Bowel Incontinence - NHS

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Treatment for bowel incontinence

The treatment you have for bowel incontinence will depend on what's causing your symptoms and how severe they are.

A GP might recommend:

a review of your diet and any medicines you take
medicines to make you poo less often, such as loperamide, or medicines to soften your poo (laxatives)
products to help with bowel incontinence, such as incontinence pants, or pads for inside your clothes or on your bed
plugs that go inside your bottom to stop leaking (anal plugs) – the doctor will explain how to use these
products to protect your skin, such as barrier cream or ointment – they may also give you advice on how to keep your skin clean

If these things do not help, they might refer you to a specialist service.

A specialist incontinence service can:

review your diet and any medicines you take
recommend exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor and the muscles around your bottom (biofeedback)
recommend techniques to help you empty your bowels fully and develop a controlled routine for emptying them (bowel retraining)

If these things do not help, you might be referred for surgery.

You may have surgery if other treatments have not helped or your symptoms are severe.

Surgery can include:

repairing your muscles in your bottom that control when you poo (anal sphincter)
making a new anal sphincter using muscle taken from your thigh
putting an artificial sphincter in your bottom, so you can control when you poo
putting a small device under your skin in your bottom that uses electrical pulses to help you control when you poo
having a small tube (catheter) put into your tummy through a small hole to flush water through, which helps empty your bowels
making a small opening in your tummy (stoma) to attach a pouch to collect your poo

The surgeon will explain the risks and benefits of the operation, and what will happen.