If you only have blood on the tissue when you wipe but not in your stool, this is more likely to be hemorrhoids or anal fissures, which should be confirmed by your doctor. Blood from polyps or colorectal cancer can show up in various ways.
Rectal bleeding is a symptom of many different conditions, including hemorrhoids, anal fissures, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and colorectal cancer. You may notice rectal bleeding on your toilet paper when you wipe or when you see blood in your stool.
Sometimes people see blood on the paper after wiping. Hemorrhoids are the most common reason, but rectal bleeding can also indicate a serious gastrointestinal condition that needs medical attention. A few occasional drops or streaks of blood in the toilet when wiping or in the stool are usually not a worry.
Blood from higher up in the bowel doesn't look bright red. It goes dark red or black and can make your poo look like tar. This type of bleeding can be a sign of cancer higher up the bowel.
Bleeding attributed to internal hemorrhoids is usually bright red and can be quite brisk. It may be found on the toilet paper, dripping into the toilet bowl, or streaked on the stool itself.
Are bleeding hemorrhoids serious? In most cases, occasional spotting with bright, red blood is not serious. However, if bleeding continues, there is severe pain, or the blood is dark red, a person should see a doctor, as these may be signs of a more serious condition.
The symptoms of a fissure and a hemorrhoid can be similar. Either can cause pain, itching and bleeding. However, if you are in pain and don't feel an external lump, the condition is more likely to be a fissure. If you notice that you are leaking mucus from your anus, the problem is probably a hemorrhoid.
Because the intake of iron, bismuth or foods like beets can give the stool the same appearance as bleeding from the digestive tract, a doctor must test the stool for blood before offering a diagnosis. Other symptoms: Bright red blood coating the stool.
Colorectal cancers can often bleed into the digestive tract. Sometimes the blood can be seen in the stool or make it look darker, but often the stool looks normal. But over time, the blood loss can build up and can lead to low red blood cell counts (anemia).
Common benign (non-serious) causes — If you see a small amount of bright red blood on the toilet paper after wiping, on the outside of your stool, or in the toilet, this may be caused by hemorrhoids or an anal fissure. Both of these conditions are benign, and there are treatments that can help.
Smaller hemorrhoids can be cured in a few days (less than 3 days). During this time, you should not be carrying any intense laborious activities such as exercising, lifting heavy objects, and straining the lower half of the body. For hemorrhoids that don't stop bleeding within 3 days need medical guidance.
Pain. Persistent pain in the abdomen usually occurs with a large polyp as it begins to cause an obstruction in the colon.
Polyps can be associated with changes in bowel habits, such as diarrhea or constipation. Hemorrhoids should not cause these changes. However, polyps don't always cause these changes either, so it's important not to assume that you have a hemorrhoid just because there are no changes in your bowel habits.
There are two major types of polyps based on shape: sessile and pedunculated. Sessile polyps are flat and grow along the inner lining of the colon wall. Pedunculated polyps grow on a short stalk, like a mushroom. This can cause these types of polyps to protrude inside the colon.
Blood in the stool is there because of bleeding somewhere in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. This can be due to many causes, including peptic ulcer disease, anal fissures, hemorrhoids, and several other medical conditions. Blood in the stool usually looks blood-red or maroonish.
But if you find that excessive wiping is the rule and not the exception, consider that one of these conditions could be the underlying cause. Anal abscess or fistula An anal abscess is an infection of the anal gland that causes pain, redness, and drainage in the rectal area. The discharge may be blood, pus, or stool.
No amount of blood in the stool is normal, but some causes may be more dangerous than others. Sometimes there is blood in such small amounts that it can't be seen with the eye. In these cases, it must be identified with a test called a fecal occult test.
Anal fissure
The blood is usually bright red and the bleeding soon stops. You may feel like you need to keep passing stools, even when your bowel is empty. It often heals on its own within a few weeks.
Anal fissures usually heal within a few weeks without the need for treatment. But they can easily come back if they're caused by constipation that remains untreated. In some people, symptoms from anal fissures last 6 weeks or more (chronic anal fissures).
Bright red blood often indicates a burst hemorrhoid. However, in some cases, bleeding from the rectum can be a sign of another condition, such as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, or colon cancer.