Bowel Incontinence Explained: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Bowel incontinence is a distressing condition where patients can’t control their bowel movements. It results in faecal leakage, which can impact the quality of life. With medical advancements, this condition is manageable with the right treatment plan and support. 

A personalised plan including dietary changes, exercises, medications, therapies, and expert professional care can make a significant difference in people with bowel incontinence. Let’s understand what bowel incontinence is, its symptoms, treatment options, and getting expert bowel care. 

What Is Bowel Incontinence?

Bowel incontinence, also known as faecal incontinence, refers to the lack of control of bowel movements. Patients with this condition pass or leak stool unintentionally. Depending on the individual, the severity may vary. Some people may leak stool while trying to pass gas, while others may have a complete loss of bowel control. 

When bowel incontinence becomes chronic, patients may not be able to control the urge to defecate. It may come suddenly and intensely that they may not reach the toilet before the stool leaks. It is called urge incontinence. 

Some people may have other health conditions leading to passive incontinence. They don’t realise that they have to pass stool, and so, it ends up leaking unintentionally. 

Let’s explore the common reasons why bowel incontinence happens. 

Common Causes of Bowel Incontinence

Often, digestive disorders or chronic diseases result in bowel incontinence. Some of the common reasons why bowel incontinence happens are:

• Diarrhoea: Diarrhoea causes loose stool, and it can rush out quickly, leading to incontinence.
• Constipation: Chronic constipation causes muscles to become loose because of the constant stretching when applying pressure while passing dry and hard stool. These loose muscles cause watery stool to leak. In some people, chronic constipation causes nerve damage, which can also lead to bowel incontinence.
• Muscle damage: Women after childbirth may experience loose muscles, leading to faecal incontinence. It’s also more prevalent in older adults.
• Enlarged haemorrhoids: In some people, haemorrhoids can prevent sphincter muscles from holding back stool, resulting in leakage.

Beyond these common causes, chronic illnesses like prostate issues, IBS, multiple sclerosis, dementia, or alzheimer’s can also cause bowel incontinence. In most cases, the bowel incontinence symptoms are clearly visible as patients experience unnecessary faecal leakage. Knowing the warning signals helps manage the condition.

Bowel Incontinence Symptoms and Warning Signs

Seeing streaks of stool or mucus on underwear is the first sign of faecal incontinence. Mild or infrequent bowel incontinence can often be managed at home.

Sudden or unexpected leakage when coughing or sneezing is an indication that bowel control is compromised. Pain or discomfort during bowel movement indicates gastrointestinal issues that can lead to incontinence. It can cause emotional or social distress. 

While losing control of bowel movement is inconvenient and sometimes painful, treatment options are available. 

Bowel Incontinence Treatment Options

Anal rectal exam and neurological exam are usually conducted to diagnose bowel incontinence. An endoscopy, ultrasound, and defecography tests may be conducted.  The healthcare professional will also take a detailed history of the patient to determine the underlying cause of bowel incontinence. 

Depending on the severity, the healthcare professional may prescribe anti-diarrheal drugs, laxatives (in case of constipation), and fibre supplements. 

Exercises like Kegel exercises can be useful to improve the muscle tone of the anus and pelvic floor muscles. Bowel training may be suggested to create a schedule for better control of bowel movement. The healthcare provider may also recommend certain exercises that can help with controlling passing stool. 

If underlying reasons like rectal prolapse cause faecal incontinence, surgery may be recommended to repair the damaged muscles. In case other treatments don’t work, a colostomy may be needed. 

The healthcare professional commonly recommends making changes to everyday lifestyle to have better control of bowel movements. 

Managing Bowel Incontinence in Daily Life

For mild cases of bowel incontinence, dietary and lifestyle changes,s including adding more fibre-rich foods and whole grain foods. Foods that can trigger diarrhoea, such as alcohol, caffeine, fatty foods, dairy products, spicy foods, and high fructose foods, must be avoided. 

Regular exercises and exercises recommended by a physiotherapist must be done regularly to improve muscle tone for bowel control. 

While mild symptoms can be managed by patients on their own, seeking professional medical help early is crucial to avoid complications. 

When to Seek Medical or Professional Support

Professional medical support is necessary if the patient experiences more severe or frequent faecal leakage that affects their quality of life. Help must be sought immediately when bowel incontinence is accompanied by rectal bleeding, pain, cramping, or unexplained weight loss. 

Depending on the recommended treatment plan, some patients may need expert support to manage their bowel movements. 

Getting the Right Help and Support with Bowel Care

Professional bowel care support is available for patients who have bowel incontinence and need tailored care. Experts will listen to the needs of the patient and create a customised care plan with incontinence aids. Depending on the needs of the patient, incontinence experts create a diet and exercise regimen. They may offer support to retrain the bowel and create a toilet plan to help regain bowel control. They also help with stoma care. 

Patients needing expert bowel care in Wolverhampton can connect with Secure Healthcare Solutions for personalised bowel care services.