A sudden and urgent need to empty your bowels can be distressing if you are unable to access a toilet. Additionally, this sudden urgency can be associated with a sensation of possible leakage which is also a cause of anxiety. Bowel urgency is often related to loose stools or it can occur after a major trauma or event like an abdominal or pelvic surgery.
Sarah will work with you to understand your bowel urgency and/or frequency and provide suggestions and modifications to optimise your stool form and appropriate exercises to enable you to live your desired lifestyle while regaining confidence and control of your bowels.
Constipation can include difficulty emptying your bowels, not emptying your bowels very often, straining to empty your bowels, passing a hard stools or incomplete emptying of your bowels. Haemorrhoids or anal fissures can occur as a result of constipation. Constipation can also be associated with abdominal pain, pain with emptying your bowels and abdominal bloating.
Sarah will assist you to optimise your posture and dynamics when emptying your bowels to minimise straining and help you empty your bowel with greater ease. Advice regarding fibre intake and assistance in developing a bowel routine can help to soften your stool . This can enable you to empty your bowel regularly and easily which can minimise bloating and abdominal pain.
Bowel leakage most commonly occurs with loose stools and/or weakened pelvic floor and anal muscles. However it can also occur with normal or hard stool forms, incomplete bowel emptying, a poor bowel emptying technique or other medical reasons.
Sarah will listen to your problems, take time to understand your history and current issues, conduct a thorough assessment and establish what factors are relevant to your bowel leakage. This will lead to developing a plan with you to manage each of your issues. Short and long term recommendations can be made to help you manage activities like holidays or special occasions but also look at longer term solutions.
Sometimes it is difficult to empty your bowel and you might have to strain to start, finish or strain throughout the whole process. Straining can occur due to an inability to generate the dynamics required to open your bowels and/or tight muscles preventing stools from exiting your body. Repeated straining can impact the function of your pelvic floor muscles and aggravate symptoms of prolapse, haemorrhoids and fissures. Incomplete emptying can occur with loose or hard stools.
Sarah can help you achieve the ideal stool form to help you empty easily and completely. Learning how to sit on the toilet correctly and use optimal dynamics can also help make emptying your bowels so much easier and remove the need to strain.