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Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
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When to see a doctor
By Mayo Clinic staff
Call 911 or emergency medical assistance
Seek emergency help if you have rectal bleeding and any signs of shock:
- Rapid, shallow breathing
- Dizziness or lightheadedness after standing up
- Blurred vision
- Fainting
- Confusion
- Nausea
- Cold, clammy, pale skin
- Low urine output
Seek immediate medical attention
Have someone to drive you to urgent care or the emergency room if rectal bleeding is:
- Continuous or heavy
- Accompanied by severe abdominal pain or cramping
- Accompanied by anal pain
Schedule a doctor's visit
Make an appointment to see your doctor if you have rectal bleeding that lasts more than a day or two, or earlier if worrisome. If you're under age 40 and your rectal bleeding is from a hard stool, small anal fissure or other identifiable source, you can treat it with an over-the-counter hemorrhoid cream or hydrocortisone.
- Greenwald DA. Common disorders of the anus and rectum: Hemorrhoids and fissures. American College of Gastroenterology. http://www.acg.gi.org/patients/gihealth/hemorrhoids.asp. Accessed March 17, 2009.
- Rectal problems. American College of Gastroenterology. http://www.acg.gi.org/patients/women/rectal.asp#1. Accessed March 17, 2009.
- Saab S, et al. Etiology of lower gastrointestinal bleeding in adults. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 18, 2009.
- Colorectal diseases and treatments. American Society of Colon & Rectal Surgeons. http://www.fascrs.org/aboutus/press_room/backgrounders_and_tip_sheets/colorectal. Accessed March 17, 2009.
- Colorectal cancer. American Society of Colon & Rectal Surgeons. http://www.fascrs.org/patients/conditions/colorectal_cancer. Accessed March 17, 2009.
- Langan RC, et al. Ulcerative colitis: Diagnosis and treatment. American Family Physician. 2007;76:1323.
- Burling D, et al. Investigating rectal bleeding. BMJ. 2007;335:1260.
- Saab S, et al. Approach to the adult patient with lower gastrointestinal bleeding. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 20, 2009.
