This is probably the earliest sign that you have a functional bowel disorder – the condition that causes fecal impaction. It is also one of the most commonly ignored signs that most people either ignore or don’t even know to look for.

A healthy digestive system functions like clockwork. It digests food efficiently and then gives you the urge to go to the bathroom at the same time daily. A sure sign of a digestive tract that is beginning to lose its vitality is unpredictable urges to pass stool.

Most people that end up in emergency situations because of their fecal impaction often report that they never had a set time when their body would urge them to go to the bathroom.

If you could catch the problem at this stage and treat it, you could essentially keep your digestive tract working optimally for the rest of your life. So, if you notice that your bathroom visits are happening later and later, your digestive tract is slowing down and needs to be revived immediately.

Regardless of how often you go to a doctor to get a regular checkup, nothing gives you a more frequent and accurate test of your overall health than simply looking at your stool each time you go to the bathroom.

It is probably the most effective way of checking the health of your stomach, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, kidneys, digestive tract and even your nervous system.

A healthy body consistently creates healthy looking stool, that is…

• Solid but not to hard
• Brown but not too light or too dark in color
• Smooth like a hotdog and not lumpy
• Comes out in one piece and not multiple fragments
• Is easy to pass, in no more than 5 minutes
• Does not smell unusually strong
• Does not hurt or burn

If you ever notice that your stool has any unhealthy changes, this is your sign that something is wrong in your body and needs to be addressed. For example, a stool that is very light brown or yellow could mean there is an issue with your pancreas, liver or gallbladder. A very foulsmelling poop could mean that the bacterial balance in your digestive tract is thrown off.

Consider checking your stool like a free health exam offered regularly by nature. It allows you to catch problems early and address them right away. This is the easiest way to prevent most of the serious complications of fecal impaction

And if you do notice that your stool is showing troubling signs, take immediate action to revive the health of your digestive system.

A sure sign that you are headed for a fecal impaction is having constipation at least a few times a month.

In fact, almost all fecal impaction sufferers that have ever been admitted to the hospital, had surgery to remove a piece of their colon or even died from fecal impaction complications, have had a history of chronic constipation before their situation got to that point.

In other words, chronic constipation can be deadly if left untreated. It is a progressive disease that starts with the occasional difficulty in passing stool, then grows into a bowel disorder and can eventually result in a life-threatening tear in your colon from fecal impaction.

Constipation is usually a glaring sign that your digestive tract is becoming sick. You wouldn’t ignore a condition where you choked on your food each time you swallowed it, however the same problem happens on the other end of the digestive tract because you become unable to move things along.

We often think of constipation as normal part our bowel habits, however people with untreated chronic constipation are at the highest risk of developing serious complications from fecal impaction

Fortunately, people with chronic constipation are also in the best position to reverse the course of their diseases because it is in an intermediate stage. You can still reverse the damage to your colon tissue and rescue your digestive health.

This pain can be dull or sharp and is usually emanating from the belly region. During fecal impaction, it is caused either by gas or food that can’t move past the hard mass of stool stuck in your colon. This pain can also be caused by your colon being stretched too much and or your digestive tract being inflamed.

Note that severe abdominal pain could also be a sign of a colon rupture or sepsis, which needs immediate medical attention. If you have abdominal pain and are unable to pass gas, you need to see a doctor right away.

We always assume that our gut is placed towards our belly so any pain radiating from the intestines should be around the abdomen. However, fecal impaction can also cause back pain, especially around the lower back because the sigmoid colon (the last portion of the large intestine) is located very low and can press against the nerves towards the back.

In some cases, back pain can also be caused by damage to your kidneys from fecal impaction. The hard stool in your colon can press against the tubes through which your kidneys empty urine (uretral compression). This can cause the kidney to experience damage and lead to back pain.

In a normal functioning digestive system, the stool collects in the rectum and stretches the rectal tissue. There are sensory nerves in the rectum (pudendal nerve) that give you the urge to go to the bathroom and poop. However, during fecal impaction, this nerve is constantly activated because the stool constantly stretches the rectum and you are left with the constant feeling of being “backed-up”. That’s because there is still stool inside your rectal canal.

By the way, fecal impaction eventually damages this nerve and you can permanently lose the urge to go to the bathroom (which is much worse).

This is a sign that your fecal impaction has begun to damage the muscles and the nerves in your rectum. While in the early stages of fecal impaction you may still be able tell when it’s time to go to the bathroom, eventually damage to your pudendal nerve takes away your ability to sense stool that is stretching the rectal canal.

This means your condition has advanced.

Ironically, now instead of feeling discomfort from being unable to “go”, you feel nothing. This is a crucial turning point in the disease process because you have basically lost a key part of the bowel evacuation process that is essential for healthy living.

Usually in these cases you need to physically stimulate your gut to move things again using laxatives or enemas. Unfortunately, the use of laxatives and enemas has shown to make fecal impaction worse in the long run

A narrower than normal stool is a sign that something in your colon is preventing the bulk fecal matter from moving along in one piece. In the case of fecal impaction, this is caused by a piece of stool that has started blocking the colon.

This is probably your last chance to treat the problem before the stool completely stops moving and your colon becomes completely blocked. It is important to note that chronic narrow or small stools can also be a sign of a colon tumor, so this symptom should be taken very seriously and be checked by a doctor.

you can have fecal impaction and diarrhea at the same time – this is known as paradoxical diarrhea.

Note how the problem has escalated even more by this point because now only liquid stool is able to make its way out.

When the hard mass of stool grows so big that it begins to completely block the colon and stretches it thin, the inside membrane experiences injury and secretes mucus as a defense.

This mucus can act like a lubricant which allows liquids from the backlogged stool to suddenly escape past the hard mass. This can cause embarrassing situations because the liquids can build up pressure in the rectal canal without you even being aware and suddenly be expelled with force even when you’re not on the toilet.

This is why many fecal impaction patients eventually need pads for accidental episodes of diarrhea.

Keep in mind, once you are at this symptom, there is already significant damage taking place to your colon tissue on a daily basis. By this stage, there are often signs of colitis where the impaction has occurred.

This happens when the internal anal sphincter has experienced severe and often permanent damage

There are 2 anal sphincters (round, closing muscles) that help us pass stool – the EAS (External Anal Sphincter) and the IAS (the Internal Anal Sphincter).

Fecal impaction is known to damage the IAS (Internal Anal Sphincter). This means, over time, you can lose your ability to hold in stool. Instead of the stool just collecting in the rectal canal until you’re ready to go to the bathroom, it can be expelled at any time with the smallest movement such as a cough or a laugh.

This is one of the reasons why fecal impaction sufferers often report feeling embarrassed from their condition and a low overall quality of life because the problem is permanent.

Remember, stool leakages can be a lifelong problem unless you repair the damage caused to your internal anal sphincter.