Pebble Poop: Causes, Remedies, And When To See A ... - Healthline

Maybe your like

HealthlineSubscribeCauses of Pebble Poop and What to Do About It

Medically reviewed by Qin Rao, MD — Written by Ashley Marcin — Updated on August 28, 2024

Overview
Symptoms
Causes
Treatment
In babies & children
Takeaway

Poop that comes out like pebbles may mean you have constipation or an underlying medical condition. Drinking more water, changing your diet, or treating the underlying condition may help.

The texture of your poop doesn’t change at random. It can actually tell you something about your overall health, diet, or lifestyle.

What’s considered normal poop can vary from person to person. But if your poop seems to have the consistency of pebbles, it’s not something you want to ignore — especially if it’s a frequent occurrence.

Pebble or pellet bowel movements aren’t usually a reason to worry, but they may mean stool is moving through your intestines slowly. These small, hard lumps of stool can be hard to pass. They’re also one of several symptoms that occur with constipation.

Keep reading to learn more about what causes pebble poop — in adults, children, and babies — and what you can do to get your poop back to normal.

What is pebble poop?

Your poop is made up of the waste products from the meals and snacks you consume each day. After your body takes in fuel and nutrients, the resulting poop works its way through your digestive tract until it reaches its final destination — the rectum.

Poop may resemble small balls or pellets if it’s been sitting stagnant in the colon. With time, the large intestine absorbs the water content of the poop, which dries it out and hardens it. It may break it into smaller pieces as well, giving it that pebble-like appearance.

Symptoms

Pebble-like stool can be difficult to pass because the hard, dry edges make it feel sharp. This can make your bowel movements painful. Besides the shape of your stool, you may experience the following symptoms:

feeling like you still have to go, even after a bowel movement
pooping fewer than three times a week
straining when you go, even though the poop isn’t very large

Sometimes, pebble stool can cause a backup in your colon so only liquid stool escapes around it. This could make you think you have diarrhea when you actually still have hard stool in your intestines.

You may even see blood in your pellet stool. A small streak of blood may be due to irritation of your rectum or anus causing hemorrhoid irritation or a tear. Significant blood could signal something more, like gastrointestinal bleeding.

Seek immediate medical attention if you notice a significant amount of blood or if your stools are black.

Bristol Stool Chart

Poop comes in all different shapes and textures. The Bristol Stool Chart, which is based on a 1992 study of nearly 2,000 people and their poop, can help you identify what your own stool looks like and exactly what may be causing it to look that way.

Share on Pinterest

What causes pebble poop?

Again, as food moves through your digestive system, your intestines absorb nutrients at different points. The stool absorbs water along the way, which helps it propel forward through the intestines.

Healthy stool is typically soft and formed. Being soft makes stool easier to move out of the rectum.

But if stool lingers too long in your bowels, the large intestine can absorb too much water from the stool. This makes the stool more concentrated and compact. It dries out and breaks apart into hard pebbles or pellets.

There are many potential causes of pellet poop, most of which are the underlying causes of constipation.

Medication

Some medications can cause pebble poop by slowing stool or reducing the amount of water in your body or stool. Such medications include:

antacids, especially those with aluminum and calcium
anticholinergics, which can slow down how fast you eliminate stool
diuretics, which cause your body to release extra water through urine, drying out stool
certain opioids for pain, which can slow how fast your intestines propel stool

Lifestyle and diet

Dehydration can lead to pebble poop bowel movements as your body may not have enough water to help soften stool. Drinking more water is one key way to reduce constipation.

A diet with too much or too little fiber, depending on the fiber type, can also be a contributing factor.

Physical inactivity can reduce regularity in bowel movements, causing poop to harden into pebble-like consistency. Not moving the bowels enough or holding in bowel movements may also lead to constipation.

Medical conditions

Certain medical conditions can also contribute to pebble poop. These conditions include but are not limited to:

irritable bowel syndrome
brain or spinal disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease or multiple sclerosis
hypothyroidism, which can reduce hormones that help stimulate bowel movements
large uterine fibroids, which could press on your rectum and make stool harder to pass
diabetes
calcium disturbances
overuse of laxatives
autoimmune conditions
peripheral nervous system disorders like Hirschsprung disease, neurofibromatosis, and autonomic neuropathy

If you have pebble poop bowel movements often, or if seeing pebble poop is new to you, you may want to talk with a doctor to identify an underlying cause.

Importance of colon cancer screening

Constipation can be a sign of colon cancer due to tumor growth. Talk with a doctor about screening for colon cancer. Catching colon cancer early can improve treatment outcomes.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and the American Cancer Society recommend colon cancer screening starting at age 45.

The American College of Gastroenterology also recommends that people start colon cancer screening at age 45, adding that those with signs of worsening constipation should get a colonoscopy if greater than age 40.

