Hemorrhoids or signs of colon cancer?

Could it be anal fissure (tear)?

Bright red is probably hemorrhoids or anal fissures, as above. As you said, cancer in the colon is usually occult, or old, or dark. In any event, you ought to be able to talk you your parents about this stuff. At the end of day, your timidity will probably wind up being the bigger issue. C’mon Dude. They are your parents for Christ’s sake.

It is highly unlikely that this is colon cancer, and it could be hemorrhoids, but it could also be inflammatory bowel disease, which is common in your age group and is serious. You should get this checked out by colonoscopy, which means telling your parents. I know it sucks but you really should get scoped.

I went through the same thing when I was 14; feel free to PM me with further questions if you want. :)

Honey, you won’t be confronting your parents about this situation. You’ll just be telling them that you need to see your doctor because you’ve been seeing blood in your stool. They won’t be mad, they might be scared, but not mad.

Most likely just a rhoid or an anal tear, but you need to make sure, like @Mariah said. Your doctor can probably tell what the situation is by a simple finger test. You’d only have to get a colonoscopy if they suspect something else. And a bunch of my relatives that are of the age where you normally get your first colonoscopy said it wasn’t bad. It just sounds icky.

The doctor will be able to tell pretty quickly if it’s just a rhoid or an anal tear or fissure. Neither of these things are that uncommon either. Especially if you have a junk food diet and don’t eat a lot of fiber.

Go in there and tell them right now. You’ll be glad in the end, no pun intended, that you did.

How long is recently? I recommend don’t eat any raw veggies or nuts for a couple of weeks. Try to eat a small palm full of raisins or a couple of dried plums every day. Plenty of water. Have some fiber like oats or whole wheat in your diet. See if it gets better. You might have just tore yourself up a little, and it is hard for things to heal in that area, because every time you go number 2 you can reopen a small tear.

Welcome to Fluther.

First things first: When you hear hoofbeats in America, think horses, not zebras. And if you’re thinking “unicorns”, well… you got some growing up to do.

But take heart; you will probably grow up. If you “see” blood in your stool (we can use adult words here; you could even say ‘shit’, but the other grown-up word is ‘defecate’, not ‘poop’ or ‘do number two’) then it’s not blood from your colon. Bright red blood in the stool indicates blood at or near the anus. Blood from your gut, as @josie noted, would be dark: very likely black and tarry looking. You wouldn’t think it was blood at all.

You probably don’t even have to tell your folks “I want to see the doctor because…”. Just tell them, “I would like to see the doctor, please, because I have some symptoms that I don’t want to discuss with you.” If your folks have health insurance, then scheduling a doctor visit for you should be about as inconvenient as a trip to the grocery store. And presumably they could respect your desire for some medical privacy.

Finally, when you have questions like this, sites like WebMD.com are a whole lot easier (and probably more reliable, on the whole) than even Fluther, where we do try to help, and we do care that you get the help you need.

But stop thinking “unicorns”, seriously.

Young man, that attitude is exactly why my brother at 19 years of age DIED from bone cancer, he had a lump in his shoulder blade, thought it was nothing, then he started feeling sick, finally saw a doctor when it was stage 3, hes dead; you should be telling your parents the minute something is not right and seeing a doctor, most likely its just hemoroids, I started getting them at 16 and I still get them, a lot of it has to do with fiber in your diet, you need to see a doctor and make sure its nothing else.

I need to come back and be a little obnoxious here: blood from high up in the colon is indeed black, but from lower parts of the colon and from the rectum it can be bright red. I very highly suggest going to a doctor, s/he can do an external exam and then if they don’t find an external cause for the bleeding, you should get scoped. Onset of ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, which can be very serious, occurs most commonly between 15 and 30 and can include rectal bleeding. I am not trying to scare you but some people will tell you that so long as the blood is bright red it is not cause for concern which just is not true.

Gosh, don’t freak the kid out. Bone cancer is much more common than colon cancer in teens. Of course anything is possible, but the likelihood of colon cancer is so incredibly rare, it is worth taking a week to see if it clears up.

@DinosaurzFTW Follow the advice a jelly gave above, and tell your parents. Let them help you. Don’t panic, there is no reason to worry, bit best to be prudent.

I suppose that ‘confront’ was not a very good word choice. I’m comfortable with talking to my parents about it, I just don’t want to if I know that it isn’t necessary.
However, it seems like it’s something that I should be certain about, so I’ll talk to my parents about it. Thanks for your responses!

@WasCy
I apologize if I don’t seem mature enough.

@DinosaurzFTW

No apology needed. Maybe I owe you one if I seemed harsh since I know that my wording is often… let’s say “plain”, but you’re becoming an adult and talking about adult concerns, so you should be using adult words and terms.

Besides, being immature when you’re young hardly merits an apology. It’s a fault that you’ll probably grow out of in time.

Here are the stats for colon cancer by age. You can find a symptoms link on the website also. I think you might have just been constipated and tore up a little inside. Don’t worry. If the bleeding continues for more than a week make a doctors appointment so they can reassure you.

Had the same exact condition in college. Don’t sweat it. You don’t have family history involving colon cancer so I’m sure it’s nothing serious. But your worry IS so you have no choice but to see a doctor. Chances are he’ll start you with something like Preparation H or a suppository. If that does not work, he might move on to more expensive ointment. If that still does not work, eventually you may want to get a colonoscopy since that is the only sure thing to make you feel confident it’s not colon cancer.

I’m pretty sure it’s hemorrhoids. My advise is take care of this now since it takes a very, very, very long time for this to heal and doctors tend to recommend surgery. Surgery is not a good idea if you can fix this using any, as in any other treatment. I won’t detail why. Just take my word for it for now. Also, in my college years, I noticed this happened to me in most stressful moments or when I binge drink, which was a lot. I also loved spicy foods which no matter what a doctor says, definitely aggravates the hemorrhoids, causing more bright red blood to come out. Please see a doctor asap since the bleeding will surely increase if let untreated.

Okay, missing part of the information – do you strain when you have a bowel movement? Spend a long time on the commode? Constipation and straining will give you tears and you will see red blood.

Try eating oatmeal for breakfast, and increasing your water intake. This should make it easier to move your bowels.

If you are not constipated, and don’t strain, and are seeing red blood, then you should see your doctor.

I thought I had hemmies – it was a fissure. Get it checked.

Oh, and have fun with this thread for some ideas.

It certainly sounds like the Grapes of Wrath. The best advice is to see a doctor, if you find that too embarrassing, get some haemooroid cream from the pharmacy and apply it – if you get no relief after a few days then definitely see a doctor.

I would get it checked out by a doctor, mainly for your own peace of mind. It is very unlikely to be anything serious as bowel cancer mostly affects people aged 60 and over. I would also bite that bullet and tell your parents and you might as well do it right now.