Fecal Incontinence Symptoms
Fecal incontinence is the inability to control your bowels. When you feel the urge to have a bowel movement, you couldn't hold it until before you reached the toilet. Or stool may leak from the rectum unexpectedly. More than 5.5 million Americans have fecal incontinence. Affecting people of all ages, children 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.
Symptoms of Fecal incontinence
For some people, including children, fecal incontinence is a relatively a minor problem, limited to occasional soiling of their underwear. For others, the condition can be devastating due to a complete lack of bowel control.
Fecal incontinence may be accompanied by other bowel troubles, such as:
- Bloating
- Diarrhea
- Constipation
- Abdominal cramping
If your child has fecal incontinence, you need to see a doctor to determine the cause and treatment. Fecal incontinence can occur in children because of a birth defect or disease, but in most cases it's because of chronic constipation.
Often, new mothers are reluctant to tell their doctor about their fecal incontinence problems after childbirth. But repairing a torn anal sphincter muscle soon after delivery may prevent long-term complications.
A number of tests are available to help diagnose what's causing the problem and determine the right treatment.
Fecal Incontinence Symptoms to
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