Fecal incontinence is the inability to control your bowels. When you feel the urge to have a bowel movement, you may not be able to hold it until you can get to a toilet.
Or stool may leak from the rectum unexpectedly. More than 6. It affects people of all agesβchildren as well as adults. Fecal incontinence is more common in women than in men and more common in older adults than in younger ones. It is not, however, a normal part of aging. Loss of bowel control can be devastating. People who have fecal incontinence may feel ashamed, embarrassed, or humiliated.
Most try to hide the problem as long as possible, so they withdraw from friends and family. The social isolation is unfortunate but may be reduced because treatment can improve bowel control and make incontinence easier to manage. The sphincters keep stool inside. In women, the damage often happens when giving birth. The risk of injury is greatest if the doctor uses forceps to help deliver the baby or does an episiotomy, which is a cut in the vaginal area to prevent it from tearing during birth.
Hemorrhoid surgery can damage the sphincters as well. Fecal incontinence can also be caused by damage to the nerves that control the anal sphincters or to the nerves that sense stool in the rectum. Nerve damage can be caused by childbirth, a long-term habit of straining to pass stool, stroke, and diseases that affect the nerves, such as diabetes and multiple sclerosis. The anal sphincter stays contracted to maintain the integrity of the rectum and prevent soiling and relaxes with a bowel movement.
Over time and with age, the sphincter tone can diminish, causing loss of control. Normally, the rectum stretches to hold stool until you can get to a bathroom. But rectal surgery, radiation treatment, and inflammatory bowel disease can cause scarring that makes the walls of the rectum stiff and less elastic. Inflammatory bowel disease also can make rectal walls very irritated and thereby unable to contain stool. Diarrhea , or loose stool, is more difficult to control than solid stool that is formed.
