Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsCausesSymptomsDiagnosisTreatment
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Causes
Symptoms
Diagnosis
Treatment
Tenesmusis the frequent and urgent feeling that you need to poop even though your bowels are empty. It is associated with discomfort, cramping, straining, and rectal pain.
This article describes the possible causes of tenesmus. It also explains what your healthcare provider will do to diagnose and treat this common but often distressing symptom.
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Causes of Tenesmus
The term “tenesmus” refers to the sensation that you need to defecate (pass a bowel movement) when you don’t. Doctors don’t fully understand why tenesmus occurs, but other conditions can cause changes to your body that lead to this uncomfortable and painful issue.
Conditions
The following are some disorders that can lead to tenesmus:
Radiation therapyfor cervical cancer, rectal cancer, prostate cancer, or colon cancer can also cause damage and inflammation in the rectum. This can result in tenesmus as well as other symptoms such as diarrhea and pain.
Nerve Problems
It’s believed that inflammation in the bowel may affect the nerves that control the excretion of waste.When these nerves are overstimulated, they may send a signal to your brain saying there’s still material in the bowel.
That can trigger the muscles in the gut that are used to push out feces. Those muscles contract, so your body thinks it needs to have a bowel movement, but really there’s nothing in the colon.
Bowel Damage
It may also cause you to feel as if there’s more in the bowel than there actually is. Sores or growths around the rectum or in the colon can do the same.
When to Call a Healthcare ProviderSeek medical care right away if you experience tenesmus along with a high fever (over 100.4 F), chills, severe rectal bleeding, nausea, vomiting, or fainting.
When to Call a Healthcare Provider
Seek medical care right away if you experience tenesmus along with a high fever (over 100.4 F), chills, severe rectal bleeding, nausea, vomiting, or fainting.
Common Causes of Rectal Pain
Related Symptoms
You may notice other symptoms that accompany tenesmus, such as:
The symptoms of tenesmus may be constantly present or may come and go.
Other problems that may occur with tenesmus, such as stomach pains andrectal bleeding, are usually related to the underlying condition that makes you feel like you have to go to the bathroom.
Your healthcare provider may recommend you see a specialist who can diagnose the cause of your tenesmus. The first step is to review your medical history, family history, and current symptoms. You should be prepared to answer questions about your bowel habits, diet, and lifestyle.
Next, your healthcare provider will conduct further tests to find the underlying reason for your symptoms.
Physical Exam
The physical exam is essential to the diagnosis of tenesmus. It helps your doctor see if there’s any inflammation or abnormalities around the rectum, tenderness or pain in the abdomen, orsigns of a sexually transmitted infection (STI).
The exam may include adigital rectal exam (DRE). This involves the insertion of a gloved finger into the anus to check for hemorrhoids, blood, mucus discharge, infection, or abnormal growths.
Serious and Benign Causes of Rectal Bleeding
Lab Tests
After the physical exam, your doctor will commonly order a number of blood and stool tests to help narrow down the causes.
These may include:
Imaging Studies
Before proceeding to more invasive procedures, your doctor may order imaging tests to help visualize your digestive tract.
Procedures
If colorectal cancer is suspected or something unusual is spotted on imaging studies, your doctor may refer you to agastroenterologist, who specializes in digestive tract conditions.
You may also need some additional tests to confirm any diagnosis:
If colorectal cancer is the cause of tenesmus, the only test that can definitively confirm the diagnosis is a biopsy. Blood tests and imaging studies can support the diagnosis, but they cannot diagnose the disease.
Tenesmus Treatment
Tenesmus tends to improve once the underlying cause is identified and treated. Because the causes of tenesmus are so diverse, so are the treatments. Below are the treatments used for the conditions that cause tenesmus.
Summary
The causes can range from relatively harmless, such as diarrhea or constipation, to serious, such as cancer. To determine the cause, a healthcare provider will do a physical exam, which may include a digital rectal exam. Blood tests, imaging tests, and procedures like a colonoscopy and biopsy may also be needed.
Once the cause is identified, the underlying condition needs to be treated for your tenesmus to go away. Many of these conditions require a change in diet, medication, or surgery to help relieve the symptoms.
9 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.University of Florida Health.Tenesmus.Grodsky MB, Sidani SM.Radiation proctopathy.Clin Colon Rectal Surg. 2015;28(2):103-111. doi:10.1055/s-0035-1547337Barro LL, Farias AQ, Rezaie A.Gastrointestinal motility and absorptive disorders in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases: Prevalence, diagnosis, and treatment.World J Gastroenterol.2019 Aug;25(31):4414-4426. doi:10.3748/wjg.v25.i31.4414Kim ES, Tae Jeen Y, Young Kim J.A patient experiencing bloody diarrhea and tenesmus for three weeks.Intest Res. 2015 Apr;13(2):180-181. doi:10.5217/ir.2015.13.2.180Petryszyn PW, Paradowski L.Stool patterns and symptoms of disordered anorectal function in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases.Adv Clin Exp Med. 2018;27(6):813-818. doi:10.17219/acem/68986Stanford Medicine.Rectal exam.Swiderska M, Choromańska B, Dąbrowska E, et al.The diagnostics of colorectal cancer.Contemp Oncol (Pozn).2014;18(1):1-6. doi:10.5114/wo.2013.39995Mannon P.Immunological diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. In:Clinical Immunology.Fifth edition, 2019. doi:10.1016/B978-0-7020-6896-6.00075-2Morarasu S, Haroon M, Morarasu BC, Lal K, Eguare E.Colon biopsies: Benefit or burden?J Med Life. 2019;12(2):156-159.
