Sphincter Muscle Atrophy?

[Goerge]

Would a person who has achieved sphincter muscle atrophy from wearing diapers 24/7 be able to regain some control or would they become permanently incontinent? Dose the sphincter muscle completey waste away? Would over time this have any affect on the anal sphincter muscles? Any information on the subject would be helpful.

[Eric D]

Just from wearing a diaper 24/7 you should get no such thing at all...

if you maybe have "helped" with stool-softeners over a long time and did never "hold it back" and that over a long long period of time your sphincter muscle might degenerate. My emergency medic training didn't go into such details so I can just guess...

if you feel like you can't hold it and fear to become bowel inco then I strongly advice seeking professional help. A Bowel Inco. can have MANY reasons, and a weakened sphincter muscle can have various reasons too...

don't be ashamed to seek medical help... a doc is not allowed to go "public" with whatever medical "secret" he is being entrusted.

So go there, and tell your story / problem and see what happens.

at 21, unless you suffer from some other medical condition, just wearing diapers and "going often" should not get you "there".

However, in case you somehow have managed to do just that... well as mentioned check with your doc anyways... but you sure can try "holding" it back... maybe wear diapers as a protective measure, in case you don't manage to hold it as long as you wanted... try to go to the toilet again, and every time you sit down don't just void, hold it back for a moment and then release it.

but honestly... see a doc... I can't say this enough... I mean, you're 21 and I no matter how much you love your diapers, I don't really think you'd like to become bowel inco...

if it's "painful" you might have torn the sphincter a little... (various ways to achieve that too..., but not diapers).

if you stool is very mushy/liquid/soft, you may want to change your diet a bit.

On a second thought, what sounds a bit more plausible is a psychological thing... (no I'm not saying you're a nut-job )...

-> if you "get used" to void whenever your body finds it convenient versus whenever you have the chance to get to a toilet you will (at least most would) develop a habit... do this over a long time, and your body will get "used" to this "convenience" of having a BM Whenever / wherever....

I remember having had a bad bladder infection.... I chose to wear pads & diapers at that time as I did often not manage to get to the toilet in time... burning sensation, always needing to pee, ... well long story... but after a couple of days using diapers daily 24/7 and keeping pull ups & pads on for a whole month... I was very used to this, and sure I couldn't hold it as long as before, started to dribble a bit... and had to "work on that"... it was gone after another week or so, back to "normal"... but I was amazed at how fast I got used to "use the diaper whenever it's convenient".

so anyways, try for two weeks or so to "hold it back" (not until it's painful, mind you!) but not to empty out whenver you "want to".

see where that leads you... if there is no change or if it's getting worse.... off to the doc.