Xpluswearer,
Tetra has got it right. Where did you learn all this Tetra? Most folks know next to nothing on this topic.
It is counterintuitive. My bowel incontinence is due to severe chronic constipation. The constipation causes a blockage; stool backs up and then overflows as diarrhea. It is called overflow constipation or overflow diarrhea. As the basic cause is the constipation, you treat the constipation rather than the diarrhea.:smile: I have been treated by multiple colorectal surgeons, plus a university medical clinic specializing in my type of problems. I have been through all the gastrointestinal diagnostics, endosonography, mannometry, and even videodefecography where they fill your lower colon with barium and you poop while being video x-rayed. The use of daily preemptive enemas to manage fecal incontinence is a standard treatment, although more common in Europe than in the U.S. The big pharmacy companies make no profit from soapsuds enemas, so you do not see much mention of them.
I have nerve trauma to my pelvic area and to the nerves of my rectum due to an old accident that almost killed me. That makes my medical situation more complicated to diagnose and treat. The nerve damage affected the my sphincter muscles as well as the nerves in the rectum that normally give us warning that we need to poop. I either do not get those signals or get them almost too late to get to a bathroom.
I decided that enemas, always effective and safely self-administered in the privacy of my bathroom, at a convenient time of my own choosing were preferably to uncontrollably pooping my pants in public. Sorry to be graphic, but those are the type of decisions that we have to make. After my morning enemas I am able go about a normal day and do not need to worry about my fecal incontinence until the next morning. As I also am bladder incontinent, I still must wear diapers.
I'm older than you guys. When I was growing up enemas were very common home remedies so I do not regard them as being a big deal.
With the approval of my doctors, I have self-administered over 3,000 enemas - without a problem. These are old-fashioned red rubber bag soapsuds and saline enemas. However, I studied what to do in order to insure that they are safe, effective, and as comfortable as possible. I never use the chemical Fleets enemas. If you use daily enemas it is necessary to avoid any "exotic" solutions or ridiculously large volumes of enema solution. They simply are not necessary for our stated result.
--John