Painful bowel movements can happen for many different reasons—some are temporary and harmless, while others may signal an underlying health issue. Sometimes the explanation can be straightforward, ...

Constipation can cause stools that are hard and large, which can hurt when you pass them. Stressing your anal canal from constipation can also cause anal fissures, which are small tears. Anal cancer ...

Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on . CHICAGO — Digital gut-directed hypnotherapy resulted in greater improvement in abdominal pain and stool symptoms ...

Some toddlers find learning to pass stool without a diaper challenging. They may have had a large or painful bowel movement previously and be afraid to defecate again, so they begin withholding stool, ...

A rectal ulcer happens when one or more of the mucus layers that line the rectum are injured or damaged, resulting in a painful sore. Your rectum is the last few inches of your large intestine (colon) ...

When cancer cells develop in the rectum, they can cause symptoms like changes in bowel habits, blood in your stool, unintentional weight loss, fatigue, and anemia. The American Cancer Society (ACS) ...

Qin Rao, MD, is a board-certified physician based in New York City. He currently works as a gastroenterologist and hepatologist at Manhattan Gastroenterology. Stringy poop may occur with stomach pain ...

Stool withholding is a common cause of constipation in children. Learn common reasons a child may avoid going to the bathroom ...

Women's Health may earn commission from the links on this page, but we only feature products we believe in. Why Trust Us? You’ve got your intestines—both small and large—as well as your ureters, the ...

When it comes to poop, what's normal? Should a child poop every day or just a few times a week? What should you do about really hard poop? How do you know when a child is constipated? Will drinking ...

Hemorrhoids can cause or contribute to constipation. In some cases, they may even worsen it. However, the reverse is also true, with constipation being an underlying factor for developing hemorrhoids.

Constipation is difficulty emptying your bowels. Fecal impaction is the buildup of hardened stool in your bowel that you can’t pass. Fecal impaction is a potential complication of chronic constipation ...