Constipation Blood
Should I Be Alarmed?

Constipation blood - Hitchcock Style. I was starring at my own constipation horror flick.

My horror was similar to what I experienced when I watched the Alfred Hitchcock flick about the shower and the knife. It was scary. As I painfully relieved myself one morning, suddenly I saw red.

After being constipated for days, I was thrilled to finally render myself free of constipation’s ugly grip. The aftermath of blood in the toilet, however, was a 5 bell alarm. Like any other time of suddenly seeing one’s own blood, I thought there must be something horribly wrong with me. Was I was plagued with some disease. Would I die?

My over-imaginative mind was soon relieved. My mom explained to me that it was nothing to be alarmed over. The hard stool that I had just passed had cut me on it’s way out.

Happily she was right. In fact, the cut healed up within a day. This being said, constipation blood can be frightening. So let’s get down to the nitty gritty of constipation blood and see what was happening on the inside, far out of view.

The Story of Constipation Blood

Scene 1 - The Saga Begins

What is actually going on down there when one is constipated? Well, basically, during the several days of stool piling up, the colon continues to draw out moisture till the stool becomes compacted and hard…quite hard.

Sometimes it dries up because our bodies are dehydrated. Instead of drinking water, we're drinking a bunch of dehydrating liquids, such as soda pop, coffee and sweet tea.

Or perhaps it is to to other causes of constipation, like when the stool piles up because we've enjoyed a few too many fast food delicacies, sugar loaded goodies, and other fiber devoid foods.

Scene 2 - The Fight

Out of sheer frustration, we finally decide to do anything and everything in our power to get rid of this annoying, bogging, mood decreasing, constipated mass. So we take that laxative. In fact, we take two. We don’t want to wait around for relief any longer than need be!

Back to the inside view, here comes the laxative, sailing blissfully through our system down to the troubled constipation “neighborhood”.

At first, the constipation isn't going to have it. This is its turf and it’s not going to leave easily. There’s a fight, a struggle and the laxative finally wins, contracting muscles to push the stool down to the rectum as quickly as it can.

Scene 3 - The Bloody Finale

By this point in our story line, we are feeling a little nauseous from the internal struggle occurring inside of our intestines. We engage in a horrific bathroom battle. Constipation has formed a stool of seemingly insurmountable size, but it must go.

As this dry, hardened mass passes through the anus, it stretches it to the limit. At this point the anal tissue is especially vulnerable to sharp corners. As one passes by, it inflicts a cut.

This is the moment we see blood and freak out. But do not be alarmed. The body is an amazing thing and will normally heal itself within one or two days. If you are experiencing more longer term pain when you have future bowel movements, you may have what’s called an Anal Fissure.

Anal Fissures are basically harsher forms of splits or tears in the anal lining near the anal hole and can require one to two weeks to heal.

Other Possible Causes of Constipation Blood

Although a tear in the anus or hemorrhoid is the most common reason for blood appearing in stool, it’s a good idea to be informed of the following rare possibilities.

Diverticulitis

if you experience long term and re-occurring bleeding with your stools, your intestine may have formed bulging sacs caused by lack of fiber and infection from trapped stool in the lining.

If you feel this may be what you are experiencing, it is easily treatable. Bed rest, antibiotics and a short term liquid diet should be enough to allow your intestine to heal.

Colon cancer

Yes, this is a scarier possibility. If you are having ongoing symptoms of constipation, diarrhea and blood in stool, as well as weakness, fatigue and weight loss, it is wise to get a check-up.

Proctitis

If you’re experiencing blood in your stool, you may also have an inflamed rectum. Ouch. Easily treatable with antibiotics.

Crohn's disease

This is a chronic bowel disease which also causes severe inflammation in your rectal track.
Though it is unclear what causes Crohn’s disease, it can be treated and managed. Please talk with your doctor for options.

Is it Serious? Is it Not?

Here’s the quick way to know if the blood in your stool is a sign of anything dangerous: The key word is “timing”. The more serious conditions listed above are based on longer term and consistent symptoms and are not necessarily associated with hard bowel movements.

A simple tear or more extreme anal fissure will show itself directly after a hard bowel movement.

In my history of rectal tears, I always felt the tear directly after I had passed a hard stool - it was quite sore where the tear occurred. So rest assured, if you have randomly discovered blood in your stool directly after a painful bowel movement, it is most likely simply a rectal tear.

If you are, however, experiencing the same blood in your stool each and every bowel movement, please see a doctor and get it checked out.