No I am not asking if your loo is sad.
I am asking if you use blue loo or similar to make your loo look and smell fresh?
None of us like toilet smells and many of us use blue loo in the cistern or hang someting similar on the edge of the toilet bowl to keep things fresh.

But have you ever stopped to think that the blue in the loo may be masking the real colour of urine or the fact that there may be blood in your bowel motion?
Often colour changes in our urine or bowel motions are the first sign that something is amiss and needs checking.

Urine colour says a lot. It can tell you if you are dehydrated (dark urine) or too hydrated (clear urine) . if either of these persist it can affect yor health in many ways.

Our basic colour wheel tells us when you mix yellow with blue you get green, so a shade of yellow urine, mixed with blue loo will look green and tell you nothing about your hydration levels or health.

Blood in, or on, your bowel motion may also go undetected unless there is a lot of it. Generally red plus blue = purple which could easily be missed in a blue toilet bowl.

 

Let me tell you a true story.....

A friend of mine was recently diagnosed with rectal cancer. 

They used blue loo at home so he had never noticed any blood in the bowl and there had been none on toilet paper.
One day he used a loo away from home. This loo had no blue water in the bowl and when he had finished and looked down, he saw a small amount of red which made him initially think back as to whether he had eaten capsicum the day before. But he hadn't.

This in itself was not enough to make him see his GP but as he had an appointment later that week following up on another matter, he casually mentioned it to his GP when he was asked if he had anything else he wanted to discuss. Luckily his GP was very switched on and immediately sent him for testing. The result was surgery followed by radiation and chemo.

His treatment has recently finished and we are all hoping for the all clear for him on follow up.

The thing is, had he not used the loo without the blue water, he may not have discovered the change in time.

So if you do use any product that changes the colour of your loo water, be very aware of any colour changes and preferably switch to something that does not change the water colour. 

© Fiona Rogers, Pelvic Floor Exercise Physiotherapist 

This blog content is intended as information only and not medical advice. Please see your health professional for individual diagnosis and treatment