Symptom guide

Bowel leakage or can't control your bowels? Care in Marietta, Canton, Dallas and Jasper

Leaking stool, staining your underwear or not making it to the toilet in time is hard to talk about, and many people put off asking for help for years. Accidental bowel leakage is a medical problem with real treatments, and our team at the Marietta, Canton, Dallas and Jasper offices evaluates and treats it.

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What is bowel leakage?

Bowel leakage, also called accidental bowel leakage, bowel incontinence or fecal incontinence, means stool or gas escapes when you do not intend it to. Some people feel a sudden urge and cannot hold on until they reach a toilet. Others notice soiling or staining afterward without having felt anything. Both patterns count, and both are worth bringing to a visit.

What causes loss of bowel control?

Holding stool depends on the ring of muscle around the anus, the pelvic floor muscles and the sacral nerves that carry signals between the bowel and the brain. Anything that weakens one of those links, or makes stool harder to hold, can lead to leakage:

Childbirth, especially a difficult delivery or a tear that reached the anal muscle, sometimes years before leaking starts
A pelvic floor that has weakened with age or after menopause
Loose stool from irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, infections or medicines
Constipation, when hard stool sits in the rectum and liquid stool seeps around it
Nerve damage from diabetes, a back or spinal problem, a stroke or multiple sclerosis
Surgery or radiation in the pelvis, rectum or anal area

Leaking urine and stool together?

Bladder and bowel leakage often go together because the same pelvic floor muscles and sacral nerves serve both. If you also have urgency or leak urine, mention it when you book so the visit covers both. Our bladder leakage guide deals with the urinary side.

When is bowel leakage urgent?

Go to an emergency department now for new leakage with numbness in the groin, buttocks or inner thighs, new weakness in the legs or sudden trouble passing urine, especially with back pain. These can mean pressure on the nerves at the base of the spine.
Go to an emergency department for black, tarry stool or heavy rectal bleeding.
Call us or your primary care doctor promptly for smaller amounts of blood in the stool, fever, or a sudden change in your bowel habits that does not settle.
Book a routine visit for leakage, staining or urgency that has been building over months, or that keeps you from going out, exercising or traveling.

What happens at the visit?

We start with your story: when leaks happen, how often, whether you feel them coming, what your stool is usually like, which medicines you take, and any childbirth, surgery or radiation in the past. The exam checks the skin around the anus and, with a gentle gloved-finger exam, how well the muscle squeezes and relaxes. If you leak urine as well, we test a urine sample and scan how well your bladder empties. Bleeding, a change in bowel habits or anything that suggests a problem in the colon itself leads to a referral for a colonoscopy or other testing first.

Which bowel control treatments do we offer?

Treatment usually starts with conservative care and steps up when needed:

Diet and fiber changes to make stool firmer and more regular, which makes it easier to hold
Bowel retraining, using regular toilet times to build a predictable routine
Pelvic floor work, exercises that strengthen and coordinate the muscles that hold stool in
Medicine to firm loose stool or ease constipation, matched to the cause
InterStim sacral nerve stimulation for chronic bowel leakage that has not improved enough with those steps, tested for a short period before any permanent implant

Our InterStim for bowel control page explains the test phase, who may be a candidate and how the procedure is arranged for patients from all four offices.

How do I prepare for the appointment?

Keep a simple bowel diary before you come: when each leak happened, what your stool looked like, whether you felt an urge and what you had eaten or drunk. Bring a list of every medicine and supplement, including laxatives, stool softeners and anti-diarrhea products. These details shape the first treatment plan more than any single test.

Where can I get bowel leakage treatment near me?

Every one of our four offices sees patients for bowel leakage, so your first visit can be in Marietta, Canton, Dallas or Jasper.

Marietta Clinic & Surgery Center, 1371 Church Street Extension NW, Marietta, GA 30060. Bowel leakage is evaluated and treated here. InterStim test-phase and implant procedures for all four offices take place in this building.
Canton Clinic, 2205 Riverstone Blvd Suite 101, Canton, GA 30114. Bowel leakage is evaluated and treated here. Any procedure is scheduled at our Marietta Clinic & Surgery Center, with follow-up back here.
Dallas Clinic, 2713 Charles Hardy Parkway, Bldg 100, Suite 122, Dallas, GA 30157. Bowel leakage is evaluated and treated here. Any procedure is scheduled at our Marietta Clinic & Surgery Center, with follow-up back here.
Jasper Clinic, 49 Gordon Rd Suite 103, Jasper, GA 30143. Bowel leakage is evaluated and treated here. Any procedure is scheduled at our Marietta Clinic & Surgery Center, with follow-up back here.

Questions people ask us

Why would a urologist treat bowel leakage?

The pelvic floor muscles and sacral nerves that control the bladder also control the bowel, and many people have problems with both. Our team treats bowel leakage with diet and fiber changes, bowel retraining, pelvic floor work, medicine and InterStim sacral nerve stimulation. If your history or exam points to a problem in the colon or rectum itself, such as bleeding, we arrange that testing first.

Is it normal to leak stool after having a baby?

It happens to many women after childbirth, and it is treatable. Childbirth can stretch or tear the anal muscle and the nerves around it, and leaking can start soon after delivery or many years later, often around menopause. Pelvic floor work and diet changes help many women, and InterStim is an option when they are not enough.

Can diet changes really help with accidental bowel leakage?

For many people, yes. Firmer, more regular stool is easier to hold, so adding soluble fiber and cutting back on foods and drinks that loosen your stool, such as caffeine, alcohol or greasy meals, can reduce leaks. A bowel diary shows which foods matter for you, and we build those changes into a plan with bowel retraining and pelvic floor exercises.

Which bowel leakage symptoms mean the emergency room?

Go right away if leakage starts suddenly along with numbness in the groin or inner thighs, new leg weakness or trouble passing urine, especially with back pain. Black, tarry stool or heavy bleeding from the rectum also needs emergency care. Smaller amounts of blood, fever or a sudden change in bowel habits call for a prompt visit with us or your primary care doctor.

Where can I be seen for bowel leakage near Marietta, Canton, Dallas or Jasper?

All four of our offices evaluate and treat bowel leakage: the Marietta Clinic & Surgery Center on Church Street Extension NW, the Canton Clinic on Riverstone Blvd, the Dallas Clinic on Charles Hardy Parkway and the Jasper Clinic on Gordon Rd. InterStim procedures are scheduled at the Marietta Clinic & Surgery Center, and follow-up can return to your usual office.

Do men get bowel leakage too?

Yes. In men it often follows pelvic radiation, surgery on the rectum or anus, nerve problems from diabetes or the spine, or long-standing diarrhea. The evaluation and treatment steps are the same, starting with your history, an exam and conservative care.

Ready to talk about bowel leakage? Call or book online for a visit at our Marietta, Canton, Dallas or Jasper office.