The average person poos anywhere between three times a day to three times a week. It is a necessary bodily function to help expel any undigested food and other waste products.
While poo can appear different in colour and consistency for harmless reasons such as a change in diet, it can also signal something more serious.
For this reason, experts advise it is worth checking your excrement before flushing.
But it is not just the colour and consistency that can indicate a problem. The shape of your poo could also signal a health issue.
More specifically, doctors have warned that a thin, narrow poo could be a sign of multiple problems, even including bowel cancer, also known as colorectal cancer.
Based on the Bristol stool chart, healthy poo should be shaped like a sausage and is either thin or covered with cracks on its surface.
While the occasional narrow stool, could just be a sign of constipation, it could also signal chronic digestive issues like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), diverticulitis, and even cancer.
If your stool is narrow it may resemble a ribbon or a pencil.
In the majority of cases, these can be a sign of constipation, which means having a bowel movement fewer than three times a week or having difficulty passing stool.
This could be caused by lifestyle factors like not eating enough fibre, not drinking enough water and not exercising enough.
But Fight Colorectal Cancer states that thin stools can be a sign of obstructions such as tumours.
The charity says: “For the most part, narrow stools that occur infrequently are not a cause for concern.
“But if you experience ribbon-like stools for more than a week, seek medical attention.”
This advice is backed by the health experts at the Mayo Clinic in the US.
They say: “Narrow stools that happen now and then probably are harmless.
“But in some cases, narrow stools – especially if pencil thin – may be a sign that the colon is narrowing or has a blockage.
“And that could be due to colon cancer. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) also may cause changes in the size of your stools.”
Bowel cancer can also cause other changes to your poo.
The NHS warns to look for: “Changes in your poo, such as having softer poo, diarrhoea or constipation that is not usual for you.”
It can also make you need to poo more or less often than usual for you.
One red flag sign for bowel cancer which should prompt an immediate trip to your doctor is blood in your poo, which may look red or black.
The NHS advises calling 111 or getting an urgent GP appointment if your poo is black or dark red or you have bloody diarrhoea.
If you are bleeding non-stop from your bottom you should call 999.
Other symptoms of bowel cancer include:
- Often feeling like you need to poo, even if you’ve just been to the toilet
- Tummy pain
- A lump in your tummy
- Bloating
- Losing weight without trying
- Feeling very tired for no reason.