The Higher Order of Poo

Dr. Stool writes: We all need a little more order in our lives. Now, thanks to two ingenius poo docs from England, we have the ability to neatly classify our most untidy of waste products.

While we believe that the variety in poo is, indeed, “bottomless,” these poo minimalists have devised a quick and easy classification entitled, the Bristol Stool Scale. Developed in the 1990s at the University of Bristol (those crazy Brits), this scale classifies stool into 7 categories. While we are a bit skeptical that this limited classification can capture the glorious diversity of poo, the underlying premise is sound.

K W Heaton and S J Lewis (the developers of the scale) determined after considerable research that a poo’s consistency is determined by how much time it spends in the colon. The longer the incubation, the drier and more particulate the stool (this occurs because the colon’s primary function is to absorb water).

The amazing thing about these British physicians is that they actually created a visual scale so that patients could say, “Hey doc! That one, that one…That’s me!”

Bristol Stool Scale
Type 1: Separate hard lumps, like nuts
Type 2: Sausage-shaped but lumpy
Type 3: Like a sausage but with cracks on its surface
Type 4: Like a sausage or snake, smooth and soft
Type 5: Soft blobs with clear-cut edges
Type 6: Fluffy pieces with ragged edges, a mushy stool
Type 7: Watery, no solid pieces. Entirely Liquid

If you are so inclined, hit the jump for the illustrated version (although the illustrations in “What’s Your Poo Telling You?” are much more impressive.