Passing blood

People who see blood in their stools or on toilet paper usually assume it to be caused by haemorrhoids or ‘piles'. Although these are the commonest cause of bleeding, inflammation of the rectum and small cracks in the anal skin anal fissures can also be the source.

Bright red blood on the surface of stools usually comes from the anus or rectum, whereas dark red to dark brown blood will probably have come from somewhere higher up in the intestines.

However, rectal bleeding can also be a sign of something much more serious such as bowel cancer, cancer of the rectum, diverticulitis and colitis and so this symptom should never be ignored.

Your doctor will perform a rectal examination to see if he can feel any abnormality, and may then transfer you to a specialist who would look directly into the rectum using a sigmoidoscope or colonoscope. A barium enema X-ray may also be carried out.

This article was published on Fri 12 March 2010