A bowel accident (or involuntary) is an unplanned bowel movement. For many people, this is very stressful and embarrassing. Bowel accidents interfere with daily living activities and should try to be prevented. This lesson will review causes and interventions for bowel accidents.
What causes bowel accidents?
Bowel accidents are caused by the following:
- Not doing the bowel program on time
- Not emptying the bowel completely
- Not doing the bowel program long enough (if doing a dil)
- Illness
- Not eating the right foods (eating foods that may upset the stomach)
- Impactions
- Drinking alcoholic beverages
What should be done if a bowel accident happens?
- Go to a private place and clean the stool off your skin. Change clothes if necessary.
- Do a complete bowel program.
- Try to figure out what change caused the bowel accident.
- For example, did you eat really spicy Mexican food last night or did you change your routine in any way?
How can bowel accidents be prevented?
- Do not miss a scheduled bowel program.
- Do the bowel program for the correct amount of time. If a dil is part of the program, it should be done for about 20 minutes.
- Eat the right foods.
- Avoid alcoholic beverages.
- Do bowel program early if you are going to be out during your normal bowel program time.
If bowel accidents continue to be a problem despite efforts at correcting the issue, notify your doctor.