When to seek medical attention
Seek medical attention if you have constipation with the following symptoms, as these may indicate partial or complete bowel obstruction:
severe abdominal pain
abdominal swelling
vomiting
inability to pass gas

What’s the best way to treat pellet poop?

There are a number of home remedies and medical treatments for constipation and pellet stool.

Home remedies

Changes to your diet and increased physical activity may help you see typical stool in the toilet bowl.

Choose certain “P” foods: Incorporating peaches, plums, pears, and prunes in your diet can help boost your fiber intake and promote regular bowel movements.
Cut back on constipating foods: Milk, cheese, and high fat processed foods can have a constipating effect.
Drink more water: Drinking water, particularly mineral water, can help with constipation.
Exercise: Movement and motion can stimulate your bowels to move at more regular times. Adding a 30-minute exercise session to your day or breaking up exercise into 10-minute sessions can help.

Medical treatments

If home treatments aren’t enough, a doctor may prescribe or recommend:

Lubricants: Some lubricant enemas make it easier for hard stools to pass.
Stimulants: Medications like Dulcolax or Senna can help stimulate your bowels and propel bowel movements forward.
Stool softeners: Stool softeners like Colace help make hard pebble stools softer and easier to pass.
Bulk-forming laxatives: Metamucil or Fiber-Lax are examples of bulk-forming laxatives that add more fiber to your diet.
Osmotic laxatives: Some products, like MiraLAX, draw water into the colon, softening the stool.

Some of these medications are available over the counter. Speak with a doctor before taking one to make sure it won’t interfere with other medications you take.

Pebble poop in babies and young children

Infants and children may also have pebble poop from time to time. You may see the consistency right away if you’re changing your baby’s diaper. With older children, you may not know until you see other signs of constipation, like skid marks or fecal accidents.

Causes include:

introducing babies to formula, solid foods, or new foods
intolerance or allergy to certain foods or beverages, leading to chronic constipation
other dietary situations, such as drinking too much milk, not enough water, or taking in too much fiber
certain medications, such as iron supplements

Children may also deal with constipation if they wait too long to go to the bathroom or hold their poop for some other reason (for example, fear of using the bathroom at school).

In these cases, you might try encouraging them to use the bathroom after meals for 5–10 minutes to get things more regular.

Talk with your pediatrician if your child’s constipation doesn’t respond to home remedies after 2 to 3 weeks.

Your pediatrician may suggest certain medications, suppositories, or an enema. Also let them know if your child shows other signs of food sensitivities or intolerances, like gas, nausea, or bloating.

Takeaway

Your poop tells a story about your health. Pebble poop bowel movements can signal that your stool is very dry and breaking apart in your intestine before coming out.

As with other constipation symptoms, treatment includes drinking more water, increasing physical activity, and changing your dietary fiber intake.

While pebble poop bowel movements aren’t usually a medical emergency, they can be uncomfortable. Talk with a doctor if constipation interferes with your daily activities. They can help you identify the underlying cause and find relief.

Check in with a doctor if you see blood in your stool, experience loose stools while feeling constipated, or have any other concerns about your bowel movements.

How we reviewed this article:

SourcesHistoryHealthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. We only use quality, credible sources to ensure content accuracy and integrity. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

Allen P, et al. (2024). Pediatric functional constipation.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537037/
American Cancer Society guideline for colorectal cancer screening. (2024).https://www.cancer.org/cancer/colon-rectal-cancer/detection-diagnosis-staging/acs-recommendations.html
Bristol stool chart. (2024).https://www.continence.org.au/pages/bristol-stool-chart.html
Colorectal cancer: Screening. (2021).https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/colorectal-cancer-screening
Definition & facts for constipation. (2018).https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases/constipation/definition-facts
Heaton KW, et al. (1992). Defecation frequency and timing, and stool form in the general population: A prospective study.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1379343/
Intestinal obstruction. (2017).https://medlineplus.gov/intestinalobstruction.html
Shaukat A, et al. (2021). ACG clinical guidelines: Colorectal cancer screening 2021.https://journals.lww.com/ajg/Fulltext/2021/03000/ACG_Clinical_Guidelines__Colorectal_Cancer.14.aspx
Singh H, et al. (2018). Paediatric constipation: An approach and evidence-based treatment regimen.https://www1.racgp.org.au/ajgp/2018/may/paediatric-constipation
Symptoms & causes of constipation in children. (2018).https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases/constipation-children/symptoms-causes
Wald A. (2016). Treating constipation with medications.https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2504815

Share this article

Medically reviewed by Qin Rao, MD — Written by Ashley Marcin — Updated on August 28, 2024

Health Conditions

Condition Spotlight

Wellness Topics

Product Reviews

Featured Programs

Featured

Lessons

Newsletters

Lifestyle Quizzes

Health News

This Just In

Top Reads

Video Series

Find Your Bezzy Community

Follow us on social media