Fecal incontinence (FI) is a comedian's dream condition (to joke about) but everyone else’s nightmare. Leaking urine is upsetting and uncomfortable, but it’s usually discreet. Leaking feces can be excruciatingly obvious and public. It may even cause you to curtail your social life.
If you leak feces, or if you can’t retain it long enough to make it to the bathroom, you need to find out why. Although one in 12 women and men experience some degree of FI, it’s not normal and shouldn’t be accepted.
At Colon and Rectal Surgeons of Greater Hartford, our colorectal experts and surgeons determine the underlying cause or causes of embarrassing and disruptive FI. We diagnose and treat FI in the comfort of our offices in Bloomfield and South Windsor, Connecticut.
What does FI say about your health? Your embarrassing condition may be sending you an important message.
A series of muscles is involved with retaining and, later, pushing feces through your colon and rectum and out the anus. If you can’t retain your feces, or if you leak either solids or liquids, some or all of the muscles involved in fecal retention and elimination may be weak or damaged.
Your muscles may have been injured during surgery. If you’re a woman, the trauma of childbirth could have weakened or torn important muscles. Other types of injuries and trauma can also damage muscles and cause FI.
Even if your muscles are strong and functional, if they’re not doing their job properly, key nerves may have suffered damage. The nerves send signals to your muscles to flex or relax.
Nerves are also responsible for transmitting signals to your brain that alert you to the need to evacuate your bowels. If you pass feces without first feeling the need to go to the bathroom, you may suffer from damaged nerves.
Brain injuries, spinal injuries, and even the practice of straining while using the bathroom can damage nerves in your rectum and anus. If you have type 2 diabetes, nerve damage from high blood glucose levels could also be a factor.
Sometimes FI is a sign of an underlying issue in your brain. Occasional or chronic FI can be a symptom of:
If we suspect that a neurological disease is a factor in your FI, we refer you to a neurologist, in addition to correcting other contributors to your incontinence.
Chronic diarrhea or constipation can weaken your rectum and anus and make it difficult to pass stool normally. The watery nature of diarrhea complicates retention. Hard stools that lead to constipation may block your anus, which causes softer stools to leak around them.
Both diarrhea and constipation can also be symptoms of a digestive disease, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). In addition to repairing whatever damage abnormal stools have caused, we may recommend changes to your diet to create a more ideal stool texture that’s easier to pass without leaking.
Weakened or traumatized pelvic floor muscles may contribute to FI because they don’t support the genitourinary organs. Instead, the organs press on the bladder or rectum, leading to incontinence. Conditions that may be involved with FI include:
In children, FI is often caused by a congenital disorder, such as spina bifida or an imperforate anus.
Once we determine all of the factors involved in your FI, we can then custom-design a treatment plan that addresses them. This may include:
Don’t hide or try to live with the embarrassment and discomfort of FI. Let us determine the cause of your fecal incontinence and design a treatment plan today. Call our expert team at our office nearest you (Bloomfield or South Windsor, Connecticut) today. You can also contact us online.
