How are hemorrhoids diagnosed?
A thorough evaluation and proper diagnosis by the doctor is important any time bleeding from the rectum or blood in the stool occurs.
Your doctor can tell if you have hemorrhoids by asking about your past health and doing a physical exam.
You may not need many tests at first, especially if you are younger than 50 and your doctor thinks that your rectal bleeding is caused by hemorrhoids. He may just examine your rectum with a gloved finger. Or he may use a short, lighted scope to look inside the rectum.
Rectal bleeding can be a sign of a more serious problem, such as colon, rectal, or anal cancer. So if the first exam does not show a clear cause of your problems, your doctor may use a lighted scope (sigmoidoscope) to look at the lower third of your colon. Or he may use another kind of scope (colonoscope) to look at the entire colon to check for other causes of bleeding.
