (1)
Several reasons for piles include:
- Constipation
- pregnancy causes pressure in the anus area
- obesity
- lack of fiber in food, and lack of water
- ageing
- lifting heavy weights
Because hard stool cuts through the anal canal, that is also the cause of bleeding in the stool.
Check Out – Home-Remedies To Help Relieve Constipation Naturally
Benign Condition
This is another common reason for bleeding in the stool or anal canal includes:
- Polyp
- tumour growth (but it is not cancerous)
- ulcers
Anal ulcer or fissures is one of the most common on this list, which is a small tear in the lining of the anus caused by:
- Constipation and diarrhoea
- large stool
- anal intercourse
- childbirth
It is most common in infants.
But a more dangerous cause of bleeding from the stool, though it is not as common as piles or fissures is cancer.
IBD (Inflammatory bowel disease)
It is a term used to define gastrointestinal conditions with chronic inflammation, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.
Ulcerative colitis is most commonly seen as bloody diarrhea with or without mucus (2).
Some patients with ulcerative colitis may be seen with constipation when the disease is localized to the rectum (the last several inches of the large intestine).
Crohn’s disease cause swelling of the tissues in your digestive tract, which causes, among other IBS symptoms include:
Check Out – Potential Reasons For Blood In Mucus During Cough
Infection
An infection that causes bloody diarrhea also known as dysentery.
Among the more common causes are infections or inflammatory bowel diseases including Colitis.
Several Infectious bacteria that result in food-borne illnesses include:
- Campylobacter enteritis
- shigella
- salmonellosis
- bacterial gastroenteritis
- food poisoning bacteria like E.coli
- staphylococcus aureus
Cancer
Blood in the stool can be a sign of bowel cancer, whereas colorectal and gastric cancer is the most common.
Colorectal cancer develops in the colon and rectum and the common signs and symptoms of colorectal cancer include:
- Blood in the stool
- bowel movement change
- nausea or vomiting
- decrease in stool thickness is more seen in over 50 years old
- loss of appetite (4)
- weight loss
- fatigue
- severe constipation
Gastric cancer is cancer that forms in the lining of the stomach caused by the helicobacter pylori bacterium.
This cancer may spread to other parts of the body including the liver, lungs, bones, lymph nodes, and lining of the abdomen.
The early symptoms of gastric cancer include:
- Heartburn
- upper abdominal pain
- nausea
- loss of appetite
Later signs and symptoms may include:
- blood in stool
- weight loss
- vomiting
- trouble in swallowing
- yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes
Other causes of blood in stool
- Illegal drugs use
- gut wall changes
- oesophagal problems
- diverticula disease (It occurs when a small artery located within a diverticulum is eroded and bleeds into the colon)
- gastritis
- colitis (inflammation in the colon)
- angiodysplasia
- overdose of alcohol
- proctitis
Check Out – Short And Long-Term Side Effects of Cancer Treatment
What about – Painless or Painful bleeding In Stool?
Blood in the stool sometimes can be painless or painful due to several reasons, which are associated with pain in the rectal area.
If it is painless and large quantities of blood are coming, then it might be due to an ulcer or tumour in the rectal area.
The rectal area is a lower part of your large intestine where body stool is stored.
In haemorrhoids, where a person experiences drops of blood coming out, multiple ulceration can also manifest as bleeding per rectum.
However, in anal fissures bleeding which associated with severe pain, and the blood is merged with the motion itself.
As the hard motion rub on the anal canal, the ulcers rub on the motion itself, these patients require intervention.
Blood in Stool in Children
As we know that blood in stool is even not a good sign in both adults and children, it is a warning sign of health issues.
However, not the red colour that comes out in poop is always blood, it may be a certain food, drink, and medication colour that are seen in red.
But if kids have not eaten any medicine, or any food or beverage the previous day, which reason for the red colour, then you should quickly consult a doctor.
To diagnose, the doctor may take a blood, poop, and screening test like a CT scan to find what exact cause of blood in the poop (4)
However, anal fissures are the most common cause in kids, where tiny tears in the anus, become the reason for hard stool caused by bloody stool.
Blood in kids’ poop can look different depending on several reasons, color can also help the doctor determine where the blood may come from.
Color | Quantity | Frequency | Considered |
Bright red | small | sometimes in blood | Inflammation, polyps |
Bright red | large | increased stooling and blood with every stool | ulcer |
Dark red/blackness | mixed with stool | blood in every stool | cancer, ulcer, Pepto-Bismol, stomach injury |
Dark or tarry stool and mostly black in colour due to partial digestion of the RBC.