9 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.University of Florida Health.Tenesmus.Grodsky MB, Sidani SM.Radiation proctopathy.Clin Colon Rectal Surg. 2015;28(2):103-111. doi:10.1055/s-0035-1547337Barro LL, Farias AQ, Rezaie A.Gastrointestinal motility and absorptive disorders in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases: Prevalence, diagnosis, and treatment.World J Gastroenterol.2019 Aug;25(31):4414-4426. doi:10.3748/wjg.v25.i31.4414Kim ES, Tae Jeen Y, Young Kim J.A patient experiencing bloody diarrhea and tenesmus for three weeks.Intest Res. 2015 Apr;13(2):180-181. doi:10.5217/ir.2015.13.2.180Petryszyn PW, Paradowski L.Stool patterns and symptoms of disordered anorectal function in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases.Adv Clin Exp Med. 2018;27(6):813-818. doi:10.17219/acem/68986Stanford Medicine.Rectal exam.Swiderska M, Choromańska B, Dąbrowska E, et al.The diagnostics of colorectal cancer.Contemp Oncol (Pozn).2014;18(1):1-6. doi:10.5114/wo.2013.39995Mannon P.Immunological diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. In:Clinical Immunology.Fifth edition, 2019. doi:10.1016/B978-0-7020-6896-6.00075-2Morarasu S, Haroon M, Morarasu BC, Lal K, Eguare E.Colon biopsies: Benefit or burden?J Med Life. 2019;12(2):156-159.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
University of Florida Health.Tenesmus.Grodsky MB, Sidani SM.Radiation proctopathy.Clin Colon Rectal Surg. 2015;28(2):103-111. doi:10.1055/s-0035-1547337Barro LL, Farias AQ, Rezaie A.Gastrointestinal motility and absorptive disorders in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases: Prevalence, diagnosis, and treatment.World J Gastroenterol.2019 Aug;25(31):4414-4426. doi:10.3748/wjg.v25.i31.4414Kim ES, Tae Jeen Y, Young Kim J.A patient experiencing bloody diarrhea and tenesmus for three weeks.Intest Res. 2015 Apr;13(2):180-181. doi:10.5217/ir.2015.13.2.180Petryszyn PW, Paradowski L.Stool patterns and symptoms of disordered anorectal function in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases.Adv Clin Exp Med. 2018;27(6):813-818. doi:10.17219/acem/68986Stanford Medicine.Rectal exam.Swiderska M, Choromańska B, Dąbrowska E, et al.The diagnostics of colorectal cancer.Contemp Oncol (Pozn).2014;18(1):1-6. doi:10.5114/wo.2013.39995Mannon P.Immunological diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. In:Clinical Immunology.Fifth edition, 2019. doi:10.1016/B978-0-7020-6896-6.00075-2Morarasu S, Haroon M, Morarasu BC, Lal K, Eguare E.Colon biopsies: Benefit or burden?J Med Life. 2019;12(2):156-159.
University of Florida Health.Tenesmus.
Grodsky MB, Sidani SM.Radiation proctopathy.Clin Colon Rectal Surg. 2015;28(2):103-111. doi:10.1055/s-0035-1547337
Barro LL, Farias AQ, Rezaie A.Gastrointestinal motility and absorptive disorders in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases: Prevalence, diagnosis, and treatment.World J Gastroenterol.2019 Aug;25(31):4414-4426. doi:10.3748/wjg.v25.i31.4414
Kim ES, Tae Jeen Y, Young Kim J.A patient experiencing bloody diarrhea and tenesmus for three weeks.Intest Res. 2015 Apr;13(2):180-181. doi:10.5217/ir.2015.13.2.180
Petryszyn PW, Paradowski L.Stool patterns and symptoms of disordered anorectal function in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases.Adv Clin Exp Med. 2018;27(6):813-818. doi:10.17219/acem/68986
Stanford Medicine.Rectal exam.
Swiderska M, Choromańska B, Dąbrowska E, et al.The diagnostics of colorectal cancer.Contemp Oncol (Pozn).2014;18(1):1-6. doi:10.5114/wo.2013.39995
Mannon P.Immunological diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. In:Clinical Immunology.Fifth edition, 2019. doi:10.1016/B978-0-7020-6896-6.00075-2
Morarasu S, Haroon M, Morarasu BC, Lal K, Eguare E.Colon biopsies: Benefit or burden?J Med Life. 2019;12(2):156-159.
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