Paralysis often damages the nerves that control the bowel
The best way to prevent bowel accidents is to follow a schedule.
You need to teach your bowels when to have a movement.
“Establishing an effective bowel program is critical, because incontinence may interfere with a patient’s physical, psychological, social, recreational and sexual function” (DeLisa + Kirshblum 1997)
Psychological impact"After loss of mobility, loss of bowel control is the next most distressing aspect of SCI"
(Glickman and Kamm 1995)
Factors affecting bowel management
Successful bowel management depends on a number of different factors, some of which you can influence: