When to seek medical adviceSeek medical advice for any blood in stool. Seek emergency care if you notice: Show
Find possible causes of blood in stool based on specific factors. Check one or more factors on this page that apply to your symptom.
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. Mayo Clinic FooterUnless you'd eaten beets earlier in the day, seeing red in the toilet bowl can be alarming. Bloody stool, also known as rectal bleeding, can be a symptom of many medical conditions, some relatively benign and some very harmful. Depending on what's causing your bloody diarrhea, you might see blood in the toilet bowl, covering your poop, or only on the toilet paper after you wipe. It might be bright red, dark red, or even a super dark, tar-like color. The longer the blood sits inside your digestive tract, the darker it'll be since it spends a more prolonged time interacting with digestive chemicals. That means that, usually, bright red blood is less likely to indicate something serious because it usually starts low in your colon or rectum. However, seeing dark red blood in your diarrhea possibly means bleeding higher up in your digestive tract and needing to get checked out. Regardless of the color of the blood in your diarrhea, Rabia De Latour, MD, an assistant professor in the department of medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York, urged anyone who sees blood in their stool to see a doctor. "As a gastroenterologist, if you see someone with new rectal bleeding, especially if it's more than a few drops on the tissue or comes with a really painful bowel movement, you're doing a colonoscopy," Dr. De Latour told Health. Here's what you need to know about six medical conditions that may cause bloody diarrhea. Hemorrhoids are one of the most common reasons you'll see blood in your stool; luckily, they're benign. Hemorrhoids are a normal cluster of blood vessels at the bottom of your rectum. "Everyone has them," Lisa Ganjhu, DO, a gastroenterologist at NYU Langone, told Health. What we think of as hemorrhoids are actually inflamed hemorrhoids, but the blood vessels are always there, inflamed or not. Many people with hemorrhoids notice a small amount of bright red blood on the stool, toilet, or toilet tissue after a bowel movement. A flared hemorrhoid is full of blood, Dr. Ganjhu explained. Usually, the blood you see from hemorrhoids is bright red, and it coats your poop rather than mixing with it in the toilet bowl, added Dr. De Latour. And sometimes, when you have to strain really hard or poop a lot because of diarrhea, it can tear and cause bleeding. Usually, bleeding from hemorrhoids will resolve itself. "It's a vein, not an artery," explained Dr. De Latour. "So hemorrhoids tend to stop bleeding on their own." Dr. De Latour added that bad cases of hemorrhoids that continuously bleed are rare. Dr. De Latour suggested getting checked out if you haven't seen a healthcare provider about your hemorrhoids and noticed bleeding. You can help prevent hemorrhoids by doing the following:
Anal fissures are minor cuts that happen at the anus. "It's kind of like when you open your mouth really wide, and you get little tears at the corners," explained Dr. Ganjhu. When you get cracks near the corners of your mouth, usually there's some pain and some bleeding. And the same thing happens with anal fissures. "If you have a tear in your anus, that's painful," Dr. De Latour said. "It's not like the rectum where you don't have as much sensation—it's like skin almost." In fact, the main noticeable difference between having bleeding hemorrhoids (which happen in the rectum) and an anal fissure is the pain. If pooping is painful and you see blood, you probably have an anal fissure. Anal fissures can happen for several reasons. Usually, they're seen after chronic constipation or straining. You push so hard to get stool out that you end up tearing the skin at your anus. But anal fissures also happen with chronic diarrhea and after childbirth. Anal fissures will likely bleed bright red, and you might see blood on the tissue or in the bowl, depending on how big the tear is or where it is. "It might be a lot of blood if it's over a vein," noted Dr. Ganjhu. Again, any time you see blood, even if there's a good chance it's from a cut that will heal, it's a good idea to see your healthcare provider. You can help prevent anal fissures by:
Bloody diarrhea is often a symptom of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), an umbrella term for disorders that cause chronic inflammation in your digestive tract. Although, Dr. De Latour explained that bleeding is more familiar with ulcerative colitis (UC) than Crohn's disease, the two primary conditions under IBD. Inflammation in the colon can cause ulcers, especially with UC. Bleeding from UC can be bright red or darker red since ulcers form in the rectum and large intestine or higher up in the gastrointestinal (GI) system. Those ulcers can then cause bloody stool. IBD, in general, can cause bloody diarrhea when you have a flare-up because you're shedding inflammatory tissue. "With controlled inflammatory bowel disease or Crohn's disease, everything is normal," said Dr. Ganjhu. "But if there's a flare where there's a lot of inflammation and irritation, that's when you'll