Why tarry stools

If your doctors suspects gastritis, they may prescribe antacids or proton pump inhibitors , antibiotics that treat H. If these treatments fail to resolve your symptoms, your healthcare provider may order an upper endoscopy to take a closer look at your stomach and small intestine.

Esophageal Varices requires immediate medical care to help stop the bleeding. Elastic bands may be wrapped around the varices to stop the flow of blood. Stents , tubes inserted to manage blood flow, may be used to lower blood pressure.

That can reduce the amount of bleeding. In the case of a Mallory-Weiss tear, the tear heals on its own for most people. If it does not resolve itself, you may need treatment to seal the lesion. This may either take the form of a medication that is injected internally, or a type of heat therapy known as electrocoagulation. Stool that appears black is not always a sign of a bigger health problem.

Your stool can look black as a result of food or iron supplements you have eaten. If that's the case, the color will return to normal within a day or so.

If it doesn't, and if you cannot trace it back to something you have eaten, ask yourself:. If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, or if you're experiencing symptoms like nausea, vomiting, or lightheadedness, you should contact your doctor.

Though it may be surprising to see, occasional black stool is not something to worry about so long as it occurs after you eat dark-colored foods or take an iron supplement. That said, if black or tarry stools cannot be attributed to something you have consumed, or you simply feel like something is off, it's best to get checked out.

Some of the conditions that cause GI bleeding can be life-threatening unless treated promptly. Not necessarily. Dark-colored stool may just be the result of food you ate or supplements you took. However, if you notice blood in your bowel movement, if you vomit blood, or if you feel dizzy, you should contact your doctor right away. Liver disease can damage the veins that move blood into the liver and may cause pressure to build up in these veins.

The veins then burst, allowing blood to get into your GI tract. This bleeding can be serious, so you should talk to a doctor right away. This is called meconium, and it's totally normal. With these early poops, babies are clearing out the substances that were in their intestines.

Gas pain? Stool issues? Sign up for the best tips to take care of your stomach. Diagnosis and treatment of iron-deficiency anemia in gastrointestinal bleeding: A systematic review.

World J Gastroenterol. Black or tarry stools. Updated April 7, Diagnosis of gastrointestinal bleeding: A practical guide for clinicians. World J Gastrointest Pathophysiol. John Hopkins Medicine. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy EGD. Reviewed August Mortality in high-risk patients with bleeding Mallory—Weiss syndrome is similar to that of peptic ulcer bleeding. Results of a prospective database study.

Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology. Mallory-Weiss tear. A benign tumor is a tumor that is not cancerous. Whether they are benign or cancerous, tumors can weaken the gastrointestinal wall and result in bleeding. Genetics Home Reference define ulcerative colitis as a gastrointestinal disorder that causes ulcers to form within the large intestine.

NIDDK note that the cause of ulcerative colitis is unclear. Doctors can treat the condition with medications and surgery. Colon polyps can cause blood in the stool, giving it a black, tarry appearance. These polyps are small growths that form in the large intestine. They are not necessarily cancerous, but they can become cancerous over time. NIDDK report that these problems can include esophageal varices and gastroesophageal reflux.

Liver issues can cause esophageal varices, which are enlarged veins in the esophagus. Treatment will focus on stopping the bleeding and resolving the underlying condition that is causing the esophageal varices. If a person experiences gastroesophageal reflux frequently, they may have gastroesophageal reflux disease GERD. The key causes are complications from certain medications, smoking, or increased pressure in the abdomen.

Bleeding in the esophagus or stomach such as with peptic ulcer disease can also cause you to vomit blood. The color of the blood in the stools can indicate the source of bleeding. When to Contact a Medical Professional. Call your health care provider right away if:. In children, a small amount of blood in the stool is most often not serious. The most common cause is constipation. What to Expect at Your Office Visit.

Your provider will take a medical history and perform a physical exam. The exam will focus on your abdomen. You may be asked the following questions:. You may need to have one or more tests to look for the cause:. Severe cases of bleeding that cause excessive blood loss and a drop in blood pressure may require surgery or hospitalization.

Share this Article. About Contact Us. Black stools caused by these kinds of upper GI issues are sometimes referred to as melena.

A few of these conditions include:. Many of these conditions are serious and include a host of other gastrointestinal symptoms. If your stools have been black and tarry for a few days, and are accompanied by stomach aches and vomiting, you should seek medical help immediately. The esophagus is a tube that carries foods and liquids to the stomach.

When veins inside the esophagus become swollen — a condition usually connected to cirrhosis or other advanced liver diseases — they can occasionally rupture and cause both red, bloody stools, or black, tarry stools. If your symptoms are not severe enough to warrant a hospital visit, your doctor will likely ask about your medical history and perform a physical examination to try to determine the cause of your unusual stool color.

Your doctor may also schedule a gastroscopy or colonoscopy to assess the condition of your gut. Your doctor will insert a thin, flexible tube through your anus into the rectum with a camera on the end to see the inside of your colon and look for the cause of your symptoms. A gastroscopy is similar in nature to a colonoscopy but focuses on the esophagus, stomach, and small intestine.

The thin tube is inserted through your throat, rather than the anus. The same goes for iron supplements and medicines containing bismuth subsalicylate: If you think your black stools may be connected to taking either of these, talk with your doctor about safe alternatives.

If your black stools are due to a condition that is causing upper GI bleeding, your treatment will vary depending on the severity of the condition. Black stools can be caused by a variety of issues, from eating too much black licorice to bleeding in your gastrointestinal tract.