I have been seeing bright red blood during bowel movements. About 4 months ago was the first time I have had anything like this happen to me. It persisted, on and off for about a month and just went away. Then over the past week and a half it has started back up again. I noticed when it first happened this time that I passed a rather large bowel movement that hurt coming out and that saw some blood on the outside of the stool and on the toilet paper. From then on out it has bled to varying degrees, sometimes only a little on the outside of the stool itself and a little on the toilet paper but sometimes there is enough to see it in the toilet bowl water. So the amount of blood seems to vary. When the stool is coming out it feels like spikes are scraping across as it goes through. The pain varies depending on the stool there are some days that the stool seems harder and in balls (plop plop plop) but other days its one soft, long continuous piece that glides out (but now hurt a little). It seems to me like it heals but then when another hard bowel movement comes along it "break" any healing done.
Now for some background information. I haven't been constipated on a regular basis, no diarrhea, and I go 1-2 times a day normally. I'm 19 years old, I eat a high fiber cereal every morning, I eat fruit a couple times a week oranges, apples, bananas, grapes, I have salads/wraps with lots of spinach 1-3 times a week for lunch/dinner, filling in the gaps are Chinese food (lo mien with chicken), pasta, chicken strips, cheese quesadillas, trail mix for snack, etc.
I've done some research on what some of the causes are, anal fissure, hemorrhoids, diverticulosis, and polyps. Which one do you think fits the description? Is there any way for me to tell which it is? If you don't think that this is a serious in need of medical assistance right away then what are some ways that can help get rid of this, like changing diet more (more fiber), stool softener?, etc.
Thanks,
Cortland