How to Prevent Bathroom Accidents

A soiling accident is a distressing experience. Defecating before you can make it to a toilet produces a smelly mess and embarrassment that you do not want to go through again. It may provide some solace to know that such accidents are not as rare as you might think. In fact, it is estimated that at least 5 to 15 percent of the population deal with fecal incontinence, the official diagnostic label for the symptom of soiling accidents. This number may be a low estimate since many people do not tell their doctors about their symptoms. Here you will learn what might cause soiling accidents and what you can do to prevent them.

What Causes Bathroom Accidents

There are a variety of things that might cause you to have a bathroom accident. Such accidents occur when your anal sphincter is unable to contain stool matter until you are sitting on a toilet. This could happen during an episode of diarrhea, in which the urgency or simply the looseness of the stool overwhelms the control of the sphincter muscles. Soiling episodes can also occur when you are constipated due to loose stool leaking around the hard impacted stool. Ongoing fecal incontinence may be due to a structural or functional problem with the sphincter muscles.

Your risk of having bathroom accidents goes up as you age or following childbirth. Having inflammatory bowel disease or undergoing radiation in the area can also lead to fecal incontinence. It may also occur as part of other chronic system-wide illnesses, such as multiple sclerosis.

Talk to Your Doctor

While you may be embarrassed, don't fear to talk to your doctor. Health care providers are trained to deal with all sorts of human symptoms. Discussing the issue with your doctor will ensure that you get a proper diagnosis, as it may be the sign of an illness. Your doctor can also help you to develop a plan to address the symptom or possibly discuss with you some medical treatments that might be of help.

Watch What You Eat

If you find that you are experiencing soiling accidents on a regular basis, you may want to start a food diary to see if there are some dietary triggers that might be contributing to the problem. Possible culprits include:

• Caffeine
• Alcohol
• Dairy foods
• Foods containing fructose, including some fresh fruits and vegetables
• Foods containing high levels of FODMAPs

You may also want to make sure that you are taking in adequate amounts of dietary fiber to try to keep your stools both soft and firm and thus easier for your sphincter muscles to contain.

Relaxation Techniques

It is quite understandable to be anxious about the possibility of experiencing a soiling accident. However, anxiety may actually increase your chances of this happening, due to the close connection between your body's natural stress response. Luckily, there are things that you can do to turn off this response and to quiet your body so that defecation can be controlled until you are on a toilet. Using relaxation techniques such as deep breathing exercises and calming self-talk can help you to quiet your body rather than escalate the sense of urgency.

Have Plan of Action

One of the best ways to reduce anxiety about having accidents is to have a plan in place to cover all contingencies. Before venturing out, make sure that you know where you will be able to access a restroom should the need arise. Tell any traveling companions about your unique health needs so they can help to facilitate a quick pit stop

If you have had a problem with soiling in the past and think there may be a delay in your ability to get to a restroom, pack or wear an adult sanitary product, and if necessary, bring along a change of clothes. Knowing that you are prepared for an unexpected episode will go a long way toward reducing the panic that can contribute to the sense of urgency.

Have Confidence in Your Muscles

If you have only had one soiling accident and your doctor has reassured you that you do not have a serious illness or physical damage to your sphincter, the odds are that there will not be a repeat episode. You may be thinking that those odds remain high because you often get to the toilet "just in the nick of time." These experiences do not necessarily mean that you would have had an accident. More likely, your rectum has done what it has been trained to do since you were little. It is doing its job of holding on to fecal matter until you are sitting on the toilet. At that point, it lets go. For some well-needed peace of mind, remind yourself to have faith that your rectal muscles will most likely do their job and keep things contained for you.