Childhood Encopresis Alliance
Supporting children, accompanying families.
What is Encopresis?
Encopresis is a condition that affects children from the age of 4 who have already learned to use the toilet but who suddenly begin to have difficulties defecating. It is not a behavioural problem, but a condition that can have various causes and that with the right support can be treated and overcome.
Encopresis is more common than you think, but it remains a hidden condition. Many families and children suffer from it in silence due to a lack of information and fear of social judgement. That is why it is essential to make this condition visible, to talk about it openly and to offer support without blaming children or their families.
What happens physiologically in Encopresis?
Encopresis develops as a consequence of chronic constipation. Here is the process explained step by step:
1. Accumulation of feces in the colon.
When a child avoids bowel movements (for various reasons), stool builds up in the rectum and colon.
2. Fecal impaction:
Over time, this accumulated feces hardens and forms a compact mass, known as fecal implantation, which makes evacuation even more difficult.
3. Dilatation of the rectum:
The rectum begins to expand due to excess feces. This can cause our children to lose the ability to feel as the brain stops receiving information from the intestines because the nerves in the area lose sensitivity.
4. Leakage or involuntary bowel movements:
Softer stools may pass behind the hard, accumulated stool and come out unintentionally, causing "accidents." The child has no control over this.
5. Repetitive cycle:
If the problem is not addressed, the pain when trying to evacuate reinforces the habit of avoiding the bathroom, which ends in the cycle of accumulation of feces and bowel movements or "accidents."
ADDITIONAL FACTORS:
Loss of Sensitivity:
The rectum, which is distended and accustomed to being full, stops sending signals to the brain, which means that the child does not feel the need to go to the bathroom.
Relationship with the anal sphincter:
The internal sphincter can relax involuntarily due to the pressure of accumulated feces, causing fecal matter to leak and, having lost sensitivity, children do not realize it.