Addressing Fecal Incontinence: Causes and Solutions

Ever tried to sneak out a fart and ended up with a 😳 shart surprise? If this has caught you off-guard more times than you'd like to admit, you might be dealing with Fecal Incontinence (FI).

How common is this?

Nearly 9% of people worldwide experience the same – that's a whopping 729 million individuals. 🌎 Realistically, this number is probably way higher since it tends to be underreported; many people don’t want to openly talk about it or even mention it to their doctors due to social stigma, being embarrassed, or being afraid that they will be considered unclean. FI can significantly impact someone’s quality of life, ranging from avoiding certain social situations like going out to eat to the more extreme end of avoiding leaving the house due to fear of having an accident.

So we’re here to help break down social barriers to encourage people to talk about their poop (bowel) health because your poop health is a key component of your physical, social, and emotional health and we want you to have a life where your poop doesn’t hold you back, but you’re able to hold your poop back (see what we did there 😆).

How do we break down those social barriers? Let’s talk about it and keep talking about it!

First, what exactly is incontinence?

Incontinence is when you have involuntary or uncontrolled leakage of pee, poop, or gas.

So what does that mean exactly? Fecal incontinence is leakage of poop, so whether you get an urge to poop and can’t hold it back despite all of your best efforts, or you have been ignoring the urge to poop for a little too long (or are constipated) and have leakage (usually liquid poop), or you don’t have the sensation or awareness of it happening.

What do you need to avoid incontinence?

There are a few basic requirements to not leak: Normal functioning nervous system so that you are aware of the sensation of your rectum being full Normal rectal sensation Strong pelvic floor muscles

What causes poop to leak?

Vaginal delivery causing muscle weakness Anal surgery Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or irritable bowel disease (IBD) Neurological disorder or disease such as stroke, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury

Is there anything to do to help?

The short answer, yes! Improve your diet to firm up loose poop Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy (PFPT)

Here’s a piece of some of the best news you could read: according to an article on PubMed, Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy is one of the key elements in treatment of FI. At Chicago Pelvic Health and Wellness, this is our bread and butter. We focus on finding the root cause of why you’re experiencing leakage. Once we figure out the why, some of the things we may work on include improving pelvic floor muscle strength, endurance, and coordination, scar mobility, as well as increasing rectal sensitivity.

So while it may feel like pooping your pants is the worst thing in the world, we are here to help you regain confidence and control to make those unexpected moments a thing of the past!

Written by Rebekah Wolinetz, PT, DPT, WCS, PRPC, Cert. DN