Good morning everyone!

This past week, I was so fortunate to sit down with Dr. Swetha Ramakrishnan to discuss fecal incontinence. Fecal incontinence is a MAJOR problem, impacting 7-15% of people. It is the #2 most common reason people are admitted to nursing facilities (guess what? #1 is urinary incontinence!) and it can happen in young and old alike. In fact, anal sphincter injuries are a common occurrence during vaginal birth (occurring in around 10% of vaginal births worldwide) and 9-24% of those people go on to develop anal incontinence.

At SPH, we use a multi-faceted approach to help people with bowel leakage which includes helping to optimize their stool consistency, facilitating a strong bowel routine, retraining digestive reflexes and encouraging functional pelvic floor muscle function (which does include that anal spinchters).

I’ve been treating colorectal conditions for over 10 years, and Dr. Rama and I have worked together for the past 5 years. She is an incredibly skilled, intelligent and kind provider with ATL Colorectal in the metro Atlanta area. I hope you enjoy our discussion on bowel leakage– what it is, why it happens, and the very important, what you can do about it!

If you have any questions, drop them in the comments below!

~Jessica