What Causes Encopresis? Most encopresis cases are due to constipation. Stool (poop) is hard, dry, and difficult to pass when a person is constipated. Many kids "hold" their BMs to avoid the pain they feel when they go to the bathroom, which sets the stage for having a poop accident.
Encourage Healthy Bowel Movements
Make sure kids drink plenty of water: When kids are dehydrated, it makes going to the bathroom more difficult. Provide a healthy diet: Includes fruits, vegetables, and whole grains in your child's diet.
If your child is pooing their pants, a GP can prescribe laxatives to clear out the hard poo and get your child pooing regularly and comfortably again. This can take a few months to work. The GP will want to see your child regularly to check how they are doing. The soiling may get worse before it gets better.
Psychological causes
The child is busy playing and doesn't want to stop to go to the bathroom. Fear of the toilet. Stressful events in the child's life, such as starting school. Availability of a toilet, especially a private one, or not wanting to use a public toilet.
Emotional issues can trigger encopresis. The condition is more common among children from homes where abuse is happening. However, any incident that a child perceives as stressful may trigger stool soiling.
Chronic neurotic encopresis (CNE), a childhood psychiatric disorder characterized by inappropriate fecal soiling, necessitated the formation of the following specific etiological factors: a) a neurologically immature developmental musculature, an organic condition which may complicate toilet training; b) premature or ...
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is among the most frequently reported coexisting psychiatric condition in children with encopresis.
Encopresis is typically characterized as resulting from chronic constipation with overflow soiling but has been portrayed as an indicator of sexual abuse.
Lorber said children with ADHD also might digest food more slowly or irregularly than children without ADHD. "Physiologically, that can lead to problems that cause constipation or fecal incontinence," he said.
Many people report experiencing more yellow stools as a symptom of anxiety. Anxiety does not specifically affect the color of stool, but it can affect how food moves through the digestive tract. There are several ways that anxiety affects digestion, increasing the risk of yellow feces.
Fecal incontinence is the inability to control bowel movements, causing a child to repeatedly pass stool in inappropriate places.
Normal Stools:
Normal range: 3 per day to 1 every 2 days. Once children are on a regular diet, their stool pattern is like adults. Kids who go every 3 days often drift into longer times.
According to the Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM-V) (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) encopresis (or otherwise known as Elimination Disorder) is essentially the repeated passing of stools into inappropriate places, after the age at which toilet training is expected to be accomplished.
Compared to the general population, children with ADHD are three times more likely to have CC and six times more likely to have encopresis (soiling accidents). The study of CC has been largely ignored in adults with ADHD.
Untreated ADHD in adults can lead to mental health disorders like anxiety and depression. This is because ADHD symptoms can lead to focus, concentration, and impulsivity problems. When these problems are not managed effectively, they can lead to feelings of frustration, irritability, and low self-esteem.
A large percentage of individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are delayed in achieving continence with bowel movements or never achieve it at all (i.e., they meet criteria for encopresis).
Any of the following warrants a visit to your child's primary care provider: Severe, persistent, or recurrent constipation. Pain during bowel movements. Reluctance to have bowel movements, including straining to hold stool in.
Known as the enteric nervous system (ENS), this second brain processes information from throughout the body. As a result, anxiety, depression, and other distressing emotions can contribute to or exacerbate physical conditions related to the gut and digestive processes, such as encopresis.
most frequently reported coexisting psychiatric conditions in children with encopresis. Some case reports state that atomoxetine—a selective presyn- aptic norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor—approved for treatment of ADHD is also effective in the treatment of coexisting encopresis.
Most children with encopresis either outgrow the problem or respond to treatment. Treatment may involve changes in diet, medication and motivational therapy. When encopresis is related to psychological or emotional problems, treatment may take longer.
There are two different varieties of Encopresis: With Constipation and Overflow Incontinence, and Without Constipation and Overflow Incontinence. Children with the Constipation and Overflow Incontinence type produce less than three bowel movements per week.