Having blood in your stools is quite common, and is generally not something to worry about, but it usually needs to be checked out. The possible occurrence of blood in stool most likely comes from the gut, but the lower down your gut it comes from, the brighter it will be.

One of the most common causes is piles, which, like another condition called anal fissure, often causes bright red blood in your stools, which is either on the paper when you wipe, in the pan, or on the outside of your stools.

It often happens when you’re constipated, and particularly with anal fissure, you can hurt when you open your bowels. However, it does need checking out just because, although that’s almost always the cause, very occasionally, a tumor just inside the bottom, inside the rectal margin, can also cause bright blood.

Blood from a bit further up will cause dark red blood, often mixed in with the stools. That’s often due to things like polyps, or diverticular disease, but again, it needs checking out to make quite sure it’s not a tumor.

Blood that comes from much further up your gut will have been altered on its way down, and that can come out as black tarry stools, although you can also get black tarry stools if you’re taking iron tablets.

So, yes, blood in the stool does need checking out, but no, it’s not usually a cause for concern. But it is important that if you have those black tarry stools, if you’re feeling dizzy, if you’ve had a change in your appetite or lost weight for no apparent reason, or if you’re feeling generally unwell in yourself, then you should see a doctor more urgently.