The Bristol Stool Scale and Faecal Incontinence

The Bristol Stool Scale and Faecal Incontinence

It's not a subject you would sit and have a chat with your friends or family but the look of your faeces is an important subject. The Bristol stool scale is a is a medical aid designed to classify faeces into seven groups. It is widely used as a research tool to evaluate the effectiveness of treatments for various diseases of the bowel, as well as a clinical communication aid.  

So What Should Your Stool Look Like

The type of stool or faeces depends on the time it spends in the colon. After you pass faeces, what you see in the toilet bowl is basically the result of your diet, fluids, medications and lifestyle. We recommend that you take a look at the below Chart to check what your stools are telling you.  It is important that your stools are soft and easy to pass.

• Type 1–2 indicate constipation
• Type 3–4 are ideal stools as they are easier to pass, and
• Type 5–7 may indicate diarrhoea and urgency.

Faecal Incontinence

About one in 20 people experience poor bowel control. It's often not talked about, but both men and women can have poor bowel control. It's more common as you get older but young people can also have poor bowel control too. Often, people with poor bowel control also have poor bladder control and may leak urine. People whose bowel moves at the wrong time or in the wrong place may be experiencing poor bowel control, or faecal incontinence. They may also pass wind when they don't want to. Here at Incontinence UK we do not want your faecal incontinence to stop you from living independently or to disrupt your lifestyle. We therefore provide a wide range of incontinence products to suit your specific needs from incontinence pants to incontinence pads suitable for people who suffer from faecal incontinence. Best wishes Incontinence UK www.incontinenceuk.co.uk