Common Bowel Symptoms
The Birmingham Bowel Clinic can provide rapid assessment, investigation and treatment for all common bowel symptoms. These symptoms include:
- Rectal bleeding
- Changes in bowel habit
- Symptoms of constipation
- Symptoms of diarrhoea
- Abdominal pains
- Anal pain
- Anal itching (pruritus)
- Symptoms arising from prolapse of piles and rectal prolapse
- Symptoms of anaemia
- Symptoms of anal incontinence
The majority of patients with the symptoms listed above do not have serious conditions.
A lot of work has been carried out to identify people who may have a more serious bowel condition and a list of higher risk symptoms are given below. It must be stressed however that even with these symptoms the majority of patients do not have a serious bowel condition such as cancer or colitis. If you feel that you suffer from any of these symptoms which have continued despite simple treatments then you should consult your GP who may decide they warrant investigation.
The following symptoms deserve more close attention:
- If you suffer a continued change in bowel habit particularly to increased frequency of going to the toilet and or increased looseness of the stools particularly when this is associated with bleeding from the back passage, whatever age you are
- Any continued change in bowel habit to looseness or increased frequency but without bleeding from the back passage, particularly if you are older than 60
- Persistent bleeding from the back passage and particularly if you do not have any symptoms to suggest piles such as soreness, pain, itching or the feeling of lumps around the back passage