When the patient begins to experience digestive problems, he goes to the doctor. One of the indicators of human health is the appearance of his feces. This is a delicate and forbidden topic for many, but the doctor needs to describe in detail the nature of your stool. So that patients do not get embarrassed and can choose words, the Bristol scale of feces was invented.
Description
This is an invention of British doctors working at the Royal Bristol Hospital. Apparently, there the patients were so shy that they pushed the doctors to create know-how. It became the Bristol scale of feces. It is a table with pictures, which describes all the signs that characterize its properties. Namely: decoration, color, texture, smell. It is not for nothing that doctors are so anxious about this issue. For patients, feces are an unpleasant waste of life. But he will tell the doctor about some of the nuances of human health, because how and what he walks "for the most part" is the result of complex biochemical processes of his body. If something went wrong, it is enough to determine the type of feces on the Bristol scale and change the lifestyle, eating habits or start treatment.
Norm or pathology
Of course, the doctor should do this. The patient is only required to correctly describe the appearance of his feces, the rest is already the task of the specialist. Therefore, before contacting a doctor, you should try to remember how many times a day you empty your intestines. Did you feel any discomfort, tension, or pain? Well, of course, consider your feces in order to be able to describe them to a specialist. Therefore, let's look at the classification of feces on the Bristol scale.
It’s different for everyone
The first type is characterized as sheep's stool. This will not be difficult if you have ever seen how the intestines of a sheep or goat are released. Their feces look like round hard balls. But if for them this is not a problem and is associated with the features of digestion, then for a person such a chair means that he has constipation. Feces in the form of small hard balls appear when the patient has intestinal dysbiosis. In a normal state, the human intestines are inhabited by bacteria that hold water in the feces. If these beneficial microorganisms are absent, then it becomes solid, loses its normal shape.
Such feces can injure the anus and cause pain during bowel movements, cause hemorrhoids and even intoxication of the whole organism.
Thick sausage-shaped feces
This type of stool also characterizes abnormal bowel function. This is the same constipation, but in this case, the stool contains fibers and bacteria. However, often in order for a sausage to be formed of such a large diameter that exceeds the maximum open anus, several days must pass. This type of feces hardly passes into the anus, wounding it, causing cracks and causing bleeding. It is not recommended to use laxatives on your own, since in this case the contents should not abruptly leave the rectum in order to avoid its trauma.
Cracked sausage
The Bristol scale defines the third type of feces. The chair looks like a sausage with cracks. A person who has it is definitely constipated. Although he may not think so. After all, the contents of the intestine quite quickly leave it. But do not rejoice. There are still digestive problems. In order to empty, you have to strain, which means there is a danger of hemorrhoids, anal fissures. Most likely, irritable bowel syndrome occurs.
The diameter of such a “sausage” can be 2-3.5 cm.
Long and thin sausage
If, having examined your feces in the toilet, you saw that they have the form of a thin, long sausage or snake, then everything is in order with your intestines. Its diameter should be 1-2 centimeters, and bowel movement should be regular - once a day.
Soft balls
There is, it turns out, the shape of the chair, as the Bristol scale says, which is even better than the fourth type (thin sausage). Feces are a few soft balls with clear edges. Usually, a person is emptied after a heavy meal, and this happens several times a day.
Unformed chair
The next type, as the Bristol scale shows, has no form. But at the same time, it is not liquid, but consists of several soft parts with torn edges. This is not diarrhea, but already a condition close to it. This form of feces can cause the intake of laxatives, a large number of spices, drinking water with a high content of minerals, high blood pressure. But this allows you to avoid injuring the anus and injuring the intestines. The specialist still needs to pay attention to this type of feces in order to investigate the causes that influenced its formation. Otherwise, diarrhea may begin, which will not be easy to get rid of.
Seventh type
Liquid stool, or, as the Bristol scale describes it, watery feces without the inclusion of any particles. This is diarrhea, which requires the discovery of causes and treatment. This condition is abnormal and indicates a health problem. People call it diarrhea. It can be caused by many causes: infection, fungi, poisoning, allergies, liver, stomach or kidney disease, helminths, poor nutrition and even stress. Therefore, do not postpone a visit to the doctor if your feces corresponds to the seventh point of the Bristol scale.
Not only form
In addition to form, the types of feces differ in color. Normally, feces should have a color from light to dark brown. But with a violation in the state of the human body, it can be very bright, red, yellow and even black. This may indicate that the person is sick. But there are food products, the use of which in food contributes to staining of feces in a certain color. Potatoes and rice make it light, beets, tomatoes, juices - red, activated carbon - black. But if you didn’t eat such foods, didn’t take any medicine that could affect the color of your stool, be sure to consult a doctor who will find the Bristol feces scale very useful to determine the quality of your stool.