I happen to go through this experience quiet regularly and I regarded as a natural and useful process for the billions of bacteria helping my digestion to do their job. I guess when their work goes routinely well the feces are solid, but they liquefy in case of emergency so that the intestines can be quickly emptied.
It’s for our own good, really. And you know what they say - no pain, no gain.
I thought diarrhea was usually the result of decreased intestinal transit time; in other words, fecal contents don’t, for whatever reason, stay in the colon long enough for it to do its job, which is removing excess water from waste products.
There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
And it all comes out in the end anyway.
Another discussion of pain and diarrhea. If its a burning question for you.
Pain before eliminating:
Solid waste tends to leave gaps along the edges that allow gas to collect and then exit the body. Liquid waste, on the other hand forms an airtight barrier that requires a greater pressure differential (or buoyancy/gravity) for gas to pass through. The mythbusters explained it much better in their ‘sewer explosion’ segment.
Pain after eliminating:
Liquid waste spreads much more than solid waste. Thus, a cleaning that’s sufficient for a solid bm will result in missed spots of diarrhea. Also, if you have any hair back there, it can soak up the stuff and makes it even harder to clean. And fecal matter is a feast for bacteria, and some varieties of bacteria produce waste of their own that is very irritating or caustic to sensitive skin (you wouldn’t think that area would be sensitive, but hit it with an alcohol wipe and …).
Re pre-diarrhea pain is your body is trying to throw waste material out at high velocity and there are all sorts for intestinal peristaltic gymnastics going on and this is often quite uncomfortable. Re going, serious diarrhea is coming from your stomach through your colon so fast it is highly acidic and irritating to the mucous membranes and associated tissue in the anus region. The acidity burns and is very uncomfortable, especially after several diarrhea blowouts the anal tissue area is raw and on fire.
I think its acid. The body knows to raise the acid level to inhibit pathogens.
Very interesting…assuming you are correct.
I would have guessed acid but thought that it was just the cause rather than an affect as well.
Wow, I never guessed that surfing the chocolate waves can be so fascinating!
I’m sensing a lot of butthurt in this thread.
Aside on diarrhea during colonoscopy prep (that being an ever-popular topic here):
This is typically very severe yet painless diarrhea, of which Dave Barry famously wrote:
Yet, I found, and most people apparently find, that it is totally painless. OTOH, I found a thread in which many users complained of horrific cramping and other severe pain during the prep. On closer inspection, that thread was on an IBS board. So I suppose, for people with IBS, even a colonoscopy prep can be seriously painfully unpleasant.
I just did a colonoscopy prep on Sunday, and it looks like I probably do have IBS. The prep was painless.
No IBS here but the only pain I’ve had with colonoscopy prep is with the fact that through sheer volume / duration, things get kinda raw outside the exit portal. I have used the phrase “battery acid” more than once to describe the experience.
The only time I’ve ever had pain due to “normal” diarrhea was when I had some kind of bacterial food poisoning - and for a week I was having severe, double-you-over cramps every few minutes. In that case it was the gut cramping that caused the pain.
It’s not something you’re body is used to. Therefore it hurts. Simple as that.
A handy reference guide: Bristol Stool Chart.
I find it doesn’t have to be liquid to hurt. If I have a slight stomach upset, but not the full-on runs, I get the sensation of burning as it exits. I assume it is excess acid.
