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What Causes Bleeding After Bowel Movements?
Found bright red blood in the toilet bowl after a hard bowel movement. No pain. Bowel movements have been hard and pebble like. I am a light eater. First time this has happened. I am an 85 year old woman in good general condition, swim 3 times a week for exercise. YYYY@YYYY
Thu, 28 Jun 2018
Hello and Welcome to ‘Ask A Doctor’ service. I have reviewed your query and here is my advice.
In your case, blood presence in stool doesn’t seem to be something serious. And in most causes of are benign and include hemorrhoids, anal fissure or rectal polyps. These are primarily treated with stool softener, diet and sitzbaths. If there are some other symptoms such as weigh loss or pain or inability to have bowel movements then some further tests should be done. It is common that hard stool lead to bleeding due to fragile hemorrhoids so it is important to soften your stool with appropriate diet that include lot of fluids, probiotics, high fibre food and stool softeners to avoid hard stool and straining. If there is no improvement in next few weeks, then tests are required which include colonoscopy and irigography. Other causes may be more serious and include tumors or inflammatory bowel diseases and these should be ruled out with colonoscopy which must be done if there is low blood count present or rapid weight loss.
Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
In your case, blood presence in stool doesn’t seem to be something serious. And in most causes of are benign and include hemorrhoids, anal fissure or rectal polyps. These are primarily treated with stool softener, diet and sitzbaths. If there are some other symptoms such as weigh loss or pain or inability to have bowel movements then some further tests should be done. It is common that hard stool lead to bleeding due to fragile hemorrhoids so it is important to soften your stool with appropriate diet that include lot of fluids, probiotics, high fibre food and stool softeners to avoid hard stool and straining. If there is no improvement in next few weeks, then tests are required which include colonoscopy and irigography. Other causes may be more serious and include tumors or inflammatory bowel diseases and these should be ruled out with colonoscopy which must be done if there is low blood count present or rapid weight loss.
Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
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