Fecal Incontinence: Causes, Symptoms, and Effective Home Remedies

What to do about fecal incontinence or loss of bowel control? Discover 5 common causes, 3 simple home exercises, and effective treatment solutions to regain confidence in your life!

1. What is Fecal Incontinence?

Fecal incontinence is the inability to control bowel movements, resulting in leakage of stool when sneezing, coughing, or engaging in strenuous activity. While not life-threatening, it significantly impacts mental health, daily life, and quality of life, leading to feelings of inferiority and social anxiety.

Those most susceptible:

  • Women after childbirth (due to pelvic floor muscle damage).
  • Elderly people, people with diabetes, and stroke patients.
  • People with a history of anal surgery.

2. Early Warning Signs

  • Fecal leakage occurs when laughing loudly, sneezing, or carrying heavy loads.
  • Sudden urge to defecate, no time to get to the toilet.
  • Underwear stained with feces even after being wiped clean.
  • Anal pain and itching due to stool irritating the skin.

⚠️ Note: Đừng chủ quan nếu triệu chứng xuất hiện trên 2 lần/tuần!

3. Common Causes

3.1. Anal muscle injury

  • After normal delivery (episiotomy).
  • Anal surgery
  • Injuryto the anal region.

3.2. Neurological disorders

  • Stroke
  • Spinal cord injury.
  • Parkinson's disease
  • Diabetes damages nerves.

3.3. Other causes

  • Chronic constipation or diarrhea
  • Rectal prolapse
  • Pelvic floor muscle weakness

4. Diagnosis

4.1. Information You Need to Prepare Before Your Examination

Your doctor will ask you the following questions to narrow down the cause:

  • Toilet habits:

    • How many times a day do you have a bowel movement? Is your stool loose or constipated?
    • Is there blood or mucus in the stool?
  • Medical history:

    • Previous surgery, anal trauma, or vaginal delivery (for women).
    • Having diabetes, stroke, Parkinson's disease, or spinal cord injury.
  • Lifestyle habits:

    • A diet low in fiber, or holding back from going to the toilet.

⚠️ Tip: Let's keep a journal for one week, record the timing of bowel movements, the characteristics of the stool, and bring this information with you to the examination!

4.2. Doctor's Examination Procedure

Clinical examination

  • Rectal examination: The doctor uses gentle hand examination to assess:

    • Sphincter strength (the ability of the muscles to contract when you strain/hold in your bowels).
    • Detect tumor, fissure, or rectal prolapse.

Further tests and diagnostic procedures (if needed)

  • Ultrasound of the anal soft tissue: Examines the muscle and soft tissue structure to detect lesions and determine the underlying cause.
  • Colonoscopy: Detects inflammation, polyps, and tumors causing bowel dysfunction.
  • MRI scan of the pelvic region: To assess nerve or muscle damage.
  • Dynamic pelvic floor MRI during defecography (Defecography – MR): assesses the function and structure of the pelvic floor during defecation.

5. Effective Home Treatment Methods

5.1. Changes in diet

  • Increase fiber intake: Eat sweet potato leaves, papaya, and sweet potatoes to soften stools and make them easier to eliminate.
  • Drink 2 liters of water per day, avoid coffee and spicy foods.
  • The habit of going to the toilet at a specific time of day.

5.2. Exercises for the anal and pelvic floor muscles

Kegel exercises strengthen the anal sphincter muscles.

  • Step 1: Tighten your anal muscles as if you were holding back a bowel movement, hold for 5-10 seconds.
  • Step 2: Relax for 10 seconds. Repeat 10-15 times.
  • Step 3: Repeat this exercise 3 times/day
  • Results can be seen after 4–6 weeks if exercised regularly.

Abdominal breathing exercises:Inhale through the nose, expanding the abdomen; exhale, contracting the abdomen. This helps improve

improved bowel motility and bowel control.

Massage the abdomen in a clockwise direction: Stimulates natural bowel movements.

Take a gentle walk after meals to stimulate digestion.

5.3. Use supportive medications AS PRESCRIBED BY YOUR DOCTOR

  • Antidiarrheal medications: Loperamide, Diosmectite
  • Adding soluble fiber when constipated: Psyllium husk, infogos helps to form stool.
  • Laxatives for constipation: Lactulose, Macrogol

6. Other methods 

In Vietnam, there are indications for surgical intervention related to the sphincter muscle, such as:

  • Anal sphincteroplasty surgery is performed due to trauma or after childbirth.
  • Rectal prolapse surgery aims to fix the rectum back to its normal position.
  • Rectal-vaginal hernia surgery is performed to prevent the abnormal movement of the rectum into the vagina.
  • In addition, there are other therapies such as InterStim, a nerve stimulation method also used to treat fecal incontinence. Or injecting Solesta gel into the tissue layer beneath the anal mucosa to promote tissue growth around the anus, narrowing it. However, these two methods are not yet widely used in Vietnam.

7. When is it necessary to go to the hospital?

  • Stool mixed with blood, severe abdominal pain.
  • No improvement after 1 month of training..
  • Psychological stress, depression due to illness.

Conclude:

Fecal incontinence it is not a terminal illness.! Let's start by eat a healthy diet and do Kegel exercises every day. and consult a doctor if symptoms are severe. Don't hesitate to share – you can absolutely regain your confidence!

References

National Library of Medicine. Bowel incontinence. MedlinePlus. April 24, 2024. Accessed May 31, 2024. https://medlineplus.gov/bowelincontinence.html

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