Tips on Spotting Colorectal Symptoms

Spotting colorectal cancer symptoms early is vital to the prognosis of the condition. In cancer, getting early treatment is very important. If the cancer has been spotted on time, measures might be taken to eradicate the cancer cells from your body. During the first stages of cancer development, your doctor might opt for surgery. This way, they would be able to remove the cancer cells from the body without harming your normal ones. Late stages of cancer would require chemotherapy and radiation therapy. This type of treatment would not only kill your cancer cells but would also affect your normal cells.

The symptoms of colorectal cancer usually depend on the location and the size of the mass. However, most of them are pretty much the same. So, how do we spot the symptoms of colorectal cancer? Here are the most common manifestations of the condition:

Changes in bowel movements. Different people manifest different signs. For some, their stools are looser than usual. For others, they frequently experience constipation. There are also some that have reported not being able to defecate at all. Not being able to defecate for several days is what usually prompts them to go see a doctor.

Bleeding. Bleeding is almost always a common symptom of cancer. This could be due to a variety of reasons. One would be because the tumor has swelled to a certain size and has ruptured certain capillaries or veins, thus causing the bleeding. Another would be that the tumor itself has ruptured. Bleeding in cancer may not always be evident. There would be times that you would really be able to see fresh blood but, more often than not, the bleeding might go undetected. Black stools are great indicators of intestinal bleeding. The black color of the stools comes from the mixture or blood with fecal matter.

Narrow stools. Some medical practitioners refer to this as ribbon-like stools. This could be caused by the narrowing of your colon or rectal passageway. This narrowing is caused by the tumor growth in your intestines. Your stool would not be able to pass through properly, thus the change in their appearance. So, when do you get alarmed? If you observe that your stools start looking like pencils, or you start to notice that your stools look more different than usual, consult your doctor immediately. Do not wait for your symptoms to worsen.

The feeling of wanting to defecate again after just defecating could be caused by a growth in your bowels. The feeling is caused by the mass bumping into the opposite intestinal wall. Your bowels’ messages to your brain would cause you to think that this is fecal matter, and you would try to push it out.

These four manifestations would be the most common symptoms felt by a patient that is suspected to have colorectal cancer. When you notice that you are exhibiting these symptoms, consult your doctor immediately. This way, he would be able to recommend some laboratory tests so that he could make an accurate colon cancer diagnosis.