Bowel problems are more common than you think but most people will suffer in silence. In many cases, your problem can be managed or cured with some expert help.
What is normal bowel function?
Having healthy bowel habits means generally you will have well-formed soft and easily passed bowel motions anywhere from between 1-3 times per day to 3 times per week. This is considered regular. You should be able to hold on for a short time, do a poo within a short time of sitting on the toilet, without straining or pain and be able to empty.
Signs and symptoms of bowel problems?
- Do you find yourself straining on the toilet or not feeling completely empty after doing a poo?’
- Do you find yourself not emptying your bowels regularly and you feel sluggish, bloated or constipated?
- Do you frequently have an urgency to poo or struggle to hold on to your wind or poo?
- Do you ever accidentally leak out poo or find that you have a poo accident on an urge?
- Do you find you have soiling on undies within an hour of your last empty?
Common causes of bowel problems?
- Constipation
- Ineffective stool emptying position and pushing technique
- Weak or overactive pelvic floor muscles and anal sphincter
- Pasty Poos - often cause excessive wiping and soiling within an hour of emptying
- Poor Diet / Insufficient fluid intake
- Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
- Inflammatory bowel diseases such as Chron’s and Colitis
How can we help?
Physiotherapy for bowel problems?
Our goal in managing your bowel dysfunction is to address why your problem is occurring.
This may include:
- Constipation management
- Bowel retraining, ie sitting on the toilet at a regular time each day
- Teaching you how to poo correctly
- Strengthening your pelvic floor muscles so you can hold long enough to reach the toilet in time
- Relaxing your pelvic floor muscles if you have difficulty emptying or releasing wind
- Urge delay retraining of your bowels
- Real-time Ultrasound of the bowel to get an indication of the transit through the whole large intestine
- Working with you to get your stool to the perfect consistency that it slides out without effort and or skiddies
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