Anal bleeding can be caused by various factors. The most common cause is a swollen blood vessel in the anal area. Rectal bleeding can also result from anal tears, but there can be other, more serious causes. If you have this problem, you should not ignore it. Visit your doctor and see what’s wrong.
Anal bleeding is a common symptom of hemorrhoids. It can also be caused by small tears (fissures) in the anus.
Bight-red blood usually means that bleeding comes from some spot near the anus. Darker blood (sometimes it can be almost black) usually means that bleeding comes from digestive system.
What Are the Most Common Causes of Rectal Bleeding?
♦ Hemorrhoids (blood vessel swelling) and anal tears can cause rectal bleeding. In such cases, blood is bright red. Hemorrhoids can bleed during a bowel movement, resulting in bright-red blood streaks in your stools. Hemorrhoids can cause very unpleasant itchiness in the anal area, but they usually heal on their own. In some cases, surgeries are done to treat hemorrhoids.
♦ Anal fissure can be described as a tear in the anus. It can be quite painful, because the skin inside the anus is sensitive. In such cases, the blood is bright in color, but the bleeding is minor and usually lasts short. Some people feel like they need to pass stools, although the bowel is empty. This can be very unpleasant. However, this problem usually heals without any medical treatment.
♦ Gastroenteritis is another cause of rectal bleeding. This is a bacterial or viral infection of bowel. In most people, the infection is stopped by the immune system, within several days. Gastroenteritis usually causes diarrhea with traces of blood, abdominal cramps and vomiting.
♦ Diverticulosis can cause rectal bleeding. This condition is characterized by small bulges that occur in the lower bowel lining. These bulges have small, weakened blood vessels that often burst and result in painless bleeding.
♦ Anal bleeding can be caused by bowel cancer. However, if you experience rectal bleeding, that does not necessarily mean you have bowel cancer (other symptoms have to be present as well). If you think you may be at risk of getting bowel cancer, visit your doctor.
Some of the risk factors include:
• Age: people between the ages of 40 and 60 are at increased risk of getting bowel cancer.
• If your bleeding has lasted more than forty days, visit your doctor
• If your doctor has found any abnormality during examination, you should undergo further analyses to determine whether you have bowel cancer
♦ Rectal bleeding can be caused by colon cancer. This is a sub-type of bowel cancer, and in most cases, it shows very few symptoms. Rectal bleeding is sometimes the only symptom, so you should not ignore it.
♦ Rectum cancer is another type of bowel cancer that can cause rectal bleeding. It is more common in older people.
♦ Certain medications (anticoagulant medications like aspirin or Warfarin) can also cause internal bleeding.
♦ Ulcerative colitis can affect the rectum and large bowel, causing bloody diarrhea.
Anal Bleeding Treatment
Anal bleeding treatment will depend on the cause of bleeding, and may include non-surgical methods like medications (injections, stool softeners, high-fiber diet, etc) and surgical treatment. Surgical treatment is always the last option.