Anal Bleeding
What is anal bleeding?

Anal bleeding is bleeding when you have a bowel movement. While anal bleeding is a condition, it is often a symptom of an underlying medical issue, including:
- Hemorrhoids: Swollen veins in your anus and lower rectum, similar to varicose veins.
- Anal Fissures: A small tear in the thin, moist tissue (mucosa) that lines the anus.
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD): A term for two conditions (Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis) that are characterized by chronic inflammation and sores (ulcers) along the lining of the colon and rectum.
- Ulcers: Sores that are slow to heal or keep returning. They can take many forms, and can appear both on the inside and the outside of your body.
- Colorectal cancer: A disease in which cells in the colon or rectum grow out of control.
What are the symptoms of anal bleeding?
Typically, you notice blood on toilet paper when you wipe, in the water of the toilet bowl, or in your stool. The color of blood can actually indicate where the bleeding might be coming from:
- Bright red blood usually means bleeding that’s low in your color or rectum.
- Dark red or maroon blood can mean that you have bleeding higher in the colon or in the small bowel.
- Melena (dark and tar-like stool) often points to bleeding in the stomach, such asbleeding from ulcers.
How is anal bleeding treated?
Dr. Meyerson will do a sigmoidoscopy to look in your anus with a flexible lighted tube called a sigmoidoscope to determine the cause of your anal bleeding. He might also do a colonoscopy to look inside your large intestine to see if there are any polyps to be removed. Removing polyps early means they can’t turn into cancer. Some causes like anal fissures can be treated with ointments. Other causes like IBD can be treated with medication. And other causes like hemorrhoids can be treated with a painless, in-office procedure like rubber band ligation.
Dr. Meyerson is
an expert if you need a colonoscopy.
world-renowned, if you need surgery.
the doctor who will find a permanent solution for you.