# "Hidden Poo" Kinda graphic physiological question about bowel function **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 10, 2005, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hidden-poo-kinda-graphic-physiological-question-about-bowel-function/330329 "2005-11-10T02:42:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![EnderWay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d26b3c/32.png) [@EnderWay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnderWay)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hidden-poo-kinda-graphic-physiological-question-about-bowel-function/330329/21 "2005-11-12T04:12:39Z")
> [@spingears](#): > > YES. Possible but not probable. > [\*\* Diverticulosis and Diverticulitis \*\*](http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/1013634026.html) > Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today. > OTOH ‘It’ will all come out in the end. > The horror stories are pure BS to extract $ from wallets not excrement from colons. > A good diet is all that is necessary for normal bowel function with only occasional assisstance from stool softeners and/or laxative. Yes!! Totally true! Just to add that even in the case of Diverticulitis, the fecal matter caught in that little pocket isn’t really there that long. It becomes infected rather quickly after being trapped there. Probably like after 3 to 7 days would be my guess. Then you get severe abdominal pains sending you to the Doc and getting the liquid diet and antibiotics treatment. The high fiber diet just helps prevent stuff from getting stuck in the pockets. Nothing is ever going to get trapped in your colon for years! ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hidden-poo-kinda-graphic-physiological-question-about-bowel-function/330329/22 "2005-11-12T05:13:55Z")
My wife had to have her appendix out due to irritation caused by a _fecalith_. Function: noun : a concretion of dry compact feces formed in the intestine or vermiform appendix : IANAD, but that would seem to have been some “hidden poo” if you ask me! ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hidden-poo-kinda-graphic-physiological-question-about-bowel-function/330329/23 "2005-11-12T06:02:13Z")
Guess it depends on what you mean by hidden poo. Fecaliths are a fairly common cause of appendicitis, but the problem is the appendix is essentially a dead end hanging from the “main bowel loop”, like the tail on a Q. I’m not sure bowel irrigation would help remove a fecalith, but laxatives have been shown to behelpful if given before infection or abcess sets in. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hidden-poo-kinda-graphic-physiological-question-about-bowel-function/330329/24 "2005-11-12T06:46:20Z")
> [@MelCthefirst](#): > > So what is the use of expensive intestine cleaning water therapy (forgot the name of it) that was popular early 90s? It makes a lot of money for the people selling this ‘therapy’. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hidden-poo-kinda-graphic-physiological-question-about-bowel-function/330329/25 "2005-11-12T16:16:09Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Fecaliths are a fairly common cause of appendicitis, but the problem is the appendix is essentially a dead end hanging from the “main bowel loop”, like the tail on a Q. Fecaliths are also known as **coproliths** in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hidden-poo-kinda-graphic-physiological-question-about-bowel-function/330329/26 "2005-11-12T23:46:43Z")
The Toxic Colon is back! Run for your lives, boys!!! Seriously though, the false idea that bodily waste products are horrifyingly toxic has been around for centuries and much quackery has ensued - including countless unnecessary enemas and purges. Fecal matter does not build up in the colon requiring special intervention. The minute amounts that may get trapped in the appendix or in diverticula are generally inconsequential (unless there’s a resulting infection), and no quack enemas or drugs are going to remove this stuff anyway. In the course of wonderfully entertaining years as a pathologist, I have dissected loads of appendices and diverticula-laden colons, and can lend assurance that the small amounts of poop they contain seem to recycle on a regular basis in most cases. Certainly one will not be “poisoned” by imaginary toxins emanating from these small poop pockets. “Cleanse” fanatics often display photos of gunk they have allegedly purged from their gallbladders, livers, colons etc. This is probably harmless mucus admixed with a little cellular debris. To hear the cleansers tell it, they have eliminated gallstones, chemical buildups and Love Canal-like agglomerations of toxic sludge that have been accumulating in their systems since before they were weaned. Death does not begin in the colon. Bullshit does begin in the mind, however. [More on colon crazies.](http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/gastro.html) In the original Jean Shepherd story that inspired the Xmas movie, the author-as-a-child is so overwrought by his experience beating up the bully that he has a severe GI upset and winds up having a major urpfest, vomiting up stuff that he ate years ago, including a pencil eraser he consumed in second grade. This is about as believable as the “hidden poop” fantasy, but for some reason people don’t seem as willing to induce vomiting as they are to gulp down laxatives. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2005, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hidden-poo-kinda-graphic-physiological-question-about-bowel-function/330329/27 "2005-11-12T23:48:41Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Fecal matter does not build up in the colon requiring special intervention. In the normal human, that is. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hidden-poo-kinda-graphic-physiological-question-about-bowel-function/330329/28 "2006-06-24T11:13:48Z")
