This Might Be Why You're Seeing Blood In Your Poop + What To Do

Blood in your stool can indicate an issue anywhere in your digestive system, and the color of the blood may help determine exactly where the bleeding is coming from.

For example, black-colored poop (also called melena) can indicate an issue in your upper digestive system. While the color change could be caused by certain dark-colored foods, it may also signal a more serious issue, like bleeding in the stomach, small intestine, or right side of the colon.

One of the most common causes of rectal bleeding is hemorrhoids: swollen blood vessels around the anus. They can be external or internal, and may lead to bright red bleeding.

While hemorrhoids can be painful, uncomfortable, and sometimes itchy, they're usually no cause for alarm. Hemorrhoids can stem from straining during difficult bowel movements, pregnancy, or prolonged sitting.

Your entire digestive tract—starting at the mouth and ending with the anus—is lined with a thin layer of tissue, called mucosa. When the mucosa lining the anus develops small tears, they're called anal fissures3, and they may be the cause of bright red blood in your stool.

Like hemorrhoids, anal fissures can be caused by difficult bowel movements, when stool is too bulky or hard to pass through the colon easily. They are often compared to paper cuts or cracks from chapped lips.

Diverticulitis is a common intestinal condition, which occurs when small pouches form in the wall of the colon and become infected or inflamed. Symptoms often include bloating, fever, nausea, tenderness in the stomach or intense abdominal pain. In rare cases, it may result in bright red bleeding from the rectum.

The condition can be either acute or chronic. The latter can lead to serious complications, which may require surgery, so it's critical to get a doctor's diagnosis if you think you may have diverticulitis or notice bleeding as a result.

Colitis and Crohn's disease are two common forms of inflammatory bowel disease. Both can cause inflammation and may lead to ulcers in the digestive tract.

Ulcers, or open sores in the lining of the stomach or small intestine, are often caused by a bacterial infection. They can also develop from long-term use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), like Ibuprofen. Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease can cause bloody diarrhea5, as well as stools that contain mucus or pus.

Polyps are small masses of cells that can form in the colon. While anyone can develop colon polyps, people over the age of 50 are at a higher risk. Polyps are extremely common and usually harmless, but in some cases they can grow, bleed, and become cancerous (these polyps are called adenoma.)

Polyps are often found during a routine colonoscopy, but are sometimes suspected if a person experiences a change in stool color. Bleeding associated with colon cancer is often called occult bleeding, meaning it’s not seen with the naked eye, and can only be detected during cancer screening.