# Anal Sphincter Muscle



## mrae (Apr 28, 2009)

My friends cousin started having urgent bowel issues like me and her doctor checked her sphincter muscle and she ended up having surgery to fix this problem. I have an appt with my doc on Wed and am going to bring this up. I figure at least we can check it out. From what I read on the internet childbirth is the main cause of the nerve and muscle damage in the anal area. My urgency bowel issues started right after I had my third child. I think it could be my issue. As anyone had to deal with this or now of anyone who has?


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## MollyB (May 3, 2009)

I have suffered with pelvic floor dysfunction for about 10 years and have had rectocele surgery which I thought would relieve my bowel problems. I would suggest you see a urogynecologist, especially one who specializes in bowel issues related to pelvic floor dysfunction. Most urogynecologists specialize in bladder problems, so you may have to search to find one. Is your issue diarrhea or constipation? When you stand up, does it feel like your guts are about to fall out?Molly


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## mrae (Apr 28, 2009)

I have urgent bowel movements. Most of the time they are very soft and not really formed all that well. Even if I do have a solid bowel movement it usually is urgent. I do not have the feeling of my guts falling out when I stand up or any type of feeling like that at all. They say I might have ibs-d but are still running tests. My only symptom though is the urgency and not having formed stool. I was going to bring the sphincter muscle issue up to my gi doctor just to see what he says. Did the surgery not help you and if not what do you do now to deal with it?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Sometimes the urgency isn't the sphincter muscle can't stay shut, but that the rectum is over sensitive to filling.It should send extremely urgent signals when it is excessively full, but some of us get that "must go now" even when the rectum is only a little bit full and it should be in a wait for more stuff to show up mode.There isn't a surgery for rectal hypersensitivity, but it can respond to antispasmodics, low dose antidepressants, mind-body therapies, and some people only have that with looser or softer stools and firming the stools up reduces that symptom. Some people get that symptom regardless of stool consistency.


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## MollyB (May 3, 2009)

My surgery was for rectocele and it made my bowel problems worse. Rectocele is where the intestine herniates into the vagina causing difficult evacuation. But there are other pelvic floor related problems that cause some people to have diarrhea. I feel like I am never empty, and as Kathleen posted, even a small amount of stool triggers my gut to want to have a bm.....but I can't. You asked how I deal with it.......I don't deal with it very well. Anxiety and depression are my middle name, and I'm that I found this website to help me connect with other people with the same issues. It has actually helped to know there are people who have the same problems. I felt so alone before I began exchanging information on this website. Now that I've read your additional post, it does sound like your issue is IBS-D rather than related to pelvic floor. I'm sorry you are having to go through all the tests.....it's not fun. Hope you get some answers from your tests.Molly


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## Dixie_Girl82 (May 18, 2009)

I have always wondered if having frequent BMs can cause damage to the rectum. Ive had IBS-D for almost 5 years now and has gotten worse in the last year. By the end of the day after having anywhere from 5-10 BMs, I feel like my rectum is going to explode. (Sorry, TMI) But its horrible. Can IBS actually cause problems to the rectum and make those "urgent" visits more frequent?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Part of IBS is rectal hypersensitivity (about 70% or so of all IBSers) but I don't think there is evidence that IBS over time causes that to happen. It is more of a thing that generates symptoms rather than something that is progressively damaged by other things going on with IBS.Basically the frequent BMs are from the hypersensitive rectum, not that they cause it. How much the rest of the colon goes into "flush" mode rather than gently move things along mode plays a role as well, but a lot of the gotta go gotta go now whenever any stool gets to the colon is more of a primary cause of IBS symptoms then secondary damage.IBS can get better or worse over time so there isn't a good "A breaks that causes B to break" kind of thing like you would see in diabetes, for example, where the unregulated blood sugar damages nerves and blood vessels until you have to amputate someone's foot, etc.


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## Dixie_Girl82 (May 18, 2009)

Thanks Kathleen, you are amazing! Thanks for answering my question, that one has been bugging me for a while.


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