However, seen bright red blood is defined as hematochezia inside or surrounding the stool.
Is blood In stool Serious?
Yes, blood in the stool may be a serious issue, if it saw in frequently, and in amounts also blood colour also matters.
However, In most cases isn’t that serious case (just make sure you consult your doctor quickly when you first saw blood in your poop)
Which can easily be treated by prescribed medication and a healthy lifestyle (which highly matter in piles conditions)
Piles, infections, and ulcers are most reasonable for blood in the stool.
Some people may see mucus mixed with blood in the stool, if only mucus in the stool occurs, then it is allied with diarrhea.
If the mucus along with blood in the stool may represent Crohn’s, colitis, and even cancer.
Tests for Diagnosing Blood in Stool
The tests depend on the passage of blood in the stool and are based on the bleeding colour, quantity, and frequency.
The following tests are considered to diagnose the exact reason for blood in the poop of all ages.
- Colonoscopy – Insert a tube through your anus into your rectum and colon while the doctor
- Flexible sigmoidoscopy – Similar to colonoscopy, but it only checks your lower colon.
- EGD – In this doctor, puts a long time with a camera down your throat to check your esophagus, stomach, and both intestine.
- Anoscopy – a small metal hollow tube with an insert called an obturator, to examine anal and rectal conditions.
- CT- scan – A scan that takes images from different angles around the body, and provides more accurate details than a plain X-ray.
- Other tests – Digital rectal exam (DRE), Fecal occult blood test (FOBT), and capsule endoscopy.
A stool and blood sample may also need to find any blood deficiency, anemia, inflammation, or infection (7)
Anemia is a condition, in which person has a lacks enough healthy Red blood cells, causing iron deficiency.
Treatments options
Bleeding is commonly allied with symptoms of fatigue, headache, dizziness, and shortness of breath and these require treatment.
Also, blood in stool is not only a warning sign but may create serious complications, of anaemia, (lack of healthy RBC).
Its treatment depends on what causes blood in the stool including:
Anal Treatment
It is possible to reduce the staining during defection and the risk of developing anal fissures by improving gut motility.
Anal fissures are allied with pain and blood in the stool (4) which heals without treatment or is easily treated at home include:
- Warm bath
- keep your body hydrated to soften the stool by drinking water, fruits, and vegetable juices
- consume more fibre food or supplement
- nitroglycerin to loosen the anal sphincter
If home treatment does not resolve your problem then the doctor may suggest – topical nitrates or calcium channel blockers and surgical if needed.
IBD Treatment
The goal of Inflammatory bowel disease treatment is to reduce the inflammation that causes blood in the stool.
Because most type of IBD has no cure, which is why the goal is to manage the condition, these treatments include:
- anti-inflammatory drugs
- immune system suppress
- antibiotics
- surgery
Make sure, food should be smaller, and avoid eating excessive junk food which is a major reason that triggers IBD symptoms.
You can prevent IBD symptoms include:
- Quit smoking
- keep your body hydrated by drinking water
- adopt a healthy lifestyle
- reduce spicy, greasy, or made with milk
- get enough sleep
- keep doing exercise
- cut down on caffeine, carbonated and alcoholic beverages
- eat smaller meals every 2 to 4 hours (6)
Diverticular Bleeding Treatment
It refers to bleeding that occurs in the large intestine due to Diverticular (a small pouch that forms in the lining of the digestive system)
This type of bleeding is treated by epinephrine infection, clip placement, or ligation (5)
Cancer Treatment
If the test confirmed that bleeding occurs due to cancer growth, then clipping, surgical, and other cancer treatments are included.
Cancer treatment depends on the form and stage of cancer, where a doctor may remove the affected part of the colon (6)
Piles Treatment and Prevention
Its treatment also depends on what type of piles you have, internal or external piles. And this usually goes away on its own.
The doctor also suggests infection therapy (injecting a chemical into the blood vessel, which reduces the size of haemorrhoids)
If the pile’s size is big, then the doctor might suggest a rubber band ligation known as haemorrhoid banding to stop bleeding.
Prevention Tips
- Do not sit for a long time
- chew food about 32 times before swallowing
- add more soluble and non-soluable fibre to your diet
- stay hydrated by drinking water, which helps the stool come out easily.
- add Dairy products to your diet such as – chaas, and dahi.
- do certain yoga such as – paschimottanasa, yoga mudra, and hastapadasana.
Down Line
Piles (Hemorrhoids ) ulcers, including the anus, are the most common reasons for blood In stool, which can be treated.
In a kid’s anus, fissures are the most common in infants, where tiny tears in the anus, are due to hard stool caused by bloody stool.