Bowel Incontinence

Bowel incontinence is a condition in which you are unable to control your bowel movements, leading to involuntary leakage of stool. It can vary in severity, ranging from occasional minor leaks to complete loss of bowel control.

Living with bowel incontinence can be distressing, as unexpected leakage episodes can significantly disrupt your daily routines, independence, and overall quality of life. Seeking timely and appropriate treatment is essential to alleviate symptoms and regain a sense of control and freedom.

Causes of Bowel Incontinence

Bowel incontinence can arise due to:

Muscle damage: Damage to the muscles in your anus, pelvic floor, or rectum can compromise your ability to maintain control over bowel movements.
Nerve damage: Nerves help regulate your rectum, anus, and pelvic floor muscles during bowel movements, ensuring their coordinated contraction and relaxation. Damage to these nerves can disrupt these functions.
Loss of stretch in your rectum: Your rectum may lose its ability to stretch adequately if it becomes scarred or stiff. As a result, the rectum may become full quickly, leading to leakage of excess stool.

Health Conditions that Cause Bowel Incontinence

Various digestive disorders, bowel irregularities, and health conditions can contribute to the disruption of normal bowel function, leading to episodes of involuntary stool leakage.

Chronic constipation can cause large and hard stools that are tough to pass. The pressure from these hard stools can stretch your rectum and weaken the surrounding muscles and nerves.
Diarrhea can fill your rectum rapidly with watery stools, which are harder to retain compared to solid stools. The continual presence of loose stools can cause or worsen bowel incontinence.
Rectal prolapse occurs when the rectum drops down through your anus. The stretching of the rectal sphincter by prolapse can damage the nerves controlling the sphincter's function.
Hemorrhoids refer to swollen veins or enlarged blood vessels in the rectum or anus. The presence of swollen veins may prevent the proper closure of your anus, allowing stool to escape.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a common gastrointestinal disorder that affects the functioning of your digestive system. IBS can lead to changes in bowel habits, including diarrhea, constipation, or a combination of both.

Bowel Incontinence After Childbirth

Bowel incontinence is a common occurrence among women following childbirth. The process of giving birth places significant pressure on your pelvic floor muscles and surrounding structures. It can potentially compromise your ability to maintain bowel control.

Childbirth can lead to:

Damage to pelvic floor muscles from stretching or tearing during childbirth
Nerve damage due to the pressure on pelvic nerves during delivery
Hormonal changes during pregnancy and childbirth
Natural tears or surgical incisions in the perineum (the area between your vagina and anus) during childbirth
Postpartum bowel issues like constipation or diarrhea can affect bowel control

Treatment for Bowel Continence

Managing bowel incontinence involves considering a range of treatment options based on the severity and underlying cause of your condition. A holistic treatment approach toward bowel incontinence can include various strategies, such as lifestyle modifications and medical interventions.

These may include dietary changes, targeted physical exercises, behavioral therapy, medication, and surgical procedures.

Dietary Changes

Making adjustments to your diet and eating habits can help manage your bowel incontinence condition effectively. Increasing your fiber intake can help regulate and improve your bowel movements and promote regularity.

To minimize the risk of bowel leakage, it is recommended that you avoid alcohol, dairy products, greasy and spicy foods, and caffeine. In addition to changes in the food, consuming smaller and more frequent meals can also help regulate bowel function.

Pelvic Floor Exercises

Pelvic floor exercises, or Kegel exercises, can help manage your bowel incontinence by strengthening the muscles crucial for bowel control. These exercises specifically target your pelvic floor muscles, which provide support to your bladder, rectum (back passage), and sex organs.

Medication

Depending on the cause and severity of your condition, different prescription medications can be used to address your symptoms.

Medications can help:

Slow down the stool movement through your digestive system.
Reduce stool frequency and improve consistency.
Stimulate your bowel movements and promote regularity.

Medications offer a comprehensive treatment approach to manage bowel incontinence and can enhance the effectiveness of other treatment approaches, such as dietary changes and pelvic floor exercises.

Biofeedback

Biofeedback is a training technique that focuses on enhancing the strength and function of the muscles involved in bowel control. The feedback helps in locating and activating the pelvic floor muscles and anal sphincter effectively. By learning how and when to contract these muscles, you can gain better control over bowel movements.

Surgery

When the above treatment options fail to produce the desired results, you may have to consider surgical intervention for managing bowel incontinence.

Sphincteroplasty is a surgical procedure that repairs damaged and weak anal sphincter muscles. It can be performed to improve muscle function and control. Another surgical option is colostomy, also called bowel diversion.

Axonics Therapy for Bowel Incontinence

At Northwest Continence Center, we offer Axonics Therapy as a more advanced and minimally invasive treatment option for managing bowel incontinence. It provides a more efficient, durable, and simplified approach to sacral neuromodulation.

This treatment focuses on restoring the communication between your brain and the bowel and pelvic floor muscles to improve function. It involves the electrical stimulation of the sacral nerves in your lower back region.

Axonics Therapy offers effective and long-lasting symptom relief of up to 15 years from bowel incontinence. If you're seeking a solution that is less invasive and promotes quick recovery, Axonics may be the right choice for you.

Managing Bowel Incontinence in Portland, OR

At the Northwest Continence Center, we specialize in offering Axonics Therapy as a minimally invasive treatment option for managing bowel incontinence. Our team provides personalized care, addressing your unique needs and conditions to help you live a worry-free life.

To arrange a consultation with our team, please call us at 503-885-1515 or request an appointment online. We look forward to assisting you on your journey to improved well-being.