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How to collect your bowel health rapid test sample

Taking this test is a quick and easy way to screen for a potential problem with your bowel health but to obtain an accurate result, it’s essential that you do it correctly.

Watch our video here for clear, step-by-step instructions on how to take the test. It will show you how to collect a stool sample and perform your test as well as how long you’ll need to wait for a reliable result.

We recommend watching the full video before you start, to ensure you’re ready to collect your sample. You can then use your SPACEBAR to pause the video where needed as you follow along with the step-by-step instructions.

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Understanding your Bowel Health Rapid Test results

Understanding bowel health rapid test results

To help you understand what steps to take once you have received your results, we’ve put together this page to help you interpret what your results may mean and what you may want to do with these results. Remember: you should always consult a medical professional before making changes to your diet and lifestyle.

Before you continue its important that you have:

  • Read the ‘instructions for use’ leaflet included in your kit
  • Taken the test according to the instructions
Between 10 and 20 minutes

Interpreting your results

Understanding your bowel health rapid test results

Once you have collected your sample and performed your test, you must wait 5 minutes after applying your sample into the test cassette, before you read the results. Do not interpret the result after 10 minutes.

If your test result shows two coloured lines in both the control (c) and test (t) regions, it means occult blood (non-visible blood) has been detected in your stool sample. The intensity of the line in the test (T) region can vary depending on the concentration of blood in the sample, so any visible line should be considered positive.

A positive result indicates that you could have a gastrointestinal issue. There are several disorders that can cause bleeding including, ulcers, polyps, colitis, diverticulitis, fissures and sometimes bowel cancer. These conditions may not show any visible symptoms so it is important positive results are followed up with a medical professional.

What next?

This test can only detect the presence of non-visible blood in your stool and not what may have caused it. To understand where it may be coming from you should seek advice from healthcare professional, who can confirm your result and help you investigate what might be causing the bleeding. They may want to perform an examination of your colon.

When one coloured line is in the control (C) region but not in the test region (T), it means that no faecal occult (non-visible) blood has been detected in your stool sample.

What next?

It is important to take care of your bowel for a healthy lifestyle. It is a vital part of your digestive system that breaks down the food you eat, absorbs nutrients into your bloodstream, and expels waste your body can't use. Achieving good hydration and a healthy diet full of fibre are the best ways to maintain a healthy bowel. Bowel difficulties can become more common as we get older.

It is important to consider that this test should not be used as a diagnostic test, especially if you are still concerned by some symptoms such as diarrhoea, constipation, indigestion, abdominal pain, a change in your bowel habit or pain when you have a bowel movement. You may still have a gastrointestinal issue that warrants closer inspection as these do not always lead to faecal occult blood. Therefore, we would encourage you to seek help and advice from a healthcare professional if these problems persist.