Anal discharge

There can be many different reasons for discharge from your anus (bottom), and it can vary in colour, appearance and consistency. It may be watery or jelly-like, and be clear, white, yellowish, pinkish or brown.

The most common types of anal discharge are:

• Mucus – a jelly-like substance that’s naturally found in the gut; white or yellow mucus may mean there’s an infection, while a pink or red colour may indicate blood
 
• Faeces (stools) – due to leaking from your bowel
 
• Anal bleeding

If you have anal discharge, you may notice:

• Staining on your underwear
 
• Itching
 
• A feeling of dampness

Discomfort around your bottom

Mucus-based discharge may be caused by:

• Infection due to food-poisoning, bacteria or parasites
 
• An abscess due to infection or an anal fistula – a channel that can develop between the end of your bowel and anus after an abscess
 
• Haemorrhoids (piles) – swellings containing enlarged blood vessels found inside or around your bottom
 
• Digestive conditions such as inflammatory bowel diseases (eg Crohn’s disease), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or food intolerance (such as coeliac disease)
 
• Sexually transmitted infections, including genital warts around your bottom, gonorrhoea, chlamydia, herpes simplex and syphilis
 
• A side effect of chemotherapy
 
• Anal cancer, which is rare, affecting 1,300 people per year in the UK

Leakage of faeces (stools) from your bowel may be caused by:

• Damage to the muscles that control bowel movements after childbirth, surgery or rectal prolapse – a condition that’s more common with age, when your rectum (the lower part of your large intestine), protrudes from your bottom
 
• Diarrhoea as a result of infection, bowel disease or IBS
 
• Injury or disease that affects your nerves, such as a stroke, Parkinson’s or multiple sclerosis