get diarrhea and the sloughing of all the tissue." You might see extra mucus and blood during those attacks, but that's nothing to be concerned about. If you haven't yet been diagnosed with IBD—Crohn's disease or UC—seeing blood in your stool is a significant signal to see your healthcare provider. Another type of inflammation that can cause rectal bleeding is proctitis (inflammation of the rectum). Proctitis may be part of IBD and can be caused by certain infections, such as sexually transmitted infections (STIs) or food poisoning. In addition, radiation proctitis can occur after a person receives radiation therapy to treat cancer. The mechanisms by which IBD occurs remain elusive. Although you cannot prevent IBD, there are some steps you can take to prevent or minimize flare-ups, such as:
"E. coli and other bacteria cause an invasive infection, so you get the inflammation and sloughing of tissues like with IBD that leads to bloody diarrhea," said Dr. Ganjhu. Infections that may cause bloody stool include:
You can prevent GI infections by practicing good hygiene. And you can minimize your risk of contracting STIs by practicing safe sex and using condoms during sex (including oral, anal, and vaginal sex). As for diverticulitis, the mechanisms by which the infection occurs remain unknown, so healthcare providers cannot prevent it. One of the most feared causes of bloody diarrhea is colorectal cancer. Although people previously believed colorectal cancer only happens in mid-life, healthcare providers now see younger and younger people receive diagnoses. And the rise of colorectal cancer among young people is a significant reason you should see a doctor if you notice blood in your stool. It's best to rule out cancer rather than wait to see if the bleeding worsens. "When you have adults who have unexplained rectal bleeding, especially if it's associated with weight loss or if they have a family history of colon cancer or any other concerning symptoms, they should see a gastroenterologist because it could be cancer," explained Dr. De Latour. Colorectal cancer can cause bloody diarrhea or stool when the tumors leak blood. The whole purpose of tumors is to keep growing; to do so, they tap into your blood supply to suck up all the nutrition. "So tumors tend to be very vascular, very bloody," said Dr. De Latour. When they're sitting inside your digestive tract, they can leak blood that you might see inside your toilet bowl, or that might make your poop look darker than usual. If you're noticing dark brown or black stool or bright red blood on your tissue paper, it might be a symptom of colorectal cancer. You should talk to your healthcare provider about being routinely screened for colorectal cancer, starting at age 45. Early screenings can help detect precancerous polyps before cancer progresses. Other steps that you can take to lower your risk of developing colorectal cancer include:
Ulcers are sores that are slow to heal or keep returning. And like UC, ulcers that form as a result of other disorders can cause bloody diarrhea. However, these types of ulcers are rare. "It's called solitary rectal ulcer syndrome (SRUS). You get these big ulcers in the colon, especially in the rectum," explained Dr. De Latour. In addition to rectal bleeding, research suggests that symptoms of SRUS most commonly include:
Healthcare providers typically see SRUS in older people with limited mobility, added Dr. Ganjhu. When an older person cannot get to the bathroom on their own or aren't able to tell someone when they need to go to the toilet, their stool sits in the rectum and causes a pressure ulcer. Ulcers can also happen when an older person falls or if they don't move very often. Blood in the stool may be due to several causes—including inflammation, infection, hemorrhoids, anal fissures, ulcers, or colorectal cancers. Fortunately, most of those causes of rectal bleeding are not life-threatening. Still, if you notice blood in the stool, consult your healthcare provider. What does bright red blood in diarrhea mean?Bright red blood usually means bleeding that's low in your colon or rectum. Dark red or maroon blood can mean that you have bleeding higher in the colon or in the small bowel. Melena (dark and tar-like stool) often points to bleeding in the stomach, such as bleeding from ulcers.
When should I be concerned about blood in stool and diarrhea?Because bloody diarrhea is not normal, you should call your doctor if you see more than a few streaks of blood in your stool. Always seek medical care if you also feel lightheaded, can't eat or drink, or have severe abdominal pain.
Is bloody diarrhea an emergency?Acute bloody diarrhea should be considered a medical emergency. Its causes are frequently serious or actionable or both and are usually identified.
When should I be worried about blood in my stool bright red?While it may be due to something as simple as straining to poop because of constipation, it can also be due to conditions such as hemorrhoids, a bowel infection, or even colon cancer. Blood in the stool—whether bright red or some other shade—should always be evaluated by a healthcare provider.
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Bright red blood in stool and diarrhea
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