Occassional Blood in Stool

[jdg2003]

Over the last 3-4 years, I've occassionally had small amounts of bright red blood coating my stool and sometimes blood on the toilet paper.  I've seen my phsyician several times, had 2 sigmoidoscopy's and a occult fecal test -- everything has shown up clean.  I'm concerned that the location/reason for the bleeding hasn't been located.

Thank you.

[Spiczar]

I had that same problem a few months ago and it turned out to be internal hemorrhoids.  Since the tissue in the lower part of your colon has very few nerve endings, you often can't feel the pain of internal hemorrhoids like you can with external ones.  Because of that, most people don't think of hemorrhoids as the problem.  In diagnosing the problem, my doctor told me that the bright red blood was a good sign because it meant that the blood was coming out near the source.  (indiating the hemorrhoids)  He said that dark or black blood would indicate a more serious problem.

[eveningstar]

Rectal bleeding is NEVER normal and don't EVER assume it is hemmorhoids.  A doctor saying bright red blood is a good sign is appalling.  Bright red simply means it is likely coming from the lower part of the colon.  The source cannot be determined without a visual exam.  And the entire colon should be examined to rule out any serious problems.  This can be done with a colonoscopy.  A sigmoidoscopy examines only the lower 1/3 of the colon.