What Is a Bowel or Fecal Urgency?

Bowel or fecal urgency is a sudden, irresistible need to have a bowel movement. Urge fecal incontinence is inability to hold stool during bowel urgency. Bowel incontinence is complete inability to control bowel movements. Tenesmus (Greek tens = strain) is a repeating painful urge to defecate without excreting any stool.  

Causes of Bowel Urgency

1. Occasional Bowel Urgency in Healthy People

Large Meal

A large, especially fiber-rich fruit or vegetable meal, can produce a lot of stool, which can be, for some people, difficult to hold in. A quick change from mixed to vegetarian diet can also irritate the bowel.

continue reading Urgency to Have a Bowel Movement, Urge Fecal Incontinence

Mucous colitis is a misused term for the condition, currently known as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), with mucus appearing in the stool, but no organic change in the colon (no colitis) or anywhere in the gut. Other terms used are spastic colon, spastic colitis, and nervous colon syndrome.

Beside mucus in the stool, other symptoms include vague stomach pains, alternating diarrhea and constipation, bloating.

Related articles:

Causes of Chronic Diarrhea
Causes of Bloating and Gas
Constipation – Causes and Cure

What Is Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) or Spastic Colon?

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a diagnosis commonly given to people with chronic diarrhea or constipation or both, in whom no organic bowel disease was found after thorough investigation, and who have no rectal bleeding or weight loss (2).

Spastic colon is an old term for IBS.

continue reading What Is IBS (Spastic Colon) – Symptoms, Proper Diet, Stress Management

Definition of Chronic Diarrhea

Diarrhea (frequent loose bowel movements) is considered as chronic when it lasts for more than 2 weeks (1). Below is a list of main causes of chronic diarrhea with typical symptoms.

continue reading Causes of Chronic (Prolonged, Persistent, Constant) Diarrhea

A single attack (or few attacks) of diarrhea occurring few minutes to few hours after eating may be due to:

• A wrong food combination - some foods just don’t go together, like meat and sugar… 
• Magnesium - in some mineral waters, sport drinks, antacids, supplements
• Staph food poisoning with toxins released from bacterium Staphylococcus aureus; diarrhea may appear from 20 minutes to 8 hours after ingesting contaminated food (in food poisoning due other bacteria, viruses, or parasites, diarrhea usually appears more than 8 hours after a meal)

continue reading What Causes Diarrhea After Eating?

Loose Bowel Movements (Diarrhea)

Occasional loose bowel movements may be normal, but having over three loose stools per day is a symptom of diarrhea.

Check characteristics of normal and excessive bowel movements. Read how to find the cause of loose bowel movements from medical symptoms.

Constipation

Constipation means having less than three bowel movements in a week.

Check the causes of chronic constipation and severe constipation.

continue reading Bowel Movement Problems