Fecal incontinence

Introduction: Fecal incontinence

Fecal incontinence: Fecal incontinence is the inability to control your bowels. When you feel the urge to have a bowel movement, you may not be able to hold it ... more about Fecal incontinence.

Fecal incontinence: Leaking or poorly controlled bowel motions. More detailed information about the symptoms, causes, and treatments of Fecal incontinence is available below.

Symptoms of Fecal incontinence

• Loss of bowel control
• Diarrhea
• Leaking bowel motions

Home Diagnostic Testing

Home medical testing related to Fecal incontinence:

• Bladder & Urinary Health: Home Testing:
  • Home Bladder Tests
  • Home Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) Tests
  • Home Cystitis Tests
  • Home Kidney Tests
  • Home Urine Protein Tests (Kidney Function)
  • Home Prostate Cancer Tests
• Kidney Health: Home Testing:
  • Home Microalbumin Tests (Kidney)
  • Home Urine Protein Tests (Kidney)
  • Home Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) Tests

Medical Textbooks Online about Fecal incontinence

Book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Diagnostic Tests for Fecal incontinence

• Physical exam
• Digital rectal exam
• Anal manometry
• Anorectal ultrasonography
• Proctography (defecography)

See full list of 7 diagnostic tests for Fecal incontinence

Wrongly Diagnosed with Fecal incontinence?

• Misdiagnosis of Fecal incontinence
• Failure to diagnose Fecal incontinence
• Underlying causes of Fecal incontinence (possibly wrongly diagnosed)
• Failure to diagnose Fecal incontinence

Misdiagnosis and Fecal incontinence

Diarrhea can be related to food substitute: The food ingredient, Sorbitol, is often used as a sweetener in diet products. In some people, this substance can lead to diarrhea or other...read more »

Chronic digestive conditions often misdiagnosed: When diagnosing chronic symptoms of the digestive tract, there are a variety of conditions that...read more »

Intestinal bacteria disorder may be hidden cause: One of the lesser known causes of diarrhea is an imbalance of bacterial in the gut, sometimes called ...read more »

Antibiotics often causes diarrhea: The use of antibiotics are very likely to cause some level of diarrhea in patients. The reason is that antibiotics kill off not only "bad" bacteria, but can...read more »

Food poisoning may actually be an infectious disease: Many people who come down with "stomach symptoms" like diarrhea assume that it's "something I ate" (i.e. food poisoning). In fact, it's...read more »

Mesenteric adenitis misdiagnosed as appendicitis in children: Because appendicitis is one of the more feared conditions for a child with abdominal pain, it can be over-diagnosed (it can,...read more »

Interstitial cystitis an under-diagnosed bladder condition: The medical condition of interstitial cystitic is a bladder condition that can be misdiagnosed as various conditions such as overactive bladder...read more »

Celiac disease often fails to be diagnosed cause of chronic digestive symptoms: One of the most common chronic digestive conditions is celiac disease, a malabsorption disorder with a variety...read more »

Chronic digestive diseases hard to diagnose: There is an inherent difficulty in diagnosing the various types of chronic digestive diseases. Some of the better known...read more »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Fecal incontinence

Causes of Fecal incontinence

• Diarrhea - a common cause of temporary fecal incontinence
• Chronic constipation - the most common cause of fecal incontinence in children
• Fecal impaction
• Pregnancy and childbirth related conditions:
  • Pelvic floor dysfunction

See full list of 50 causes of Fecal incontinence

More information about causes of Fecal incontinence:

• Underlying causes of Fecal incontinence
• Fecal incontinence as a complication caused by other conditions
• Fecal incontinence as a symptom
• Medical news summaries relating to Causes of Fecal incontinence

Treatments for Fecal incontinence

• 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

See full list of 24 treatments for Fecal incontinence

Videos for Fecal incontinence

Patient Surveys for Fecal incontinence

• Patient Profile Survey
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• Survey about the symptoms of your Fecal incontinence
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Reseach about Fecal incontinence

Visit our research pages for current research about Fecal incontinence treatments.

Clinical Trials for Fecal incontinence

The US based website ClinicalTrials.gov lists information on both federally and privately supported clinical trials using human volunteers.

Some of the clinical trials listed on ClinicalTrials.gov for Fecal incontinence include:

• Vaginal Estrogen for the Treatment of Faecal Incontinence in Women - This study is not yet open for patient recruitment (Current: 23 Nov 2006) - oestradiol
• Effect of Lumbo-Sacral Magnetic Stimulation on Colonic Motility - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• Diagnosis of Functional Defecation Disorders in Childhood - This study is currently recruiting patients (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• Treatment of Fecal Incontinence and Constipation in Patients With Spinal Cord Injury - This study has been completed (Current: 23 Nov 2006)
• Treatment of Patients With Fecal Incontinence - This study is not yet open for patient recruitment (Current: 23 Nov 2006)

See full list of 12 Clinical Trials for Fecal incontinence

Statistics for Fecal incontinence

• Medical statistics for Fecal incontinence
• Prevalence and incidence statistics for Fecal incontinence
• Death and Mortality statistics for Fecal incontinence
• Society statistics for Fecal incontinence

Medical Guidebooks and Ebooks for Fecal incontinence

• Icon Health Sourcebook for Fecal incontinence

See all guides and ebooks for Fecal incontinence

Stories from Users Related to Fecal incontinence

• Help me - Fecal smelling belches
• Incontinence
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• Geriatric bowel incontinence
• Fecal Incontinence

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User Interactive Forums

Read about other experiences, ask a question about Fecal incontinence, or answer someone else's question, on our message boards:

• I can not get a diagnosis. Please help.
• Tell us your medical story.
• Share your misdiagnosis story.
• What is the best treatment for this?
• See all the forums.

Article Excerpts about Fecal incontinence

Fecal incontinence is the inability to control your bowels. When you feel the urge to have a bowel movement, you may not be able to hold it until you can get to a toilet. Or stool may leak from the rectum unexpectedly. (Source: excerpt from Fecal Incontinence: NIDDK)