What Causes Rectal Bleeding?

Posted on Fri, 4 Jul 2014

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

Fri, 4 Jul 2014 Answered on

Fri, 25 Jul 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : Hi - I have noticed that I appear to be bleeding from the rectum - it didn't worry me too much at first because I do have hemmaroids so I thought it may be that - it happens quite often when I go to the toilet. But I noticed that there were small clots in this blood and that did worry me a trifle.

Answered by Dr. Ivo Ditah (38 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Please, get evaluated and treated for this!

Detailed Answer:
Hi and thank you so much for this query.

I am so sorry to hear about these clots you observed and all the inconveniences this must have caused you.

Blood in stools can be caused by hemorrhoids, even clots can also be caused by hemorrhoids. What concerns me is that repeated minor bleeding can lead to anemia. Also, continued bleeding may be associated with known hemorrhoids and cause us to miss potentially concerning and other possible causes of blood in stools especially in elderly like cancers.

Have you had your screening colonoscopy for colon cancer? If not, I strongly recommend that you do so because of your age and symptoms. Also, get this condition treated adequately. Even when the cause is known, we cannot feel comfortable having blood in our stools all the times. This has consequences.

The best person to consult at this point would be a gastroenterologist. There is no emergency right now and a regular appointment would do at your earliest convenience.

I hope this helps. I wish you well. Thank you so much for using our services and do feel free to ask for more information and clarifications if need be.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar