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A change in bowel habit means your bowels behaving differently from what is normal for you - looser or harder stools, going often, or a new urgency. Most changes have a common cause and settle. A change that persists can also be one of the symptoms of bowel cancer, the UK's 4th most common cancer at around 48,200 new cases a year, which is why NHS advice is to see a GP about any symptom lasting 3 weeks or more.
There is no single normal. Some people go two or three times a day, others two or three times a week, and both are healthy. What matters is the change - your own pattern shifting and staying shifted.
The NHS describes it as changes in your poo, such as softer poo, diarrhoea or constipation that is not usual for you, and needing to poo more or less often than usual for you [2]. Two related feelings count as well: often feeling like you need to go even when you have just been, and stools that have been softer, thinner or longer than normal [2].
A single upset week after a stomach bug, a holiday or a course of antibiotics is a change most people recognise and shrug off, reasonably. It is the change that has not gone back to normal that is worth a conversation.
Use the NHS tiers below for general guidance, not a diagnosis of your own symptoms.
Immediate action required. Call 999 or go to A&E if [2]:
LivingCare is a specialist outpatient service and is not an emergency care facility. If your symptoms are sudden or severe, call 999.
Urgent advice. Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 if [2]:
Where the change is diarrhoea, the NHS adds its own urgent tier. Call 111 now if [3]:
Non-urgent advice. See a GP if [2]:
That 3-week mark is the practical threshold, and it is the one most people wait past. It applies whether the change is towards looser or harder stools, more visits or fewer.
The NHS is clear about the balance here: some of these symptoms are very common and can be caused by other conditions, so having them does not definitely mean you have bowel cancer - but it is important to get checked [2]. If you would rather see a specialist without waiting, you can arrange a Gastroenterology Consultation privately.
Most changes have an everyday explanation. For a change towards looser stools or diarrhoea, the NHS lists causes including a tummy bug, medicines - it is worth checking the leaflet to see if it is a listed side effect - a food intolerance or food allergy, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), anxiety, appendicitis, inflammatory bowel disease, coeliac disease, diverticular disease, and radiation treatment in the pelvic area [3].
For a change in the other direction, common causes include not eating enough fibre, not drinking enough fluids, being less active, changing your diet or daily routine, a side effect of medicine, and stress, anxiety or depression [4]. Where that becomes a persistent problem, Constipation covers it in more depth.
Bowel polyps and bowel cancer sit on the same list [2], which is the honest reason a persistent change is worth looking at rather than living with. Blood in your poo is a symptom in its own right and Blood in Stool covers it separately.
Beware of a family history of bowel cancer.
A visit to your GP or gastroenterology consultation is the starting point - the specialist reviews your symptoms and arranges only the tests they call for. That usually begins with your history: what changed, when, how often, and what else has changed alongside it.
From there, the NHS route for these symptoms involves feeling your tummy and, depending on your symptoms, a rectal examination; a poo sample or a home test kit called a faecal immunochemical test (FIT), which checks for bleeding from the bowel; and sometimes a blood test [2]. NICE guidance puts FIT first: it recommends the test to guide referral for anyone with a change in bowel habit, at any age, and a result of at least 10 micrograms of haemoglobin per gram of faeces triggers referral on a suspected cancer pathway - defined as a diagnostic test like colonoscopy for ruling out cancer within 28 days of referral [5]. Where the findings call for a direct look at the bowel lining, the next step is usually a Colonoscopy.
Our consultant gastroenterologists see patients privately for exactly this. Self-pay, with no GP referral needed. If you are using medical insurance, your insurer may ask for a GP referral letter. You can read more about the team and what we investigate on our Gastroenterology page.
Medically reviewed by: Dr N. Chandra, Consultant Endoscopist. Last reviewed: 09/10/26
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