Blood in defecation is not just hemorrhoids, but it may hide colon cancer! How to distinguish hemorrhoids from colon cancer?
Hemorrhoids are the most common perianal diseases in life. In the past, middle-aged and elderly people were mostly affected.
In recent years, with the change of young people's work nature, sedentary, diet and other influences, hemorrhoids are getting younger and younger, and the number of patients is increasing.
Therefore, there is a saying that "ten people and nine hemorrhoids", and one of the most common symptoms of hemorrhoids is "blood in the stool".
Therefore, many people think that they are suffering from hemorrhoids for the first time when they find blood in the stool. But in fact, blood in the stool is not only a factor of hemorrhoids, there may be another big devil hidden behind this: colorectal cancer!
Colorectal cancer actually includes the cancer of the colon and rectum. Since the perianal area is connected to the intestine, the symptoms of hemorrhoids and colon cancer also have certain similarities. For example, blood in the stool is one of them.
Clinically, many patients with colon cancer have already had symptoms of blood in the stool, but they just think they are ordinary hemorrhoids, thus ignoring the examination!
Therefore, it is necessary to know the difference between hemorrhoids and colon cancer in peacetime!
- Hemorrhoids
From a scientific point of view, hemorrhoids are divided into two types: internal hemorrhoids and external hemorrhoids. Blood in the stool and secretions are typical manifestations of hemorrhoids.
Generally, the blood in the stool caused by hemorrhoids is bright red, mainly dripping blood and spurting blood, and most of them appear after the stool, and the stool is not mixed with the blood.
At the same time, hemorrhoids with blood in the stool are also cyclical, which may stop for a few days and then recur again;
In addition to the symptoms of blood in the stool, hemorrhoids will also form incarceration in the anus, especially internal hemorrhoids are more likely to have similar manifestations. Patients often have anal tear-like pain during defecation, which can radiate to the surrounding area.
When the hemorrhoids develop to a certain extent, due to the continuous growth of the hemorrhoids, they may descend with the stool during defecation and protrude out of the anus.
- Bowel cancer symptoms
Blood in the stool cannot be said to be an early symptom of bowel cancer, it usually occurs in the advanced stage of bowel cancer. The closer the colon cancer is to the anus, the more likely it is to have blood in the stool.
Generally, the color of blood is often dark red or purple. Only low rectal cancer has a higher chance of having bloody stools. Early-stage colorectal cancer excretes less blood in the stool, which is usually mixed in the stool.
With the continuous development of bowel cancer, pus and bloody stools and mucus-like bloody stools may appear in patients in the later stage, which is obviously different from hemorrhoids;
At the same time, after the appearance of blood in the stool, colorectal cancer is often accompanied by other stool abnormalities, such as changes in the frequency of defecation. In the past, it used to be 1-2 times a day, but now it has increased to multiple times a day, or reduced to a day. Several bowel movements. Some patients will also have symptoms such as unclean bowel movements and tenesmus;
In addition, when the cancer forms an abnormal space in the intestinal lumen and the stool passes through, the cancer will squeeze it, resulting in a change in the shape of the stool.
For example, when you defecate recently, there are sunken marks, thin or flat stools on one side of the stool, etc., which may be the result of squeezing the cancer.
If the stool is too dry, it is easy to cause the surface of the cancer to rupture during passage, resulting in the symptoms of blood on the side of the stool.
Therefore, although colorectal cancer and hemorrhoids will have symptoms of blood in the stool, there are still some differences between the two. In the process of defecation, if there is blood in the stool, as well as changes in the frequency and shape of the stool, the vigilance of bowel cancer should be increased, and colonoscopy screening should be actively carried out to detect problems at an early stage.