Keeping Control: Understanding and Overcoming Fecal Incontinence

People who live with fecal incontinence - a condition causing the involuntary loss of liquid or solid stool or gas at inappropriate times - often feel alone and isolated. Some avoid working outside the home, or give up treasured friends and activities, or even miss an event as important as their child's wedding. All of these people should know that two million others in the United States have fecal incontinence, and each one of them feels alone, too. This book - with its valuable information and message of hope - is for anyone who has this problem. Keeping Control is a compassionate, medically reliable, and thoroughly informative resource for anyone who wants to understand the causes of fecal incontinence, learn about important advances in treatment and management, and do something about the problem. Written by a noted Johns Hopkins physician and an experienced medical writer and editor, Keeping Control explains the mechanisms of normal bowel function and describes the latest medical findings about what can cause incontinence, from preexisting conditions and diseases to accidents and surgical or childbirth injuries. It thoroughly explains the wide range of treatment options, including remarkable successes with biofeedback and habit training. It includes special advice for managing incontinence in children and older people. And it offers important information on how to work with your physician to take control of the problem. Keeping Control also includes a glossary of terms and valuable information about contacting support groups and using additional resources. An epilogue by Nancy Norton, founder of the International Foundation for Bowel Dysfunction, describes the personal challenge ofliving with fecal incontinence and explains how she and many others have found the courage to cope with the problem and live life to the fullest.