What Causes Blood in Your Stool?
Last updated on July 1st, 2023 at 05:42 pm
10 minutes read.
In this article:
Overview
Have you ever seen blood in your stool and you’re confused about what could be the cause? Yet you feel healthy with no ill symptoms?
Days after days no answer to this question seems to come to your head. Perhaps you no longer see the blood again. Yes, I can relate very well to this because I once had a bloody stool.
When you see bright red blood in your stool is no laughing matter, because sometimes it can be a sign of chronic health issues developing inside the body.
However, blood in the stool can have causes that aren’t due to underlying disease. Examples include abrasions from excessive use of toilet paper or hard stool.
Either way, bloody stool can be quite alarming, and most experts agree it’s not something to just ignore. Be sure to observe the situation well.
Unfortunately, if you use the toilet for defecation you may hardly notice this symptom when it occurs. As a result, it is vital you observe your stool and whatever you used to clean your anus before flushing the toilet.
What of black stool? Why is my poop black? Many people don’t realize that black stool is also a form of bloody stool.
It’s true, blood in the stool can result in black poop or bright red blood in poop. The color is actually very important to note since different colors can point toward various internal sources of bleeding.
But sometimes Dark stool can have causes that aren’t due to underlying disease. Examples include medications containing bismuth or iron supplements
The fact remains that Bloody stools can be a symptom of bleeding from the anus or rectal bleeding, ulceration, or dysentery.
Let’s look at the possible causes of bloody feces and how you may remedy them naturally.
Note, if you are having an excessive amount of blood loss, head straight for emergency medical care.
If you are not having life-threatening blood loss or other symptoms in addition to blood in stool, then there are some natural ways to help yourself.
You want to first address the root causes of your bloody stools right?
What Causes Blood in Stool?
Blood in stool is also referred to medically as hematochezia. This indicates there is bleeding somewhere in the digestive tract.
When you go to the toilet, your feces should normally be a shade of brown, though depending on the type of food you ate, but a red or black color is considered abnormal.
Can bloody stools be harmless?
Blood in stool is typically caused by bleeding coming from the upper or lower gastrointestinal tract. The blood can range from bright red to black.
Small amounts of blood may not be something to necessarily worry much about, especially if it goes away quickly, however, large amounts can be problematic.
The color of the bloody stool can actually be indicative of the location of internal bleeding if that is the cause. Sometimes pooping blood is not from internal bleeding but actually a sign of bleeding in the rectum.
The presence of blood in the stool can also range from being not noticeable to the naked eye to being alarmingly obvious to the naked eye.
One thing most health experts tell you is that it’s never quite normal to see blood in your stool. It may not be an extremely serious situation, but it’s certainly not a good sign of health either.
Blood in the stool can come from any place in your digestive system, from your mouth all the way to your anus.
If the bleeding is coming from the upper digestive region (such as the esophagus or stomach), then this typically results in tarry or black poop, which is also medically referred to as melena.
Maroon-colored stools or bright red blood often mean that the blood is coming from the small or large intestine, rectum, or anus.
What does blood in stool indicate?
Bright red blood in stools or maroon-colored stools usually indicates to blood coming from the small intestine, large intestine, rectum, or anus.
The underlying causes can include:
- Abnormal blood vessels
- Anal fissures (a small tear in the lining of the anus)
- Bowel ischemia
- Diverticulosis
- Foreign body or trauma
- Food poisoning
- Hemorrhoids (often the cause of bright red blood)
- Infection in the intestines
- Inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn’s disease.
- ulcerative colitis (this was actually the cause of my bloody stool)
- Polyps in the colon or small intestine, or possibly colon cancer
As mentioned earlier, the color of the blood in your stools is highly important. How?
A black, tarry stool (also called melena) typically indicates that the bleeding is coming from somewhere in the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract. For example, an ulcer may be a possible cause of tarry black stools.
On the other hand, if your stools appear bright red or maroon in color, then this often means there is an issue in the lower region of the digestive tract, such as the colon.
Examples of possible lower GI problems that cause red or maroon stools include inflammatory bowel disease, diverticulitis, and hemorrhoids.
Symptoms
The main sign or symptom of blood in stool is exactly “the bloody feces you have“
It’s important to note that when you see stool color changes, such as the addition of blood to your stool, this is actually a health concern that points toward underlying causes.
Sometimes someone may have blood in stool and not think much of it because that person doesn’t have any other symptoms. Other times, blood in the stool can be accompanied by other concerning symptoms, such as:
- changes in bowel movements
- abdominal pain
- weakness
- breathing trouble
- vomiting
- heart palpitations
- bloody diarrhea
- weight loss
The types of symptoms in addition to blood in stool depend upon the true root cause of the bloody stools, how long the bleeding has taken place, as well as how much blood has been lost.
