Treating Fecal Incontinence

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Douglas A. Drossman, MD
The treatment for fecal incontinence can be as simple as keeping the stool from being liquid, that is keeping it more solid, using something like Imodium. Or doing what we call biofeedback, which is a method in which the muscles, the individual learns to contract the muscles doing what we call Kegel exercises. And if they do this multiple times during the day, there's good scientific evidence that the effect is to increase the muscle tone. In fact, this can even be done in the doctor's office. The doctor is trained to teach Kegel exercises during the rectal exam and teach them to become aware of the proper muscles and then reduce the fecal incontinence. Eventually, if it were to get more serious, or more severe, there are operations that can be done to increase the sphincter tone.