My Mom (83) has fecal incontinence due to a weak sphincter. Is this problem fixable?

My Mom (who is almost 96) has had the same issue for the last 12 or 23 years. I have read that there is surgery that can fix the sphincter muscle, but at her age she didn't want surgery. Our solution has been for her to wear Depends at all times, and she also takes 1/2 of an Imodium pill every morning. The Imodium firms up her stool and it's easier then for her to get to the bathroom before she actually goes. She typically has one BM a day, but not always, and usually after a meal but the time of day can vary a bit. Before we started doing things this way, she'd have a BM at just any time and it was practically diarrhea.

Thank you. Still waiting for my mom to actually go to her GI instead of pretending like this isn't happening. We went out to dinner on Thanksgiving and after eating, her bowels basically exploded out the sides of the Depends. Horrible. Fortunately, we made it to the bathroom and I had brought a change of pants for her so it was not noticeable to the other diners. But what an upsetting experience for her. Breaks my heart.

We are living longer but the aging of our bodies goes on including its effects on bodily functions. You live to the 80's, 90's your bladder and bowels naturally start to weaken -Can't really "hold it" anymore. Incontinence products are a huge industry! Thanks to medications and advancement in medical procedures all sorts of age related conditions are at least temporarily halted. So try to get her to a GI - maybe this Solesta treatment will work and her outlook will brighten.

My mom also has this problem. So do many of her female friends who are in their 70's and 80's. It must be quite common.

This may be off point, but I have always wondered if a certain component of this problem is anxiety based. Most of the women that my mom knows with it, including her are high anxiety, worriers and nervous types. Her problem gets worse during times of thunder storms (she has phobia) illnesses in family members or some crisis. I have begged her to go on an anti anxiety med to see if it helps. So far, no luck. Has anyone else noticed this?

MIL has FI. Check out the Mayo Clinic's "Kegel exercises: A how-to guide for women" in their women's health section. There's a right way to do them so that the pelvic floor gets stronger and a wrong way to do them that can actually make incontinence worse. And ladies, we should ALL be doing these exercises now to prevent/slow urinary and fecal incontinence later on. As with any exercise results are not instantaneous. Good luck!

Do NOT put a tampon up her bum. Look up anal plugs, which are cup-shaped devices made out of medical grade foam that allows air to pass through. They prevent leakage but may not contain explosive diarrhea. Ask her physician before inserting anything up her bum.

Here is a suggestion for all caregivers of seniors; when you take a parent, friend or inlaw out for the day; make sure you have a small travel bag, with fresh Depends, or Poise with fresh pants, socks, shoes,etc...if the accident is bad enough the loose poop will slide right down to the shoes; it happened to my sister who had a bad reaction to an anti-biotic...also keep large garbage bags under the car seat to protect the material; and make sure you have bathroom spray to remove any bad odors; and also bring baby wipes, plastic gloves, paper towels; better safe than sorry...this is a sample of my own just in case bag; one never knows when your body says, whoops, time to go....I have immodium in the car with bottles of water; and the reason for the extra garbage bag is that if either #1 or #2 gets onto the clothes you can always rinse them out in the bathroom and then shove them in the garbage bag and spray the bag; doing this from experience with my own elderly mom; been there done it all...I went home and took a shower! But remember pack up a small bag; you never know when a problem will arise. Tell you now aging sucks; everything moves south and then we lose bodily functions....we might as well wrap ourselves in press n' seal.

There ar injectable bulking agents that narrow the anal region to help with control. Tell mom there are other options too so she should consult doctor to see what might work for her. All is not lost but must consult to find answers. Could change her life.

We should all be very careful giving Imodium to old people. If you must give it, start with a half-dose or even less depending on their weight. With my MIL I believe her FI is due both to having a weakened sphincter and slight, chronic dehydration.

Diarrhea is not normal. I would take her to see a registered dietician. Perhaps there's something in her diet that she can no longer tolerate. Dairy is often the biggest culprit. Intolerance to diary can happen suddenly and at any age.

...and by the way it worked. Watching the biofeedback screen helped me to re-learn what to do when, and gave me a lot more control. The fi stopped and has not been a problem since.