Ask a doctor on the topic of Internal medicine

Strange stool movement

June 2, 2015 | 15,00 EUR | answered by Dr. med. Frauke Gehring

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am in my early 20s and have the following problem. I recently noticed by chance while having a bowel movement that there was a very thick yellow/light brown mucus? strip present on about half of the stool. It was almost like it was wrapped around like a string. Like a slightly thicker thread. It's hard to describe. Now I am worried, as I tend to be quite hypochondriac. Could this be pus and therefore an inflammation in the intestine? I have no abdominal pain or nausea, my body temperature is 36.5 degrees Celsius axillary measured, and I feel normal.

Since May 21st, I had diarrhea that improved, but until the following Wednesday, I still had a slightly softer stool. But after that, everything was normal and without any issues. The stool today was a bit harder but otherwise not remarkable, as I traveled for a long time yesterday and had a lot of stress.

Should I go to the doctor today or wait for the next bowel movement and make an appointment for tomorrow if it happens again? I am a bit afraid that if it is an inflammation, it could spread in the body and lead to worse consequences.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. med. Frauke Gehring

Good day,

Inflammation in the intestine would always cause severe pain during bowel movements, but not lead to pus in the stool. Since you do not have any other problems and no fever, it is therefore ruled out.

Mucus is produced when the mucous membrane of the intestine is irritated; for example, by constipation. You can wait calmly to see if the phenomenon occurs again. Only if mucus continues to appear in the stool or if there is blood in it or if pain during bowel movements occurs, a visit to the doctor would be necessary.

Sincerely, Dr. Höllering