How to remove impacted stool at home
If you are looking for natural ways to remove impacted stool at home, below you will find the most common impacted stool home remedies, sorted by their importance, effectiveness and safety.
Before trying any bowel impaction home treatment, something to consider. Impacted bowel issues may be caused by underlying health issues. They can also lead to serious health conditions when left untreated. If you have chronic constipation or think you may have impacted stool and fecal impaction, you should always consult your doctor.
Here are the top stool softener home remedies and fecal impaction treatment at home methods:
- Find out what causes impacted stool in your body: The impacted bowel treatment you need may be completely different based on the cause. Findings the cause can help you to prevent impacted stool or constipation. Some of the causes of impacted stool surprise many people and are quite easy to fix. This is very important in order to avoid severely impacted bowel or chronic fecal impaction. The objective should be to get rid of impacted stool for good, and have a healthy digestive function with normal bowel movements.
To learn more about the causes of impacted stool, see: what causes fecal impaction. - Oxygen colon cleanse (Oxy-Powder ®) releases oxygen in the entire digestive tract and intestines to soften and loosen dry impacted stool and hard waste buildup so they can be flushed out naturally by the body through normal bowel movements. Unlike laxatives and other medicine for hard stool, oxygen colon cleanse works in a completely natural and safe way. It doesn’t force your body to make a bowel movement or cause laxative dependency. For this reason, oxygen colon cleanse is considered safer and more effective than fiber, herbal laxatives or osmotic laxatives and is the preferred choice of many natural health practitioners. Learn More.
- Enema for impacted stool: Using enema for impacted stool works by injecting liquids into the lower part of the colon through the rectum in order to release trapped stool and waste. This typically triggers one or more bowel movements, helping to flush out the trapped stool and waste. If are familiar with enemas, doing water enema may provide a quick relief. On the other hand, if you have never done enemas before, you may want to consider other less invasive options. Doing enemas properly requires practice where you learn how your body responds to the process, and adjust it based on your experience. Doing enema for the first time when you are desperately looking for a quick hard stool relief, may not provide you the results you are looking for.
To learn more about using enema for impacted stool, see: will an enema help with constipation? - Suppository for hard stool: Suppositories are another type of home remedies for bowel blockage that are taken through the rectum. Unlike enemas which use liquids, suppository for impacted stool works by inserting a solid medicine into the rectum (for example: glycerin suppositories). Once inserted, the medicine begins to melt in the colon leading to an urge to have a bowel movement, usually within 15-60 minutes. Ongoing use of suppository for constipation can impair normal bowel function and lead to a laxative dependency. For this reason, using suppository for impacted stool is not recommended. To learn more about using suppository for impacted stool, see: will suppositories help impacted stool.
- Laxative for impacted stool: Common types of laxatives that are used as impacted stool home remedy work by:
lubricant stool softener laxatives such as mineral oil that work by lubricating and coating the stool with moisture and water. Softening the stool may help to release the hard impacted stool.
To learn more, see: mineral oil for impacted stool.
Stimulant laxatives such as castor oil force a bowel movement by stimulating the muscles of the intestinal walls to contract and push the stool. To learn more, see: castor oil for constipation.
Important: ongoing use of laxatives, even natural ones, can lead to laxative dependency.
This means that you won’t be able to make regular bowel movements without the use of laxatives.
Ironically, laxative dependency is one of the leading cause of constipation. For this reason, we do not recommend using laxatives for impacted stool.
To learn more about natural quick constipation remedies and additional fecal impaction treatment at home, see: home remedies for constipation.
What is fecal impaction?
Impacted bowel
Impacted bowel also known as impacted colon, impacted stool or fecal impaction is a complication of constipation where large lump of dry, hard stool gets stuck in the rectum (1).
Impacted bowel symptoms
Impacted bowel symptoms include constipation with constant urge to push in order to make a bowel movement. When the feces become hard, the impacted colon makes it hard to make a bowel movement.
Impacted bowel symptoms may include:
- Abdominal bloating, abdominal pain.
- Nausea. vomiting
- Poor appetite, weight loss, in some cases anorexia.
- Malaise feeling, confusion, headache.
- Agitation, anxiety, nervousness.
- Lower back pain.
- Rectal discomfort sometimes with rectal bleeding.
- Paradoxical diarrhea is a common symptoms of chronic constipation: stool and feces fill the rectum, get hard and become impacted. Due to this blockage, liquid stool leaks around the fecal mass which can be mistaken for diarrhea.
- Fecal incontinence: inability to control bowel movements
- Urinary overflow incontinence: involuntary release of urine.
- Worsening of psychotic or mental disorders.
What causes impacted stool
Fecal impaction is usually the result of chronic or severe constipation. Causes of impacted stool may include (2):
- Lack of mobility due to aging or spinal cord injury.
- Medications that slows down digestive tract function such as pain medications, anticholinergic agents, calcium channel blockers, antacids, and iron supplements.
- Laxative abuse can lead to laxative dependency, which is the inability to make normal bowel movements without the use of laxatives.
- Congenital and acquired conditions of the colon and rectum such as megacolon (abnormal dilation of the colon), hirschsprung disease (congenital megacolon: missing nerve cells in the muscles of part or all of the large intestine, causing difficulty in passing stool), chagas disease (an infectious disease caused by a parasite found in the feces of the triatomine bug), intestinal tract obstruction, anastomotic stricture and anatomic abnormalities.
Common causes of dry stool and constipation may include:
Foods that cause constipation
- Beef and red meat.
- Dairy.
- Wheat, grains, gluten.
- Processed foods, fast foods.
- Fried foods.
- Unripe fruits such as green bananas.
- Foods that are high in processed sugars.
- Alcohol.
- Dehydrated foods.
- Salty snacks such as chips.
- Eating foods you are sensitive to.
- Not enough fiber in the diet.
- Dehydration or lack of fluids.
- Excessive consumption of calcium (3).
- Vitamin D (high dosage).
- Iron Supplements.
Lifestyle that cause constipation
- Lack of exercise, a sedentary lifestyle.
- Ignoring the urge to go, hold or delay bowel movement.
- Not giving yourself enough time during bowel movements.
- Ongoing high level of stress or anxiety.
- Lack of sleep or poor sleep quality.
- Travelling.
Impacted stool diagnosis
If you have chronic constipation or think you may have fecal impaction, you should consult your doctor.
Impacted stool diagnosis typically include a physical exam of your abdomen, and blood work. Additional tests may include:
- X-ray of the abdomen, ultrasound or CT scan.
- Sigmoidoscopy or flexible sigmoidoscopy, is a procedure where a flexible tube with a light is inserted into the anus, allowing the doctor to examine the sigmoid colon (the part of the large intestine that is closest to the rectum).
- Barium enema or lower gastrointestinal exam, is an X-ray exam of the large intestine (colon and rectum). A Barium is inserted into the rectum using enema which can then be seen on the X-ray.