Dr. Trisha Pasricha

But the color, often your word is enough.

But sometimes seeing the color can help me say, okay, this is probably more upper GI bleeding versus lower GI bleeding, help me make a decision about it.

But if you see this, and I want to just make sure I'm clear, bleeding can be due to hemorrhoids, which are very common, very disruptive.

We don't want them, but they're not necessarily killers.

But rectal bleeding is also one of the four signs of early onset colorectal cancer.

And that's why I'm telling you, even if you see just a little streak...

make sure we just double check and know that it's hemorrhoids.

Yeah.

Thank goodness.

So jet black is really worrisome.

It can be a big emergency.

So this is not one that we say, oh, let's just see what happens over the next couple of days.

This is one that you go talk to your doctor.

Because this is a situation when you see jet black, that is the color that your blood turns when it acidifies, when it mixes with the acid in your stomach.

So a dark, tarry black, especially if it's like

sticky, like it's sticking to that toilet bowl, that makes me worry that it's coming from blood.

It's coming from blood higher up in your gut where it's got to touch the acid.

It can, though, a nice pirate black stool can come if you've been taking iron pills.

Iron pills can turn your poop black.

Oh, no kidding.