Rectal bleeding or blood on the stool is the passage of blood from both the upper and lower gastrointestinal tract and through the anus. The blood’s color depends on its origin in the gastrointestinal tract and ranges from bright red, maroon, black and sometimes, occult or invisible to the naked eye. The closer the site of the bleeding is to the anus, the redder it is.
Although there are cases that rectal bleeding originates in the upper gastrointestinal tract which is made up of the stomach and duodenum, it is more common that it comes from the lower GI tract which involves the colon, rectum and anus. The large intestine or colon can be divided into three parts: the right, transverse and left colon. The right colon is the ascending colon which carries the undigested food in it from the small intestine. This undigested food passes through the transverse colon and into the left colon which is made up of the sigmoid colon and descending colon. This is the nearest to the rectum, anal canal and anus.
The bleeding from the right and transverse colon, the farthest from the anus, has colors ranging from dark-red to maroon while the bleeding from the left colon are bright red. If the bleeding has been remaining in the stomach and small intestine, it will range from bright red to maroon to black depending on how long it has been there.
Knowing the color of the blood makes it easier to identify its cause (or what condition it is) and treat it earlier; one of the most usual condition being anal fissure. Anal fissure is the tear in the lining of the anus due to injury or trauma of the inner sphincter or muscular ring of the anus.
Anal fissures are mostly caused by constipation or forced bowel movements but other causes include passing hard stools, diarrhea, and childbirth (giving birth causes physical trauma to the anus). Its most common symptom is causing a sharp pain or burning sensation to be felt during and after an intestinal tract (bowel) movement but for some people, blood on the stool may occur. It is reported to be minor with only a few bleedings on the toilet bowl or on the tissue paper used for wiping that is bright red in color.
It could still however, be confused with other anal conditions such as hemorrhoids, anal abscesses, and polyps to name a few. But keep in mind that anal fissures may be the same in causing bleeding as is the three, but they still have differences including it hurting during and after a bowel movement whilst hemorrhoids don’t, abscesses being a pus-filled cavity and not a tear, and a polyp being an abnormal cell growth in the colon.
Anal fissures are the most common condition responsible for the blood on your stool but there are also other anal conditions that cause bleeding such as hemorrhoids, colon cancer and polyps, and colitis. The only way to be sure that it is one of these is to go to your doctor for a checkup and being mindful of the symptoms of each just to be sure.
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