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Bowel incontinence

Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2019 5:58 pm
by Shazza49
Have no problem with normal bowel movement but after hour or so sometimes begin to feel uncomfortable and find liquid faeces has escaped, but not always. Sometimes I notice it when passing urine, other times when showering before bed. It can make me very sore, I've tried the trick of raising my knees by using a small stool, sometimes it works, other times it doesn't. I cannot exercise too well being disabled but eat a varied diet with fresh fruit and vegetables. Wonder if there is some weakness from my lumber fusion as my spine is distorted.

Re: Bowel incontinence

Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2019 4:02 pm
by Polly Weston
To get a better understanding of the time it takes for faeces to travel through your digestive system it might be worth carrying out a simple transit test yourself.
This involves eating half a tin of sweet corn and waiting until you see it in your stool when you defecate. This test will determine if the transit time is within normal limits, which is approximately 48 hours. If the transit time is too fast then you might benefit from some medical advise regarding dietary changes such as the fodmap diet, in order to correct stool consistency and frequency.

Best wishes

Re: Bowel incontinence

Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2019 1:31 pm
by Sharon Holroyd
Anything that affects the spinal cord can have an impact on the bowel function and should not be discounted but there are many causes. The transit time of the large bowel should be @ 48 hours, constipation can be soft or hard stool and often we see faecal liquid with a slower or constipated bowel. Try the transit test Polly mentioned in one of the questions – eat some sweetcorn and see how long it takes to pass through the system – more than 48 hours and it suggests a slower bowel transit. Soluble fibre in the diet adds bulk to the stool and slows the activity down, insoluble fibre speeds things up. Anal inserts / plugs are a good way of managing uncontrollable leakage and can be inserted ‘just in case’.