Burning diarrhea refers to loose or watery stools that cause a painful burning sensation. This symptom is typically triggered by something you ate, skin irritation, or another health condition.
Depending on the underlying cause, burning diarrhea might go away after a short period or be chronic (long-lasting). Aside from being uncomfortable, it’s important to investigate why you might be experiencing burning diarrhea to find relief, avoid complications, and prevent it from happening again.
Burning diarrhea describes an uncomfortable, burning sensation when you pass loose, watery stool. This symptom can feel different for each person and may vary depending on the underlying cause.
When you have burning diarrhea, it may feel painful before, during, and after having a bowel movement. Some people describe burning diarrhea as a warm or stinging irritation that comes along with a loss of bowel control or an urgent need to use the bathroom right away. The burning feeling may return or worsen when you are wiping or cleaning the area.
Burning diarrhea can vary in frequency, intensity, and duration. It’s possible to experience burning diarrhea once in a while or on a long-term basis. Depending on the cause, burning diarrhea may also present with other symptoms, like stomach pain or cramping, itchy skin around the anus, rectal bleeding, fever, and nausea.
There are several reasons why you might be experiencing burning diarrhea—from food and digestion issues to skin irritation and certain health conditions.
Diet
Eating spicy, acidic, and other triggering foods is a common cause of burning diarrhea. A compound found in hot peppers known as capsaicin is responsible for bringing heat to your favorite spicy foods. Capsaicin itself can speed up digestion, irritate the digestive lining, and trigger diarrhea. Plus, this spicy chemical can also physically burn as it leaves your body via a bowel movement.
Other possible dietary culprits include acidic foods like citrus fruits and tomatoes—or alcohol, caffeine, and chocolate. Research suggests that consuming acid-rich foods is connected to digestive disorders like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and related symptoms like painful diarrhea.
If your diet is the reason behind your burning diarrhea, you may also notice stomach pain, nausea, and vomiting after eating.
Gastrointestinal Issues
Burning diarrhea can also be the result of the way your digestive system is operating. During the digestion process, a fluid known as bile mixes with stomach acid to help break down the foods you eat. For some people, bile acids aren’t able to be absorbed properly by the intestines, which causes chronic diarrhea. Along with the watery stools may come an acidic, irritating, or burning sensation during or after a bowel movement.
Another digestion-related issue that could cause painful diarrhea happens when you consume something difficult for the body to digest, like foods high in fiber. Snacks like nuts or seeds can pass through the gastrointestinal (GI) tract partially digested—and these snagged or broken pieces of food can scratch your rectum and anus as they leave the body. As a result, having a loose bowel movement like diarrhea might burn.
Routine digestion issues often develop with a disorder like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a food intolerance or allergy, or an infection. A healthcare provider can help determine the cause based on your symptoms.
Digestive Disorders and Related Issues
Some digestive disorders and related issues can increase the chances of experiencing burning diarrhea. For example:
- Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD): Because the main symptom of both IBS and IBD can be chronic diarrhea, these conditions can result in painful rectal bleeding that may burn with bowel movements. People with IBS or IBD would also experience other symptoms, such as stomach pain, cramping, gas, and more.
- Hemorrhoids: These swollen, irritated blood vessels in or around the anus trigger sensations like itching, burning, and bleeding. They’re also linked to chronic diarrhea and can cause a burning sensation during a loose bowel movement. Depending on whether the hemorrhoids are internal or external, you will also likely notice difficulty or straining while passing bowel movements or hard lumps around the outside of your anus.
- Anal fissures: Tiny cuts or tears that develop around the anus lead to bleeding and a burning sensation following a bowel movement—often diarrhea. Anal fissures also come along with symptoms like itching or tenderness around the anus and skin tags around the area.
Skin Irritation
Noticeable skin irritation around the anus can happen when you have a lot of diarrhea—especially with excessive wiping. As a result, you might experience pain or burning when a diarrhea-like bowel movement passes over the skin of your anus.
Extra moisture in the area from the diarrhea can be another irritant, leading to itchy, burning, uncomfortably loose bowel movements. When skin irritation is the reason behind burning diarrhea, you also may notice itching that gets worse at night and inflamed or thickened skin around the anus.
Surgical Procedures
Having digestive tract surgery could be another reason behind your burning diarrhea. For example, an ileostomy (a j-pouch surgery) involves removing part of the large intestine and creating a different opening for stool to exit the body.
After this procedure, some people experience more frequent bowel movements and diarrhea. This diarrhea can burn, thanks to more acidic stool that often results post-surgery.
People with IBD commonly need this procedure, as do some people with colorectal cancer, certain digestive birth defects, or intestinal damage.
A short-term bout of burning diarrhea that goes away on its own usually is not a cause for concern. However, long-lasting or recurring diarrhea could indicate another underlying issue.
See a healthcare provider if you have been experiencing burning diarrhea that seems to get worse or doesn’t get better after a few days or if you also experience the following symptoms:
In addition to asking about your symptoms and medical history, a healthcare provider may also order one or more of the following tests to get to the root cause of your burning diarrhea:
- Stool sample: This procedure involves testing a small amount of your stool, which can help determine whether there’s an infection.
- Blood test: This test involves taking a blood sample that can reveal the presence of a diarrhea-causing health condition.
- Colonoscopy: Disease or infection can be detected with a small camera and flexible tube.
- Fasting test: With this test, you temporarily avoid foods with certain ingredients to rule out a dietary trigger, like a food intolerance or food allergy.
Depending on the diagnosis, you might be referred to a gastroenterologist—a healthcare provider specializing in digestive issues.
The goal of treatment for burning diarrhea is to stop this symptom from happening, and then manage the underlying cause if needed. Some first-line treatment options include:
- Anti-diarrheal medications, like Imodium (loperamide) or Pepto Bismol (bismuth subsalicylate) to slow bowel movements
- Rehydration with a sports drink or Pedialyte to replace electrolytes and keep the body hydrated
- Diet modifications, such as avoiding dairy products, spicy foods, caffeine, and alcohol to help halt diarrhea
- Skin barrier cream, like zinc oxide, to soothe any skin irritation around the anus
If an underlying health condition is the cause of your burning diarrhea, different treatment plans may be required. For example, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may involve prescription medications and specific diet recommendations, while a diarrhea-causing bacterial infection can be treated with antibiotics.
Burning diarrhea is not always preventable. But there are some tips that experts recommend to avoid this uncomfortable symptom from happening, including:
- Practice good hygiene: Wash your hands often and maintain distance from people who are sick.
- Avoid trigger foods: For example, caffeine, spicy foods, and artificial sweeteners
- Be mindful of contamination: Avoid consuming foods or drinks that may be contaminated, especially while traveling
- Manage health conditions and medications: Continually discuss conditions and medications that may be prompting diarrhea with your healthcare provider
Dehydration is a common complication of burning diarrhea because your body loses fluids each time you have a watery bowel movement. It becomes a serious risk if you cannot control the burning diarrhea and replace those fluids. Severe dehydration can lead to organ damage or shock.
Anyone can experience dehydration as a result of burning diarrhea. Young children, older adults, and people with a compromised immune system may be most affected.
Experiencing a burning sensation with diarrhea can be triggered by food, skin irritation, digestion issues, or another health condition. While it may resolve on its own after a few days, a bout of longer-lasting burning diarrhea should be evaluated by a healthcare provider.
Depending on the underlying cause, various treatment options can offer symptom relief or longer-term maintenance if needed.
