3 Things We Want You to Know About Fecal Incontinence

Certain topics don’t make for the greatest conversational material, and fecal incontinence is one of them, even though it’s far more common than people might think.

The prevalence of fecal incontinence is just one aspect that many people don’t fully realize, alongside several others that the team at Fairfax Colon & Rectal Surgery wants to cover here. As colorectal experts, we feel it’s important to bridge the informational gap on fecal incontinence so that patients can get the help they need.

Fecal incontinence is more common than you might think

The definition of fecal incontinence is the inability to control or manage the passage of stool, mucus, and gas. As a result, there’s involuntary leakage of any of the above. 

We’ve alluded to the fact that fecal incontinence isn’t exactly rare, and we want to back this up with some numbers. In the United States, the overall prevalence of fecal incontinence ranges from 2%-21% (for a median of 7.7%).

Drilling down further, you’ll see that age plays a big role — between 25% and 35% of residents in nursing homes have fecal incontinence.

Given the fact that our population is aging, the rates of fecal incontinence are on the rise.

There are many roads to fecal incontinence

There is a wide range of issues that can lead to fecal incontinence, and, as we mentioned, aging tops the list. As you age, sphincter, rectal, and anal muscles weaken over time, and you’re unable to hold in stool or gas as you once did.

That said, age isn’t the only road to fecal incontinence, as it can also develop from:

• Pregnancy and childbirth
• Trauma to the muscles that control the passage of stool and gas
• Nerve damage
• Neurological disorders, such as multiple sclerosis or a stroke
• Irritable bowel syndrome, which affects up to 15% of American adults
• Chronic diarrhea
• Chronic constipation
• Rectal prolapse
• Hemorrhoids
• Having obesity

As you can see, this list is already a fairly long one, and it’s not even complete. Our point in presenting it is to illustrate that there’s no single path to fecal incontinence, and it can be the result of any number of health conditions or risk factors.

There are solutions for fecal incontinence

Given the number of potential causes of fecal incontinence, it makes sense that there are many different solutions.

When patients come to us with fecal incontinence, we first figure out what’s behind the involuntary leakage, as that’s the best place to start to remedy the problem. 

As well, lifestyle changes, such as dietary adjustments, can also make a big difference in controlling bowel movements and gas.

If damage or prolapse is behind your fecal incontinence, we offer surgical procedures that can repair the damage to help you regain control over when you pass stool or gas.

The takeaway here is that we will work with you until we find a satisfactory solution for your fecal incontinence. 

And the first step toward improving your quality of life in the face of fecal incontinence is to schedule a consultation with one of our team members. To set that in motion, you can contact our office in Fairfax, Virginia, at 703-280-2841 to set up a consultation.