Bloody Stool

While a bloody stool might cause you to think the worst, finding a little bit of blood in the toilet doesn’t always indicate a serious medical condition. The truth is, bloody stools often turn out to be the result of something minor, such as internal hemorrhoids. But the only way to truly know what’s causing your bloody stool is to contact a CRH O’Regan doctor and schedule a consultation. As experts in the revolutionary CRH hemorrhoid treatment, as well as other gastrointestinal treatments, these experienced physicians can assess the problem and advise the best treatment possible.

In the case of bloody stool, it’s important to pay attention to things like frequency and general color of the blood you’re seeing. In order to properly assess the issue, your doctor will need to know how often you find blood in your stool. And since a bloody stool indicates bleeding somewhere within your digestive tract, you’ll also need to pay attention to color. A black colored, tar-like stool, for example, may indicate an upper digestive tract problem such as an ulcer, while bright red blood or maroon-colored stool might mean a problem in the lower digestive tract. Hemorrhoids are a common lower digestive tract problem that can be quickly and easily treated with a banding procedure like the CRH System.

Diagnosis

Based on the information you provide, your doctor might choose to examine the area for signs of hemorrhoids, anal fissures, or other digestive tract problems that they can see or feel during examination. Your doctor may also order tests so he or she can further diagnose the issue. Once your doctor knows the cause, they can begin the right treatment. Below is a list of possible reasons a stool might contain blood:

• Hemorrhoids: A mass of swollen tissue in or around the anus. Removing hemorrhoids completely used to require surgery, but nowadays patients are opting for the quick and painless CRH O’Regan banding procedure.
• Anal fissure: A minor cut in the lining of the anal tissue that’s actually very similar to the type of cuts or tears you experience if lips become too chapped or you get a paper cut.
• Diverticular disease: Small pouches that form on the wall of the colon. Normal diverticula won’t cause any noticeable problems, but an infected one might bleed and cause bloody stools.
• Colitis: An inflammation of the colon caused by an infection or inflammatory bowel disease.
• Angiodysplasia: Abnormal blood vessels become fragile and bleed.
• Colon Cancer: Bloody stool can also be an indicator of a much more serious issue, which is why it is so important to get checked out by a physician.

Treatment

Depending on the cause of your bloody stools, treatment could include anything from antibiotics to simply getting more fiber in your diet! And while treatment of the conditions above will vary depending on the situation, chances are your bloody stools are simply an unpleasant side effect of hemorrhoids. With the right treatment, you can say goodbye to bloody stools forever.