4 year old with a lot of blood in her poo

[norwood]

Ds seems to have an extra bit of skin on the outside of her anus and whenever she poos there is always a bit of blood on the poo.i took her to the doctor last spring and he said it was nothing to worry about. However the other day she was having a difficult time pooing and when she finished there was a lot of blood in the bowl.Then she started dripping blood into the toilet. when she wiped herself the paper was very bloody which shocked us both. i think i can see where it is coming from on this extra piece of skin but i think her poo in general is not right. The poo (sorry to be so graphic) is always a cluster of balls the size of lychees stuck together - is this constipation or is her intestine not right? Am now very worried but the female doc (she won't see the man doc) can't see her until 6th march. Anyone else experienced this before?

norwood, there are a few things that you could do to help this situation. She should see a dr to be pprscribed a mild laxative such a lactulose, the rabbit pellet pooh jmeans she is constipated. Up the fluids and try sopme fruit puree to act as a natural laxative. The high (natural) sugar content draws fluid into the bowel and helps to losten the stools. Additionally before she does go to the toilet rub some vaseline round her anus or get her to do it. THis will help the pooh come out and give her skin some protection.
You could take her to a and e if you were very worried, but gp could deal with this just as well and the enviroment will be less threatening to her.
Try not let her strain as this will encourage blood to rush to the bottom and she she has a small tear from the constipatioin it will bleed alot. If she cant pooh, leave it, rub some vaseline on , take her for a drink, encourage her to do some exersices, (like the ones you wi#ould do with a baby to help them pooh) and then try again later

hth

Chapsmum, thanks for good advice.will deinitely try the vaseline. she is not a lover of fruit and veg so will try to incentivise her in some way.
I do find it difficult to know how to assess this - is it an emergency that requires the doc to see me today (or for me to go to A + E) or is it something that needs attention but can wait until the next appt the doc has available? i started to get worried that it was something serious higher up in her intestine (ie blockage) and started to panic a little. i can practically see the tear on the sentinel pile (at least thats what i think it is)so i know she is not bleeding internally. And she is generally happy in herself. Will try to get her to drink smoothies - she's just so stubborn about trying things..

If she is still poohing and farting (sorry if too much info) then it is unlikely she has a bloockage, If she has severe abdo pain or the bleeding coninues she needs to see a dr asap. However why not phone the drs and ask for an urgent appt, you should get one for today or tommorrow. It is not "routine" as she is obviously uncomfortable with and should not wait for much longer

hth

Have been ringing the doc trying to get an urgent appt but is complicated by me working 3 days a week and my boss being difficult about me taking time off (i've just taken a week off for half term). the receptionist says i have to ring up every day to see if there's a cancellation or if the doc can see her as an emergency but no luck so far. will try again tomorrow. they think i'm being fussy coz i'm holding out for the woman doc but i can't physically restrain DD and drag her into the surgery (she's too big!)and force her to see the man doc (she previously had a distressing experience with male GP). if anyone is going to examine her properly then she has to co-operate and she's more likely to do that with a woman GP who specialises in Paeds.

Why not then either get the female gp to ring you back for some over the phone advie (if she'd seen it before this might be ok)
Or explain the situation to the receptionist and ask if she would fit you in at the end of surgery??