I’ve never had the need for a laxative in my 47+ years eating and eliminating. Is it of any value to use one and flush out that little extra on occasion? Any recommendations? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hidden-poo-kinda-graphic-physiological-question-about-bowel-function/330329/29 "2006-06-24T12:41:25Z")
In Gilda Radner’s book “It’s Always Something,” she describes getting a hydrocolonic and seeing “one beat sprout come out.” That’s all. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hidden-poo-kinda-graphic-physiological-question-about-bowel-function/330329/30 "2006-06-24T14:41:04Z")
[QUOTE=What the … !!!] I’ve never had the need for a laxative in my 47+ years eating and eliminating. Is it of any value to use one and flush out that little extra on occasion? Any recommendations? [/QUOTE] If you don’t need one, I don’t think you’re supposed to take them just to make sure you’re flushing everything. It will probably give you the runs, and some of them work by giving you bowel cramps. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hidden-poo-kinda-graphic-physiological-question-about-bowel-function/330329/31 "2006-06-24T16:06:24Z")
I have also seen photos of the kind of rubbery stuff that a colonic has flushed out (this was in a magazine article). So what gives? If there’s no “hidden poop” then where does it come from? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hidden-poo-kinda-graphic-physiological-question-about-bowel-function/330329/32 "2006-06-24T16:21:41Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] I have also seen photos of the kind of rubbery stuff that a colonic has flushed out (this was in a magazine article). So what gives? If there’s no “hidden poop” then where does it come from? [/QUOTE] I was going to ask something similar about a herbal remedy that I saw a link to recently. Quite revolting (can’t find a cite thank goodness) 3-foot long wibbly stuff. My guess: it’s actually a direct result of taking the “remedy”, like Hopi ear candling. ---
**Author:** ![gabriela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@gabriela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gabriela)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hidden-poo-kinda-graphic-physiological-question-about-bowel-function/330329/33 "2006-06-24T20:34:09Z")
[QUOTE=fishbicycle] My wife had to have her appendix out due to irritation caused by a _fecalith_. Function: noun : a concretion of dry compact feces formed in the intestine or vermiform appendix : IANAD, but that would seem to have been some “hidden poo” if you ask me! [/QUOTE] You have to see an appendix to realize why this would happen. An appendix looks remarkably like a fishin’ worm. (Its medical name is “the vermiform appendix” which means “shaped like a worm” - apparently this resemblance has been remarked on for a good thousand years.) It dangles off the end of the cecum with its tip often as much as three inches (seven cm or so) away from the colon. Every now and then when we are autopsying we come across a really long one, and we will sometimes holler at the other doctors to look at this one. You can definitely form a little dried ball of poo in the tip of something three inches away from the colon, separated from it by a muscular, squishy little tube with an opening half the diameter of your little finger. However, the kicker? No enema’s gonna reach there. Enema waters will rush right by the appendix. No entry. No cleaning out. The appendix is a lymphoid organ. It is lined by lymphoid follicles under a thin inner coating of mucosa. It is a part of the immune system. It is probably there to sample the fecal flow for pathogens to help you prepare yourself against dangerous diarrheas. There is an extremely rare condition called “intestinal reduplication” in which a person can have a short segment of double-barreled intestine. I’m willing to bet you my year’s salary you and I don’t have this. Short of this, there are no pockets in the bowel. Before they came up with gastroplasty, one of the major surgeries devised for treatment of morbid obesity was small intestinal diversion. Basically, the surgeon would take one end of your jejunum and tie it off, and route the duodenum into the teruminal ileum. The segment that wasn’t to be used any more was left living and flapping around in the belly. No shit ran through it, and nobody got toxic from it… except one fellow who developed bacteria in it that produced alcohol, who would land in hospital slurrin’ drunk, and sober up only after antibiotics. IAAD ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hidden-poo-kinda-graphic-physiological-question-about-bowel-function/330329/34 "2006-06-24T22:07:50Z")
The gunk pictured in those “death begins in the colon” sites has typically been attributed to bulk forming products taken beforehand to “facilitate” the process. The only thing that did catch my eye about colon hydrotherapy was an article written by a skeptic who decided to try it and did end up “passing” a marble he had swallowed as a kid. Given that he was a critic of the process I can’t see any reason why he’d make it up. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hidden-poo-kinda-graphic-physiological-question-about-bowel-function/330329/35 "2006-06-24T22:09:17Z")
[QUOTE=eviladam, part 2] from the ads on this thread: yes, humans (and all other aminals) evolved for millions of years without developing a colon that was capable of doing its job. that’s probably why neanderthal died out, they didn’t shoot water up their buttholes enough. [/QUOTE] While I’m not defending the product, your argument doesn’t take into account the change in diet from hunter/gatherer to farmer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hidden-poo-kinda-graphic-physiological-question-about-bowel-function/330329.md?page=1)