What Is Diarrhea?

This informational guide, part of POPSUGAR's Condition Center, lays out the realities of this health concern: what it is, what it can look like, and strategies that medical experts say are proven to help. You should always consult your doctor regarding matters pertaining to your health and before starting any course of medical treatment.

Diarrhea is no one's favorite topic, but it's one of the more common medical conditions. In fact, most people experience diarrhea one or two times a year, and for some, it happens more often than that, the Cleveland Clinic reports. Whether you only deal with diarrhea a handful of times a year or it's a more pressing problem for you, there are ways to manage the symptoms and shorten the amount of time you're left sitting on the toilet in discomfort. But before you can start to treat diarrhea, it can be helpful to know what causes it.

Diarrhea is characterized by loose, runny, and watery bowel movements, as well as needing to go more frequently, according to the Mayo Clinic. Needing to poop more than three times a day is typically a sign of diarrhea, says board-certified gastroenterologist Samantha Nazareth, MD, especially if you're usually a once-a-day type. A number of conditions and infections can cause diarrhea (we'll get to those in a second), but regardless of the underlying source, the mechanics behind the condition remain largely the same.

Here's what going on when your digestion is chugging along as it should: when you eat food, it passes from your mouth to your esophagus before it starts to get digested in your stomach, small intestine, and large intestine, or colon. "Normally, we have large volumes of water secreted into the small intestine, but most of this water is then absorbed before everything moves into the colon," Dr. Nazareth tells POPSUGAR. When you have diarrhea, however, one or more of the following happens, she says, leading to the runny, watery stool and frequent urges to "go" that characterizes diarrhea:

There are two types of diarrhea — acute and chronic. While the factors that cause each type all affect your gut's water absorption, production, or motility, acute and chronic diarrhea typically have different underlying sources. Acute diarrhea is temporary and lasts less than two weeks, according to the National Institutes of Health. "Usually, people describe this as acute gastroenteritis or a stomach bug," Dr. Nazareth says. She adds that most cases "are likely infectious in nature." Common causes of acute diarrhea include:

Chronic diarrhea, on the other hand, lasts more than four weeks. Causes of chronic diarrhea include:

The good news is that mild diarrhea can typically be managed at home, Dr. Nazareth says. If you're treating diarrhea at home, make sure to

Acute diarrhea typically goes away on its own, Dr. Nazareth says. However, if you've been experiencing symptoms for longer than two days without some improvement or if your symptoms are interfering with your daily life, Mayo Clinic advises that you see your doctor. You should also consult a doctor if you have or are experiencing any of the following:

At the doctor's office, you may be prescribed an antibiotic or antiparasitic medication, depending on the cause of the diarrhea. Over-the-counter medications like loperamide (Imodium) or bismuth subsalicylate (Pepto-Bismol) might also help, but Dr. Nazareth recommends talking to a doctor before you take any OTC meds. "Don't take these if you also have a fever or blood in the poop," she adds, "and don't take more than the label tells you."