As the saying goes, “people have three emergencies”, and it is important to keep the back door well. Our “back door” is medically called the anus, because of the similarity in appearance is jokingly referred to as the chrysanthemum. There is a song that says: “chrysanthemum, full of injuries, your smile has been yellowed ……” In fact, “chrysanthemum” dripping blood is more terrible. When you go to the toilet, if you find blood in the urinal or on the hand towel, you may exclaim: “Oh my gosh, how blood in the stool?”
In fact, did you know? There is a difference between real and fake blood in the stool. Sometimes it can be mistaken for blood in the stool due to food residue or pigmentation. Once an old lady came to my clinic with a piece of paper and shouted, “Doctor, I have blood in my stool!” I opened the paper to see, which is blood in the stool, it is not the red Kentucky old man printed! The real blood in the stool is roughly divided into three situations: 1, blood stool (dripping blood, spraying blood, blood on the hand paper); 2, mucus or pus blood stool; 3, black stool (tar-like).
If blood in the stool does come, what should we do? Currently there are two major misconceptions in society: the first major misconception is that the Internet to find a doctor, the disease is urgent. There was once a young man who saw many online recommended hospitals and spent more than $30,000, only to visit my clinic and see that it was hemorrhoids. The second major misconception is that paralysis, always think they are solving the “watermelon water”, buy some hemorrhoid medicine to use, the result of the tumor delayed. There was once an old man who had blood in his stool for more than a year and did not pay attention to it, but recently came to my clinic and saw that he had advanced rectal cancer, which was a great pity!
In fact, blood in stool is a “yellow card warning” given by the body to us. If you have fresh blood in your stool, the most common cause is hemorrhoids, because “nine out of ten people have hemorrhoids”. If it is accompanied by severe pain in the anus, then it may be an anal fissure. Of course, it could also be a more serious disease such as bowel cancer.
If the stool is mucus or pus, it may be inflammation of the intestines. If the stool is black, it is likely to be upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Of course, they could all be intestinal cancer as well. Therefore, blood in stool is a danger sign that should not be ignored. So, what should we do if we have blood in stool? Go to the hospital!
What department should we go to if there is blood in the “chrysanthemum”? Please remember the following three chrysanthemums. If you have blood in your stool as bright red as the first chrysanthemum, suspect hemorrhoids, anal fissures may be, then you can first register for the anorectal specialist, do a basic anorectal examination. If you have a mucus-purulent stool like the second chrysanthemum, or if you have some abdominal symptoms of diarrhea or abdominal pain, then it is best to call a gastroenterologist for further examination. If you suspect that you have intestinal cancer like the third chrysanthemum or a disease that requires surgery, then you should call our basic surgery department (or general surgery).
The doctor may give you a rectal exam during the visit. You may say, “How embarrassing is this! How uncomfortable it is! But you know what? About 75% of rectal cancers in China can be felt through rectal finger examination, while about 85% of misdiagnosed cases of rectal cancer are not done through rectal finger examination. This shows how important the rectal finger test, which is jokingly called the “one finger test”, is! Of course, we doctors need to wear gloves first.
The lesions close to the anus can be felt through the rectal examination, so how about the lesions far from the anus? No matter, we still have colonoscopy. Some people may say, “How scary is a colonoscopy, doctor, can we not do it?” Or someone may ask, “Doctor, can I have a painless colonoscopy?” In fact, colonoscopy is not as scary as people think. You don’t have to have a painless colonoscopy because you don’t feel so uncomfortable when an experienced doctor does it. The colonoscopy itself is very intuitive, that is, you can find the lesion in time to take laboratory tests to make a clear diagnosis, and some small colon polyps can be dealt with directly under the colonoscope.
Blood in the stool after the above visit, examination, if diagnosed as hemorrhoids, anal fissures and other perianal diseases, then you do not have to be too nervous. They are mainly treated conservatively with an emphasis on prevention. If you are diagnosed with enteritis, intestinal ulcers, etc., then it is best to go to a gastroenterologist for systematic treatment. If you “win the lottery” and really have intestinal cancer, don’t be afraid. Nowadays, early diagnosis and treatment of bowel cancer are effective. We advocate a comprehensive treatment mainly based on surgery, which is standardized and minimally invasive. Some patients with rectal cancer often ask me, “Doctor, can I save my anus?” In fact, it depends on the specific situation of each patient, but the primary principle we follow is: save life first, then save anus!
So, which one is the best in protecting the “asshole”? Look at the green bricks and tiles of Concordia! There is the “chrysanthemum” team I am in. We are also “eye” doctors, we use the “third eye” to see the world. We may not recognize faces, but we recognize every “chrysanthemum”. Anal protection, we are serious!
Please take home my summary of the “Chrysanthemum Book”: “Don’t panic if your chrysanthemum is bleeding, internal hemorrhoids are the most common, don’t worry about intestinal cancer, do a medical checkup, and colonoscopy can help”.