When should you have your first colonoscopy?
The short answer
Screening for bowel cancer is now recommended from age 45 for adults at average risk, following the US Preventive Services Task Force. If a parent, brother or sister had bowel cancer, screening usually starts earlier, often at 40 or ten years before the age your relative was diagnosed, whichever comes first. Symptoms at any age are not screening: they need a test now.
Book a colonoscopy, ₦450,000 all-inMedically reviewed by Dr Debo Odulana, Founder and Chief Executive, Mezo. Last reviewed . This page is general information, not a diagnosis. Care is decided with you after an examination.
Average risk: from forty-five
The US Preventive Services Task Force lowered the starting age from fifty to forty-five in 2021, because bowel cancer has been appearing in younger adults. The UK screens with a home stool test from fifty. In Nigeria there is no national programme, so the decision is yours and your doctor's, and doctors here often see bowel cancer diagnosed late, in people who did not know they should be checked.
Higher risk: start earlier
Talk to a doctor about starting before forty-five if you have:
- A parent, brother, sister or child who had bowel cancer or advanced polyps
- Several relatives with bowel, womb or related cancers
- Ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease affecting the colon for some years
- Polyps found and removed before
How often after the first one
It depends on what is found. After a normal colonoscopy at average risk, the next is often not due for ten years. After polyps, the report gives a shorter interval based on how many there were, their size and type. Keep the report: it is the instruction for your next check.
What it costs on Mezo
One all-in price, paid online. Sedation, any biopsy and a doctor's review of the report are included.
Common questions
I am 45 and feel fine. Is a colonoscopy really necessary?
Feeling fine is exactly when screening works. Polyps and early cancers usually cause no symptoms, and finding them early is what makes bowel cancer preventable or curable.
I am 35 with bleeding. Am I too young?
No. Screening ages are for people without symptoms. Bleeding or a lasting change in bowel habit needs assessment at any age.
Can I have a gastroscopy at the same time?
Yes. The Gut Check does both in one session with one preparation and one recovery, ₦750,000 all-in.
The procedures
Related health guides
More patient guides
Sources and further reading
The guidelines and patient information this page is checked against. Care in Nigeria follows the same evidence; what differs is the price and where it is done.
- Screening for Colorectal Cancer: US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement. US Preventive Services Task Force, JAMA 325(19), 2021. Peer-reviewed.
- Bowel cancer screening. NHS. Patient information.
Links last checked 13 October 2026.
Medical disclaimer:This guide is general information and does not replace advice from your own doctor. Where your centre's instructions differ from this guide, follow theirs.