A small amount of one-off bleeding from the bottom isn’t usually a serious problem. But never ignore it.

You might be bleeding from the bottom if you have:

• Blood on your toilet paper.
• Red streaks on the outside of your poo.
• Pink water in the toilet bowl.
• Blood in your poo or bloody diarrhea.
• Very dark, smelly poo (this can be blood mixed in poo).

A small amount of one-off bleeding can often go away on its own without needing treatment.

See your doctor if:

• Your child has blood in their poo.
• You’ve had blood in your poo for 3 weeks.
• Your poo has been softer, thinner or longer than normal for 3 weeks.
• You’re in a lot of pain around the bottom.
• You have pain or lump in your tummy..
• You’ve been more tired than usual.
• You’ve lost weight for no reason.

Go to the hospital immediately if :

• Your poo is black or dark red.
• You have bloody diarrhea for no obvious reason.
• There’s a lot of blood – for example, the toilet water turns red or you see large blood clots.

Bleeding from the bottom is sometimes a sign of bowel cancer. This is easier to treat if it’s found early, so it’s important to get it checked.

Symptoms and possible Causes

• Bright red blood and pain when pooing, itchy bottom, lumps piles (hemorrhoids).
• Bright red blood and the pain when pooing – often after constipation a small tear in your anus (anal fissure).
• Bleeding with or without lumps, itching or pain sexually transmitted infections (STIs) like genital warts.
• Bright red blood without the pain is side effect of blood-thinning. medication like warfarin or aspirin, broken blood vessels in the gut (angiodysplasia).
• Blood and yellow slime when pooing, irritated anus, non-stop bottom pain anal fistula.
• Bloody diarrhea with clear slime, feeling and being sick tummy bug (gastroenteritis).
• Bloody diarrhea, tummy cramps and pain, feeling bloated and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) like ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease.
• Blood in poo bleeding in the anus, bowel or lower gut (gastrointestinal tract) from injury or another problem.
• Blood in poo, change in pooing habits (like looser poo, diarrhea or constipation), slime with poo bowel polyps, early signs of bowel cancer.

Poo can look very dark or black if you:

• Take iron tablets.
• Eat a lot of dark foods like licorice and blueberries.

But it’s sometimes a sign of something else. Your doctor can do a test to check this if you’re worried.

Symptoms and Possible causes

• Dark or black poo—– bleeding in the stomach or gut (gastrointestinal tract) – can be from injury or a side effect of blood-thinning medication like warfarin or aspirin.
• Dark blood or poo with tummy pain or cramps—— stomach ulcer, diverticular disease and diverticulitis.
• Dark blood without pain blood-thinning medication like warfarin or aspirin, angiodysplasia (broken blood vessels in the gut).