Top Colonoscopy Mistakes People Make Before Colorectal Cancer Screening

Don’t shake your Tush test.

Colorectal cancer is the fourth most common type of cancer in the US, with rates steadily increasing—especially among people under 50.

While colonoscopies are considered the gold standard of screening, it’s essential to make sure you’re anal about the preparation so you don’t get boom results.

Speaking to The Post, Dr. David Rivadeneira, a colon and rectal surgeon at Huntington Hospital and director of the Northwell Health Cancer Institute in Huntington, revealed the top mistakes people make when it comes to their colonoscopies.

Mistake #1: Avoiding the probe altogether

The biggest mistake people can make is not getting a colonoscopy at all, either because they don’t think they need it or because the thought of a camera poking around their tails makes them uncomfortable.

“There’s a fear, isn’t there? There’s a fear of an invasive procedure,” said Dr. Rivadeneira, adding that some people become uneasy about the body part, thinking, “They’re going up into my rectum and looking with a camera. “”

But it’s really the best thing you can do to catch it, so it’s important to reserve yours if you’re of the right age.

Current guidelines advise patients to get their first colonoscopy at 45 – unless they are at higher risk or have other predisposing factors, such as a family history of colon cancer or polyps. In that case, discuss how soon you should go with your primary care doctor.

“People don’t realize exactly how important this is. Family history is huge, “and especially if you have multiple family members, then there may be a genetic cause,” said Dr. Rivadeneira.

Mistake #2: Believing old stories about the cleansing process

The paper admitted that many people have been put off by the preparation, which involves drinking a laxative formula to get your bowels out – and means suffering 12 to 16 hours of diarrhoea.

“People fear preparation more than anything. The clean process, believe it or not,” he said. “I’ve personally had five colonoscopies. I never thought the clean process was horrible, but a lot of people don’t want to drink a solution that’s going to give them diarrhea for a few hours to light up the colon. So many people avoid colonoscopy for that reason alone.”

Your parents or older friends may have told you horror stories, but Dr. Rivadeneira promises that the preparation process has “improved significantly” over the past ten to 15 years.

“Before, it used to be four quarts, a gallon of this horrible tasting solution. It’s not like that anymore. There are smaller volume preparations that work very well. There are pill preparations that people can take. There are a bunch of preparations that are a little better than they used to be, but they all have the same effect. “

Mistake #3: Eating fatty foods

In addition to getting a drink to make you go, go, go, it’s also important to follow the diet plan prescribed by your doctor—because if you don’t, there can be real consequences.

“We usually want people to eat kind of a light, bland diet for two days before the procedure,” said Dr. Rivadeneira.

Of course, you also have to drink a laxative solution that’s meant to flush everything out – but it doesn’t work as well if you’ve stuffed yourself with heavy food.

“If you have a few days of steak and potatoes … those things just kind of stick in your gut and just take longer to cook,” the doctor explained.

“We want to catch these things early, so if it’s coated in stool and it’s not clean enough to see the inner lining of the colon, then we stop the procedure.”

A crazy view can also be dangerous: “If it’s dirty, you can’t see properly, then you turn right when you’re supposed to turn left, and that’s when you sometimes get a puncture.”

Mistake #4: Not going up for a juice cleanse for a day or two

Rivadeneira also stressed the importance of drinking clear liquids for a day or two before your procedure for the same reason: dark or milky ones can obscure the appearance of the field.

“I usually do 24 hours of clear juices, and that can be chicken broth, beef broth, vegetable broth, jello, gatorade, ginger ale, anything clear,” he said.