Hello,

Thank you for your query.

Your question is a very good one and I can understand how you may have some anxiety about what you reported.

I will try to give you some good information and recommendations as well.

The most likely cause of what you experienced when you had your most recent bowel movement is that something like a tiny string got into your food or something that you ate and worked its way through your intestines. This may have been something that you ingested even several days ago or over a week or two ago.

This is the most common cause of a long string appearing object in the stool. Of course we worry about other things such as worms or parasites which can present like this but honestly I would doubt this in your case very significantly. I would however recommend that you continue to monitor your bowel movements for any odd appearing stool. If for some reason you have additional episodes of this I would save the stool for analysis in a laboratory. If you bring a sample to your primary care provider they can analyze it and send it to the lab. If another long object appeared in the stool you could capture that and again bring it to your primary care provider for analysis.

I am really not very concerned that what you experienced is an infection or a parasite.

Again please monitor your bowel movements for the next couple of weeks and please let me know or share with your primary care provider if something abnormal is found.

I hope you have found my answer to be both helpful and informative.

If you have additional concerns regarding this question I am available to address them.

Wishing you good health.

Sincerely,

Dr. Robert.

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