Results

Cause of your symptoms

Your rectal bleeding is probably from normal veins just inside your back passage caused by your constipation

Advice

Try the treatments outlined below for four weeks.

Treatments

Eat more roughage and if necessary take laxatives to make your stools softer and easier to pass. It is normal to strain a little when passing a motion but too much can cause bleeding. A pharmacist can advise on suitable treatments.

What now?

If you get better nothing else needs to be done. However, if your symptoms persist for four more weeks or recur after stopping treatment, see your GP.

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You are over 50 years old and have rectal bleeding without pile symptoms and a change in bowel habit to decreased frequency and harder drier stools but no abdominal pain

Additional information if you see your GP

Your GP will probably examine your tummy and back passage and do a blood test and if these are normal you are at low risk of having a serious bowel disease and it would be reasonable to advise a further period of treat watch and wait. However, if your symptoms do not settle completely you are likely to be referred to a routine clinic for further investigations and local treatments to stop the bleeding.

In healthy patients aged 50-70 years old, not having previous colonic investigations, a single flexible sigmoidoscopy has the added benefit of detecting incidental significant polyps which if removed may prevent a bowel cancer developing in the future; ‘opportunistic screening'.