Having Pain In Lower Abdomen. Noticed Blood In Stool. Is This A Serious Problem?

Posted on Thu, 18 Apr 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 Answered on

Fri, 10 May 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : I am a 34 year old male and have had a dull pain in the lower left side of my abdomen about 2 inches left of naval and 2 inches down for about 4 months. It comes and goes and isnt that strong of a pain. I noticed today a black spot almost like a black bean in my stool. I fished it out to look at it and it was almost like a black lining of some sort, I am hoping that it is something that I ate(I ate black beans in a salsa 2 days ago, and I had about 5 black olives yesterday) Please let me know what you think it has me nervous as it says black tar is blood in your stool, this wasnt necessarily a tar substance it was almost like a black skin but was elastic.

Answered by Dr. Abhijit Deshmukh (2 hours later)

Hi,

Thank you for the query.

Likely the black substance you saw in you stool was undigested food particle.

Blood in stool which is black usually suggest an bleeding in upper tract. However such bleeding causes stools to be foul smelling and semisolid with the entire stool usually turning brown - which is not there in your case. If you are too anxious can get an stool examined for occult blood which may clarify things.

Hope this answers your query. Let me know if you need further guidance.

Wish you a speedy recovery...

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad

Follow up: Dr. Abhijit Deshmukh (5 hours later)

Did you mean the entire stool turn black (not brown) as you stated above... Also what do you attribute the dull pain in my left lower abdomen to?

Answered by Dr. Abhijit Deshmukh (6 hours later)

Hi,

Thanks for writing back.

Possibly the pain is due to an irritable intestine called fiber supplements and see if you feel better.

Also a stool, urine examination and an Ultrasonography of abdomen could sort out the issue reasonably.

Hope this answers your query. Let me know if you need further guidance.

Wish you a speedy recovery.

Regards,

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T