Yeah, we get it. Who wants to talk about poop? Five-year-old boys aside, most of us would like to take a pass on the awkward doo-doo discussion. But talking about your bowel movements isn’t a complete waste of time. Quite the contrary. It can actually help you take a load off when it comes to your health.
Here’s the thing: Poop says a lot about how your body is functioning and can provide valuable insight into your current digestive or overall health.
Familiarizing yourself with your own unique way of “going” can help you keep track of any changes that could signal a problem or a dietary change that may need to be made. Understand that you should expect to see daily changes in the size, color and consistency of your “number two” but that consistent changes could provide clues as to what’s going on inside of you.
Temporary changes in your diet can be the culprit when you see something odd in the porcelain bowl. Cleanses, certain medications or a week-long celebration of someone’s wedding can certainly wreak havoc on the mysterious inner workings of your gastrointestinal (GI) tract.
You can expect to see short-lived changes in your stool when something unusual is happening in your diet or your life. But longer, more unexplained inconsistencies can be signs of health conditions that might warrant medical attention.
If you have any concerns about the way you’re going, consult your doctor and have the somewhat uncomfortable but entirely necessary discussion that could put you on the road to better health and maybe even save your life.
Consider these Five Things Your Number Two Says about You
Now things are going to get a little gross...but understanding these five clues can help determine if your stool is indeed telling you something important about your health.
1. LOOSE AND RUNNY: Your poop is loose and runny but not exactly diarrhea. While short-term changes that fit this description can be the result of a temporary dietary change, a long-term concern about this symptom can be a sign of celiac disease. This is a somewhat rare but recently more understood and widely known condition that affects your body's ability to tolerate gluten. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. People with celiac disease are unable to eat gluten because it damages or destroys the villi of the small intestine. This damage affects the body's ability to absorb essential nutrients from any foods you eat. Frequent, loose stool is one major symptom of this condition. Celiac disease is often accompanied by other symptoms, including bloating, rashes, fatigue and pain. Proper dietary modifications can help firm up stools and allow nutrient absorption. Such lifestyle changes also can alleviate other symptoms.
2. BLACK OR BRIGHT RED STOOLS: -- Your poop is black or bright red in color. Oddly colored excrement in the toilet bowl can be alarming, and if your poop is black or bright red, it could be rightly so. Black or bright red stool can indicate bleeding in the GI tract, which can signal serious health conditions such as a stomach ulcer or colon cancer. This symptom can be the result of more benign conditions as well (such as hemorrhoids) or could be the result of certain medications such as Pepto Bismol. (Pepto is known to turn stool black due to the way its key ingredient reacts to the sulfur in your GI tract.) If you notice blood in your stool at any time or have stools that are black in color, consult your physician for guidance. Bleeding in the GI tract is a serious concern and may warrant additional testing to rule out any life-threatening health conditions.
3. DIARRHEA OR FOUL-SMELLING: You have diarrhea and your poop smells like eggs or sulfur: As unpleasant as this symptom may be, it’s likely that it’s a sign of a wholly treatable condition called giardia. Giardia is a parasite that can be picked up by drinking untreated water or swimming in fresh water such as rivers or lakes. Many people contract giardia and have no idea because the main symptom is the smelly, runny poop they experience. Some people have the parasite in them for weeks or more because they don’t seek medical attention for this symptom. Giardia is treated with antibiotics.
4. THIN STOOL: The stringy quality of your number two can be a temporary variation of normal if it lasts for a day or two, but if this is an ongoing observance, you should inform your healthcare professional of what you’re experiencing. Pencil-thin stool can be the sign of rectal cancer, a potentially serious and life-threatening condition. When rectal cancer occurs, the tumor restricts the rectum, which causes stool to come out of a smaller opening, resulting in the thin, stringy results you see in the bowl. This type of stool can also be a more benign sign of constipation and straining of the anal sphincter, a condition often remedied by simply adding more fiber to the diet. If you have concerns about this type of symptom, consult your healthcare provider for further guidance and appropriate testing.
5. GREENISH DIARRHEA: If you’re experiencing this unfortunate symptom, you could be suffering from a Clostridium difficile (C. Diff) infection. C.Diff is a normal part of the flora found in the digestive tract. This is recently a more frequently diagnosed condition that may begin as benign but has the potential to become serious. It often occurs after a round of antibiotics kills off the good bacteria responsible for keeping C. Diff in reasonable check. Once C. Diff begins to take over the environment of the digestive tract, it can cause increasingly serious issues with the stomach that ultimately can cause dehydration, the need for hospitalization and in extreme cases, death. If you believe you might be suffering from C. Diff, contact your doctor and ask for further testing. If you currently take antibiotics, you may need to discontinue using them until your condition is resolved.
Again, it may not be high on your list of good times, but being aware of how your poop can inform you of any potential health concerns is helpful in the overall maintenance of your health. Having these types of awkward and possibly embarrassing conversations with your doctor not only can assist in resolving some health concerns, but it also can save your life. If you have any worries about what you’re seeing in your porcelain bowl, never hesitate to seek the expertise of your healthcare professional.