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Causes of Permanent Bowel Incontinence

According to the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearing House (NDDIC) ,bowel incontinence, also called fecal incontinence, affects more than 5 million American men, women and children. Bowel incontinence is the inability to control your bowel movements. You may find that you suddenly leak feces, perhaps when passing gas, or that you are unable to refrain from defecating until you reach a toilet. In order to control defecation, your nervous system, anus and rectum must function properly, and you must possess the mental and physical capability of responding in a normal fashion. If any of these elements are compromised, the result may be bowel incontinence. There are many illnesses and conditions that can disrupt normal function; the first step to getting treatment, and hopefully some relief, is to discover the underlying cause.

  1. Chronic Constipation

    • Chronic constipation is one of the leading causes of bowel incontinence. If you frequently experience constipation, your stool may become impacted, resulting in a mass of dry feces that is too large to pass through your rectum. Fecal impaction can cause a lot of damage if left untreated: your intestines, anal muscles and rectal muscles may become stretched out and weak, and your anal and rectal nerves can sustain damage, rendering them unresponsive when your brain signals them to "hold it." In addition, liquid stool may begin to pass around the impaction and leak uncontrollably from your rectum.

    Muscle Damage

    • The internal and external anal sphincter muscles are rings of muscle in your rectum that enable you to control defecation. If either of these rings become damaged you may not be able to hold back your stool and leaking may occur. Damage to the anal sphincter muscles can result from childbirth, sexual abuse, rectal prolapse, hemorrhoid surgery, anal surgery or other trauma. In some cases it may be years between the actual trauma and the onset of bowel incontinence.

    Nerve Damage

    • You have nerve endings in your anal sphincter muscles and your rectum, which receive brain signals telling them when and how to function. If the nerves in your anal sphincter muscles sustain damage, then you may not be able to hold in a bowel movement. If the nerves in your rectum are damaged, they may not be able to sense the presence of stool, resulting in an unexpected release of feces. Nerve damage can be caused by chronic constipation and straining, childbirth, stroke, physical disability, or from conditions that affect nerves such as multiple sclerosis or diabetes.

    Loss of Accommodation

    • Typically, your rectum will stretch to accommodate large amounts of stool. However, if your rectum walls have sustained any sort of damage, scarring or severe, chronic irritation, your rectum may lose strength and elasticity and bowel incontinence can occur. Damage to the rectal walls can be caused by inflammatory bowel disease, rectal surgery and radiation therapy.

    Pelvic Floor Dysfunction

    • Damage to or dysfunction of the muscles and nerves of your pelvic floor can cause rectal prolapse, rectocele (rectal protrusion through the vagina), rectal nerve damage, anal sphincter damage or sagging of the pelvic floor, each of which can cause bowel incontinence. Typically, pelvic floor damage occurs during childbirth, but it can also be brought on by pelvic surgery, menopause or neurological and connective tissue disorders.

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