Answering Usually Asked Questions Near Colonoscopies

From how long a colonoscopy will take to how much of your body is exposed, a leading gastroenterologist addresses frequently asked concerns about the exam.

Text that says "Five Things I Wish Everyone Knew About Colonoscopies"

Practise you accept questions nigh colonoscopies? If so, you lot're not alone. One of the main reasons people avert getting this lifesaving exam is considering they retrieve information technology volition exist painful or embarrassing, according to an American Cancer Society study.

"I witness many patients who are anxious about getting a colonoscopy, merely it's not something to be feared," says Dr. Felice Schnoll-Sussman, a gastroenterologist and the director of The Jay Monahan Centre for Gastrointestinal Health and an associate attention physician at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Centre. "Once they understand what's involved, their fears subside."

Colon cancer is highly preventable, yet it's on the rising in younger populations. The American Cancer Social club now recommends starting screening at age 45 — earlier if you have a family history of colon cancer — based in part on new data showing an increment in rates of colorectal cancer in people betwixt the ages of 20 and 55.

Here, Dr. Schnoll-Sussman breaks downwards what happens during a colonoscopy, dispels some mutual fears and misconceptions, and why information technology's important to get one.

It'south safety and pain-gratuitous.

During a colonoscopy, you have a whole team by your side to ensure your safety, which may include a gastroenterologist, an anesthesiology professional person, a nurse, and a technician. This highly skilled team is assembled to ensure your condolement and safety during the procedure.

Before your colonoscopy, y'all are lightly sedated and your vital signs will exist monitored during your procedure. The sedation volition allow yous to feel relaxed and comfy. Your gastroenterologist will then insert into your rectum a colonoscope — a thin, flexible, hollow tube with a tiny camera on the end — to view the unabridged colon. Many patients are so comfortable that they do not fifty-fifty realize the procedure was completed.

Your trunk is completely covered during the exam.

You may be wondering how much of your body is exposed during a colonoscopy. Simply don't worry about being embarrassed or exposed — you volition wear a hospital gown, and a sheet provides extra covering. Residuum assured that, during the process, your gastroenterologist will exist focused on a monitor displaying the inside of your colon, non on your backside.

It goes by apace and yous'll meet with your gastroenterologist following the process.

A typical colonoscopy takes approximately 30 minutes. If polyps are found and need to be removed, it may take longer. Once the procedure is finished, you lot slowly wake up. Then you become dressed and meet with your gastroenterologist, who will tell you what they saw during the colonoscopy. If a biopsy was taken or a polyp removed, your doctor will contact you lot in a few days once the pathologist reviews the tissue sample.

Prepping for it really takes longer; you can read more most that here.

Portrait of Dr. Felice Schnoll-Sussman

Dr. Felice Schnoll-Sussman

You can resume your normal life within 24 hours.

Y'all tin consume and get back to a somewhat normal routine within an 60 minutes or two. You may experience some gas and intestinal bloating, only that dissipates within several hours. Be sure to arrange for a ride to take you home, and focus on resting for the rest of the day. You can resume piece of work the next solar day.

Colonoscopy is the gold standard in detecting and preventing colon cancer.

While there are other methods of screening for colorectal cancer, such every bit stool-based tests that identify hidden blood and genetic mutations in the stool, a colonoscopy is all the same the but diagnostic and therapeutic process to both screen and prevent colorectal cancer.

Discover out how to best prepare for a colonoscopy, or for more data and to book an date, visit here.

Felice Schnoll-Sussman, One thousand.D., is a gastroenterologist and the director of The Jay Monahan Heart for Gastrointestinal Health, manager of endoscopy; an associate attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center; and an acquaintance professor of clinical medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine.