Encopresis or Soiling- Definition, types, causes, symptoms, prevention and treatment

Encopresis or Soiling- Definition, types, causes, symptoms, prevention and treatment-encopresis is the passing of stool into the clothing. It often occurs in the children over the age of 4. It happens when the bowel movement impacts the stool to collect in the rectum and colon. When the colon becomes too full of solid stool and the retained liquid stool will leak into the clothing. The retention of stool can cause swelling of the bowels and it lose the control of bowel movements. It is the symptoms of chronic constipation or it may be due to emotional issues that result in encopresis

Encopresis types

There are two types of encopresis such as primary and secondary.

Primary encopresis: children with primary encopresis will have continuous soiling throughout their lives. This can be trained successfully without any period of time.

Secondary encopresis: The secondary encopresis may develop this condition after they have been toilet trained; such as upon entering school or encountering other experiences that might be stressful.

Encopresis risk factors

Some of the risk factors include:

• Lack of exercise
• Not taking enough water and fiber foods
• Emotional stress with friends, families or at school
• Being busy and taking long time to use the bathroom
• Having a change in bathroom routine
• Eating high sugar, high fat, and junk foods
• Drinking soft drinks and sugary drinks
• Refused to use public toilets

Encopresis causes

There are two main causes of encopresis are constipation and emotional stress.

Constipation: Sometimes prolonged or chronic constipation may also cause encopresis. The irregular bowel movements will harden the stool and leads to pain during excretion. A lack of fiber content, poor hydration, and some food allergies can also cause constipation.

Emotional stress: Some factors may cause emotional stress or anxiety may interrupt the bowel movement and cause constipation. Other known childhood/adolescence emotional disorders that can cause encopresis include oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder. Sometimes changes in the children’s lifestyle such as toilet training, starting school or schedule changes.

Encopresis symptoms

The following are symptoms of encopresis

• Poor appetite
• Abdominal pain
• Avoidance bowel movement
• Hard stool and constipation
• Unintentional soiling of clothes (loose liquid stool)
• Regular urinary infection mostly in girls
• Long periods of time between bowel movement
• Large stools that block the rectum

Encopresis complications

Encopresis may cause both physical and emotional stress.

Children may feel upset due to soiling in their clothes, in many cases, they can’t control stool leakage. This affects their self-esteem or feel depressed themselves

The part of the colon may stretch under double the volume and pressure of impacted stools. It is called megacolon.

This abnormal colon holds more feces than normal and leads to leakage. Ignorance of defecation signal leads to encopresis. The rectum contains some stretch receptors when the stools move into the rectum area of the colon; the receptors send signals to our brain and triggers to urge to do the toilet. When the rectum is constantly full then the receptors will be overstimulated and leads to encopresis

Encopresis treatment

The main goal of the treatment is to clear the colon and to help the child to adopt healthy bowel routine. Treatment depends on factors such as child age, toilet training status and other factors.

Colon emptying:  Varieties of the method are used to clear the colon. Enemas or laxatives (oral or rectal suppository) will induce the bowel movement and make the stools to come out. Other methods to soften the stools are stool softeners or lubricating the stool points in the wall of the colon using mineral oils.

Diet: Once the colon is relieved from constipation, the change in diet will maintain the regularity. Foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, other high-fiber foods and proper hydration will produce the soft bowel movement.

Toilet routine: Train your child to go to the toilet at regular intervals as soon as possible when they urge to have bowel movements.

Psychotherapy: In some child, encopresis may occur due to emotional causes. Psychotherapy help children to cope up with depression, anger, and other negative psychological thoughts.

Ho to Prevent encopresis

There are some preventive measures to follow in order to avoid encopresis

• Do regular exercise or outside play can prevent encopresis
• Avoid fast foods and processed food
• Drinking plenty of fluids, especially water, helps keep stool soft
• Avoid fatty and dairy foods
• Eat healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fiber
• Train your children to do toilet at regular intervals