BOWEL

Loss of bowel control and constipation can be distressing and embarrassing problems that unfortunately are not often discussed.

These problems can have a huge impact on your life. You might find yourself rushing to the toilet to empty your bowel, accidently passing wind / stool or staining your underwear?

You may be avoiding intimacy and social situations, and be too worried to leave the house in the morning if you haven’t had a bowel movement.

Constipation and difficulty emptying your bowel can leave you feeling bloated, uncomfortable and sluggish.

Many people experience bowel problems. Yet these are rarely discussed and they rarely resolve without treatment.

Please be reassured that you don’t have to live with it or suffer in silence. Help is available at Salveo Physiotherapy.

Common symptoms of bowel dysfunction

Leaking stool from your back passage with activity or not getting to the toilet in time.

A sudden urge to empty your bowel

Accidently passing wind

Constipation or Straining to empty your bowel

Incomplete bowel emptying and having to return to the toilet soon after a bowel movement to ‘go’ again

Possible causes of bowel problems

Pregnancy & childbirth

Poor pelvic floor muscle function

Constipation & straining/ Poor fluid intake

Dietary factors

A change in your routine or lifestyle, such as a change in your eating habits

Poor toileting habits

Ignoring the urge to pass stools

Ageing & menopause

How can we help?

Anal incontinence is when you are unable to control a bowel movement or wind. This may be a daily problem or happen from time to time. There are several causes of anal incontinence and some are more common than others. The most common causes are damage to the internal sphincter inside the back passage or weakness in the external sphincter – the muscles around the outside of your back passage (part of the pelvic floor muscles).

Constipation is a very common condition that affects people of all ages. It is when you are not able to pass stools (faeces) as often as you normally do.

You may have to strain more than usual or you are having ‘unsatisfying’ bowel movements where you are unable to completely empty your bowels.

Constipation can also cause your stools to be unusually hard, lumpy, large, or small. Making it more difficult to have a bowel movement.

Physiotherapy can help improve your bowel control and reduce urgency by strengthening the muscles around your back passage. Physiotherapy can improve your ability to empty your bowels by teaching useful techniques and through reeducation of unhelpful habits to enable you to live your life more fully.