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Pooping Blood

Pooping Blood

I was recently shocked to find blood in the bowl after a bowel movement. The photo, while unpleasant, is actually one I took to show the doctor.

If you have had this happen to you, you know what a discomforting feeling it is. Several thoughts raced through head. Why is there blood? Do I have some internal bleeding? I don't recall any recent trauma that could have caused this. Do I need to go to the doctor?

Take a deep breath. The condition shown in this photo is not life threatening. If your blood look like this, you are probably fine. The bright red color means the blood is oxygenated. This blood does not come from internal bleeding. Blood from internal bleeding would be black colored due to the absence of oxygen.

So now that initial panic is over, the question remains why is there blood? What is causing this?

Internal Bleeding

Internal bleeding is extremely serious. You can determine if you have internal bleeding by the color of the blood.

Bright red blood means the blood cells were exposed to oxygen before they died. The function of the blood cells is to bind to oxygen molecules within the lungs and transport oxygen throughout the body. When the cells bind with oxygen, they appear the bright red color we all expect from blood.

For example, when you have a cut the blood is bright red. As the blood emerges from the wound, the cells are still alive. They continue to perform their duty and bind to oxygen in the air has they emerge from the wound. For pooping blood, this means the bleeding occurred as you had a bowel movement. The most likely cause is a hemorrhoid.

Dark or black blood is a sign of internal bleeding. This means either the blood cells died, or the blood is lacking oxygen. The dead cells no longer bind oxygen molecules. If you had internal bleeding in the digestive track, the environment lacked oxygen. In addition, the blood may have spent enough time in the intestine that the cells died.

If you see dark or black blood, seek medical help as soon as possible and explain the symptoms to them.

Pooping blood

The short is answer I had hemorrhoids. If you have bright red blood after a bowel movement, chances are you've got them too. Studies have shown that 80% of people will experience them or a related problem in their lifetime.

They are enlarged and swollen veins in the lower part of the rectum. Generally they are painful and hard lumps. When you have a bowel movement, they are the source of the blood. The symptoms of the condition are listed below.

* Red blood in the bowl on the toilet paper

* Pain while passing stool

* An ache or pain in the rectal area while sitting

* Itching in the rectal area

Pooping Blood

My condition had only one of the above symptoms. This was the red blood.

The amount of blood varied. Sometimes there would be no blood at all. Other times there would be so much, it was alarming. The toilet paper was often the best gauge, regardless of how the bowl looked.

The vein itself appeared to be internal, or inside the rectum. There were no lumps.

I did not experience pain while passing stool or while sitting. I also did not have itching. This may have been due to the fact it was internal.

Pooping Blood

Here is a short video from Doctor Susan Jewell. It runs about two minutes.

Pooping Blood

I used a non-prescription treatment called Venapro. It shrunk my inflamed veins. That stopped the blood from appearing. It also allowed them to begin healing. In addition Venapro has a laxative like effect. This allows the stool to pass easily causing less irritation.

I did make changes to my diet to get more fiber. I eat more fruits and vegetables than I used to. I really enjoy apples, and I try to eat one apple a day. Apples are full of fiber. I also buy frozen broccoli, put a few florets in glass dish and microwave them for three minutes. This steams the broccoli. I try to eat this every other day at least. You can melt a slice of cheese by placing it on top right after you take it out of the microwave