What causes mucus in stool?
It’s totally normal for your stool to contain a small amount of mucus sometimes.
However, if you start to see more mucus in your stool, your bowel movements change or you also see blood in your stool, then you should find a doctor to discuss these issues with since it could be something more serious.
Diagnosis
How are the causes of bloody stool diagnosed?
Significant stool changes typically warrant testing to get to the root cause of the changes. It’s also important to identify the source/location of bleeding.
To make a diagnosis, doctors may recommend some conventional tests for patients experiencing abnormal color stools. Tests that can help determine the cause of the problem can include:
- Angiography
- Barium studies
- Bleeding scan
- Blood work, including a complete blood count and more
- Colonoscopy
- Double balloon enteroscopy
- Stool test
- Testing to determine if an H. pylori infection is present
- Upper endoscopy or capsule endoscopy
How often do polyps or cancer contribute to red stools?
Polyps in the colon can start off as benign growths with no symptoms, but then they can get bigger, bleed or even become cancerous.
As a result, most people with polyps won’t be aware of them as they produce no symptoms and are often discovered by accident.
However, some larger polyps can cause a small amount of rectal bleeding (blood in your stool) and mucus to be produced when you open your bowels.
Bright red blood in the stool typically indicates that there is bleeding in the rectum or colon, which may be a sign of colon or rectal cancer. Rectal bleeding can also be caused by hemorrhoids.
For an instant, in the United States, colorectal cancer is currently the third most common cancer, and it can cause bleeding that usually goes unnoticed/isn’t visible to the naked eye.
It’s important to keep up with doctors’ appointments if you’re at risk for colorectal cancer.
Conventional Treatment
The conventional medical treatment for bloody stools usually means treating the underlying cause. Managing discomfort can also be important.
Some recommendations that your doctor may give you include:
- Eating a high-fiber diet
- Avoiding triggering foods
- Stopping use or high doses of anti-inflammatory drugs, such as aspirin, ibuprofen, diclofenac, and naproxen (this is one of the common cause GI ulcers)
- Taking a sitz bath, which means sitting in warm water to relieve anal fissures and hemorrhoids
- Medications, such as antibiotics, to treat H. pylori
- Anti-inflammatory drugs to treat colitis
- Surgery to remove polyps or the parts of the rectum/colon that may be damaged
- Injecting chemicals into the site of bleeding using an electric current or laser, or applying a band or clip to close the bleeding vessel
Natural Remedies For Bloody Stool
There are also many natural ways to improve overall digestive health and maintain normal bowel movements.
Here’s what you can do if your blood in stool is caused by the following conditions:
- Bleeding Stomach Ulcer
Bleeding stomach ulcers, or peptic ulcers, are painful sores that develop in the lining of your digestive system. Seeing blood when you vomit or go to the bathroom is a common sign of a bleeding ulcer.
Thank Goodness, there are some things in your control that can help to naturally reduce ulcer symptoms and the likelihood of them bleeding.
First, you’ll want to avoid certain foods and drugs known to make ulcers worse, including:
What to Avoid
- spicy foods
- caffeine
- alcohol
- Avoid deep-fried food and peppery food.
- Carbonated drinks
- Certain fruits like watermelon and citrus fruits.
- refined sugars
- Avoid all pain relief drugs (NSAID)
- any food allergens
What to Eat
Focus on feeding food:
- high in fiber
- green leafy vegetables
- fermented foods
- strictly make water your go-to-go beverage
- try preparing cabbage juice occasionally
- try eating probiotic food
Research has also shown that the consumption of cabbage juice can have an impressive healing effect on peptic ulcers.
According to research, thirteen patients with peptic ulcer were treated with fresh cabbage juice, which, experiments have indicated, contains an anti-peptic ulcer factor.
This factor (vitamin U) prevents the development of histamine-induced peptic ulcers in guinea pigs.
The average crater healing time for seven of these patients who had duodenal ulcers was only 10.4 days, while the average time as reported in the literature, in 62 patients treated by standard therapy, was 37 days
Try this GI Healing Juice Recipe, which includes cabbage juice, cucumber, aloe, and ginger.
Another helpful idea when dealing with ulcers is to try eating several smaller meals throughout the day to reduce the taxation of the digestive system.
- Gastritis
Gastritis is a digestive health issue resulting from damage and inflammation of the gastric mucosa (the lining of the stomach and gastrointestinal tract).
Symptoms of gastritis can actually be similar to ulcer symptoms.
As usual, a healthy diet can really help improve gastritis. Overall, a healing gastritis diet consists mostly of vegetables, fruits, high-quality proteins, and healthy fats.
Foods that are especially helpful are ones rich in probiotics, fiber, antioxidants like vitamin C, vitamin B12, electrolytes, and omega-3 fatty acids.
