Treatments for Fecal incontinence

Treatment list for Fecal incontinence: The list of treatments mentioned in various sources for Fecal incontinence includes the following list. Always seek professional medical advice about any treatment or change in treatment plans.

• Diet changes
  • Avoid caffeine - coffee, tea, or chocolate.
  • High-fiber diet - increasing fecal bulk may help
  • Low-fiber diet - some people find reducing fecal solidity helps
  • Water and fluids
  • Eat smaller meals more frequently
  • Eat and drink at different times
  • Vitamin supplements - especially if diarrhea is chronic
• Medications
  • Bulk laxatives
  • Antidiarrheal medications
  • Loperamide
  • Diphenoxylate
• Bowel training
  • Biofeedback Training
  • Kegel exercises
  • Pelvic floor exercises
  • Regular bowel motion routine
• Surgery - various surgeries are appropriate if the incontinence is caused by physical problems with the pelvic floor or anal area.
  • Simple surgeries - repairing obvious damage
  • Artificial anal sphincter surgery
  • Anal muscle replacement surgery
  • Colostomy

Treatments of Fecal incontinence discussion: Treatment depends on the cause and severity of fecal incontinence; it may include dietary changes, medication, bowel training, or surgery. More than one treatment may be necessary for successful control since continence is a complicated chain of events.

Dietary Changes

Food affects the consistency of stool and how quickly it passes through the digestive system. One way to help control fecal incontinence in some persons is to eat foods that add bulk to stool, making it less watery and easier to control. Also, avoid foods that contribute to the problem. They include foods and drinks containing caffeine, like coffee, tea, and chocolate, which relax the internal anal sphincter muscle. Another approach is to eat foods low in fiber to decrease the work of the anal sphincters. Fruit can act as a natural laxative and should be eaten sparingly.

You can adjust what and how you eat to help manage fecal incontinence.

• Keep a food diary. List what you eat, how much you eat, and when you have an incontinent episode. After a few days, you may begin to see a pattern between certain foods and incontinence. After you identify foods that seem to cause problems, cut back on them and see whether incontinence improves. Foods that typically cause diarrhea, and so should probably be avoided, include
  
  
  • caffeine
  • cured or smoked meat like sausage, ham, or turkey
  • spicy foods
  • alcohol
  • dairy products like milk, cheese, and ice cream
  • fruits like apples, peaches, or pears
  • fatty and greasy foods
  • sweeteners, like sorbitol, xylitol, mannitol, and fructose, which are found in diet drinks, sugarless gum and candy, chocolate, and fruit juices
  
  
  
• Eat smaller meals more frequently. In some people, large meals cause bowel contractions that lead to diarrhea. You can still eat the same amount of food in a day, but space it out by eating several small meals.
  
  
• Eat and drink at different times. Liquid helps move food through the digestive system. So if you want to slow things down, drink something half an hour before or after meals, but not with the meals.
  
  
• Eat more fiber. Fiber makes stool soft, formed, and easier to control. Fiber is found in fruits, vegetables, and grains, like those listed below . You'll need to eat 20 to 30 grams of fiber a day, but add it to your diet slowly so your body can adjust. Too much fiber all at once can cause bloating, gas, or even diarrhea. Also, too much insoluble, or undigestible, fiber can contribute to diarrhea. So if you find that eating more fiber makes your diarrhea worse, try cutting back to two servings each of fruits and vegetables and removing skins and seeds from your food.
  
  
• Eat foods that make stool bulkier. Foods that contain soluble, or digestible, fiber slow the emptying of the bowels. Examples are bananas, rice, tapioca, bread, potatoes, applesauce, cheese, smooth peanut butter, yogurt, pasta, and oatmeal.
  
  
• Get plenty to drink. You need to drink eight 8-ounce glasses of liquid a day to help prevent dehydration and to keep stool soft and formed. Water is a good choice, but avoid drinks with caffeine, alcohol, milk, or carbonation if you find that they trigger diarrhea.
  
  

Over time, diarrhea can rob you of vitamins and minerals. Ask your doctor if you need a vitamin supplement.

Source: USDA/ARS Nutrient Data Laboratory

Medication

If diarrhea is causing the incontinence, medication may help. Sometimes doctors recommend using bulk laxatives to help people develop a more regular bowel pattern. Or the doctor may prescribe antidiarrheal medicines such as loperamide or diphenoxylate to slow down the bowel and help control the problem.

Bowel Training

Bowel training helps some people relearn how to control their bowels. In some cases, it involves strengthening muscles; in others, it means training the bowels to empty at a specific time of day.

• Use biofeedback. Biofeedback is a way to strengthen and coordinate the muscles and has helped some people. Special computer equipment measures muscle contractions as you do exercises--called Kegel exercises--to strengthen the rectum. These exercises work muscles in the pelvic floor, including those involved in controlling stool. Computer feedback about how the muscles are working shows whether you're doing the exercises correctly and whether the muscles are getting stronger. Whether biofeedback will work for you depends on the cause of your fecal incontinence, how severe the muscle damage is, and your ability to do the exercises.
  
  
• Develop a regular pattern of bowel movements. Some people--particularly those whose fecal incontinence is caused by constipation--achieve bowel control by training themselves to have bowel movements at specific times during the day, such as after every meal. The key to this approach is persistence--it may take a while to develop a regular pattern. Try not to get frustrated or give up if it doesn't work right away.
  
  

Surgery

Surgery may be an option for people whose fecal incontinence is caused by injury to the pelvic floor, anal canal, or anal sphincter. Various procedures can be done, from simple ones like repairing damaged areas, to complex ones like attaching an artificial anal sphincter or replacing anal muscle with muscle from the leg or forearm. People who have severe fecal incontinence that doesn't respond to other treatments may decide to have a colostomy, which involves removing a portion of the bowel. The remaining part is then either attached to the anus if it still works properly, or to a hole in the abdomen called a stoma, through which stool leaves the body and is collected in a pouch.

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