Goodbye Bowel Accidents: How To Improve Your Control 

Feacal Incontinence (accidental loss of bowel control) affects more Australian’s than diabetes and asthma. So why do we never talk about it? There is much taboo surrounding bowel control, and unfortunately many sufferers don’t seek help.  The good news? Faecal Incontinence is often curable!  You are never too old and it is never too late to improve your bowel control.
 

What Is Faecal Incontinence?

Feacal Incontinence is a term used to describe any accidental leakage from the bowel. This includes losing control of solid or liquid stools (faeces), staining on your underwear after passing a motion, and accidentally passing wind. 
 

What Causes Faecal Incontinence?

The main causes of Feacal Incontinence include:
  • Weak muscles around the anus: which can happen after childbirth, getting older, bowel surgery, or radiation 
  • Straining on the toilet: as this leads to weakening of the anal sphincter and pelvic floor muscles 
  • Diarrhoea
  • Constipation  
  • Diseases such as Crohn’s disease or Coeliac disease 
  • Neurological disorders such as Multiple Sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease

What Can Be Done To Help?

At Women’s and Men’s Health Physio, we commonly treat Faecal Incontinence and patients are often surprised about how life changing better bowel control can be. 
 
Some techniques that are often helpful include:
  • Strengthening the muscles of the back passage
    Learning how to correctly tighten the anal sphincter and pelvic floor muscles, and then strengthening these muscles, makes a huge difference in being able to hold everything in. 
     
  • Getting perfect poo’s 
    Feacal Incontinence will often happen if your stools are too hard or too loose.  A well formed stool is much easier to hold on to. Dietary changes, medications, dietary supplements and fluid changes can all help change your stool consistency for the better. 
     
  • Stop straining
    Learning how to empty your bowel properly, without straining, will protect your pelvic floor and anal sphincter muscles, and also make sure that your bowel is empty after you go to the toilet – because an empty bowel doesn’t leak! 
     
  • Biofeedback 
    Biofeedback can be used to learn how to control strong bowel urges and avoid accidents.

Sally’s Story

Sally, a 65-year-old woman, came to WMHP as she was having trouble with bowel control.  She was experiencing accidental bowel leakage when she was out walking, after having coffee, or following a meal that “didn’t agree with her”, and was often passing wind in public without realising. Sally’s accidents would come with very little warning, often only giving her 1-2 minutes to get to the toilet. 
 
Sally had become so embarrassed she was avoiding going out, walking, going to restaurants, travel, and outings to the beach. She had essentially become housebound.
 
Sally’s goals at her first appointment were to no longer feel embarrassed or ashamed, to not worry when out walking with friends, and to go out to a restaurant without fear of smelling. 
 
After a comprehensive assessment, it was found that Sally’s bowel motions were unformed, and she had significant weakness of her pelvic floor and anal sphincter muscles.  She also had poor bowel habits, straining on the toilet most of the time and not emptying properly. 
 
Sally had 6 physiotherapy appointments over 6 months. Her treatment program included:
  • Strengthening exercises for her pelvic floor and anal sphincter muscles
  • Recommendation of daily fibre supplements to help bulk up her stools 
  • Dietary changes to a low FODMAP diet (under the guidance of a dietician)  
Sally was also taught healthy bowel habits, including how to go to the toilet without straining, and how to establish a good bowel routine in the morning.  
 
After only 6 weeks, Sally no longer had any difficulty controlling wind, and when she got a bowel urge she was able to hold on for around 5 minutes to find a toilet.  Sally was still very nervous about going out to restaurants and coffee shops, and was avoiding going out walking.  
 
After 6 months of diligently sticking to her treatment program, Sally was no longer having any bowel accidents, and was ecstatic that she could go out walking with friends. She also felt confident to go out to meals, as long as it was a restaurant she was familiar with. She had even booked an overseas cruise in Europe!
 
This all too common case highlights the absolutely devastating effect Faecal Incontinence can have on a person’s quality of life, and how a structured treatment program can cure this highly bothersome condition. 
 

March 2019

If you need help to improve your control, call us on 03 8823 8300 to make an appointment with one of our specially trained Physiotherapists