Reducing stress is helpful to gastritis, and so is not eating too close to your bedtime. Try leaving yourself about three to four hours between eating dinner and going to sleep — this way you can fully digest.
Related: What are Probiotics and how do they benefit you?
Licorice root contains an anti-inflammatory compound called glycyrrhizic acid, which is known for its soothing effects on the stomach, making it very helpful to gastritis as well as ulcers.
Not only is glycyrrhizic acid anti-inflammatory but it also has been shown to have antioxidant, anti-tumor, and antimicrobial abilities.
You can take licorice extract in supplement form, including chewable. Eating fennel may also be helpful in reducing symptoms.
- Diverticulitis
Diverticulitis occurs when one or more small pouches (called diverticula) in the wall of the colon become inflamed.
Homemade bone broth and protein powder made from bone broth are two great ways to improve the integrity of your gut. Bone broth can help you easily digest essential nutrients that your body needs to heal and repair itself.
Getting enough high-fiber foods in the diet on a regular basis is also key to improving diverticulitis.
A diet that is too low in overall dietary fiber appears to up the chances of having active diverticulitis flare-ups.
Avoiding nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication (NSAIDs) is extremely important when you’re dealing with internal bleeding from diverticulitis or any other gastrointestinal tract bleeding for that matter.
A study published in the Archives of Family Medicine finds that chronic use of NSAIDs is linked to the worst symptoms of diverticulitis, especially bleeding.
Abnormal and bloody stools are common symptoms of IBD.
How can you improve Crohn’s disease?
You’ll definitely want to look into trying a Crohn’s disease diet.
When it comes to herbs that can help, slippery elm is a demulcent, which is a substance that protects irritated tissues and promotes their healing.
Slippery elm is an herb that contains mucilage, a substance that becomes a slick gel when mixed with water.
This mucilage coats and soothes the various areas of the digestive tract, making it a top herbal remedy for calming inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn’s.
- Ulcerative Colitis
There are many natural ways to help treat ulcerative colitis. One of the first steps in improving ulcerative colitis is evaluating and making necessary changes to your diet.
I highly recommend following a healing diet and avoiding common trigger foods like overly processed dairy products, refined sugars, caffeine, alcohol, carbonated beverages, and spicy foods.
Some of the best foods for fighting inflammation and calming ulcerative colitis symptoms are high in omega-3 fatty acids and probiotics.
What spice should you Eat more?
Turmeric and garlic are another smart addition to the diet if you’re looking to calm ulcerative colitis.
Turmeric is available in fresh root form, as a spice, or as a supplement. You can always get garlic in fresh form perhaps depending on your city.
Studies have shown taking curcumin, an active component of turmeric, may even help some ulcerative colitis patients stay in remission once they improve their symptoms.
Reducing stress and increasing intentional moments of relaxation are other key aspects of what you can personally do to improve your ulcerative colitis symptoms.
Stress is known to cause ulcerative colitis flare-ups so make sure you practice natural stress-reducing techniques on a regular basis.
Risks and Side Effects
Find a doctor right away or visit the emergency room if you also have any of these additional symptoms:
- You’ve passed large amounts of blood
- Rapid heart rate
- Lightheadedness
- Weakness
Remember that beets and tomatoes can also temporarily cause a reddening of the stool, so don’t be alarmed if you see red stools shortly after enjoying some beets.
Consuming black licorice or blueberries can temporarily cause changes in poop color, as can taking iron pills or bismuth medicines, such as Pepto Bismol.
See your doctor if you are experiencing bloody mucus in stool or mucus along with abdominal pain because these symptoms can point toward more serious problems, such as ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, and even cancer.
Always check with your doctor before starting any new supplements, if you are currently taking medication or have any ongoing health concerns.
For example, licorice extract may not be right for you if you are struggling with high blood pressure.
Conclusion
Unexplained bleeding in the body is never something to ignore. If you see blood in your stools, make sure you note the color and frequency because these are very helpful details for a health professional.
Bright red blood in stool can be serious depending on what’s causing it.
Possible conditions that can cause bloody stools include hemorrhoids, anal fissures, ulcerative colitis, inflammatory bowel disease or possibly something serious, such as colon cancer.
In order to treat this issue, some natural/conventional treatment options include eating an anti-inflammatory/high-fiber diet, avoiding trigger foods such as alcohol and spicy foods, eating smaller meals more frequently, making water your go-to-go beverage, drinking bone broth, stopping the use of NSAIDs, make turmeric and garlic your favorite spices and manage stress.
I hope you get the value worth your time, I appreciate the time you spend with me. Leave a comment below if you find this article helpful and don’t forget to drop your question, opinion, or criticism if any. Cheers!
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