How To Deal With Butt Leakage

It’s the worst. You walk from point A to point B, and you leak. Why? Oh, there are so many factors, unfortunately. Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and all other inflammatory bowel diseases are complicated, messy, and unpleasant. Sadly, butt leakage is a real thing and if you go through it, don’t worry because you aren’t alone. Trust me.

What causes bowel leakage with IBD?

I myself have been dealing with it for some years now and it is quite the nuisance. I think all of us would love to know how to end it forever, but the answer is more complicated than desired. There are so many factors as to why this happens. 

First, just straight internal inflammation which causes the anus to not work properly. Basically, the door can’t fully shut so you get leakage. Also, internal hemorrhoids and anal tags can also be the cause. Or a combination of all these.

What is it like?

Another frustrating aspect is that it can come on randomly. In my beginning years of dealing with Crohn’s, I never had bowel leakage. I had major urgency and sometimes I wouldn’t make it to the bathroom, but that’s different. At least when I wasn’t in urgency mode I could walk around and not have mucous, blood, or some fecal matter leak out. But, I guess the plus side to that, is that it can also eventually go away which is the hope I hold on to.

In the meantime, those of us who deal with this unpleasantry must find ways to cope. So here are some tips and tricks that work for me.

My tips for dealing with IBD butt leakage

1. Wear pads and keep wipes with you

24/7 I have pads and wipes on hand. I keep them in my purse in the little zipper compartment all purses tend to have. For the day, I have a minimum of 5 ultra-thin feminine pads with me and a small 20-count bag of baby wipes I get from Target.

The pads offer the perfect amount of protection for whenever a leak occurs. Then you just head to the bathroom. Clean up with the wipes and change the pad. This avoids your underwear from getting soiled.

2. Bring extra underwear

Speaking of underwear, always have extra underwear with you just in case. I have a pair rolled up in my purse for those times when things just get unpredictable. It gives you major peace of mind having a plan B.

3. Have extra bottoms

And lastly, in my car, I have a pair of leggings for those days when a leak can get bad and too messy to salvage. For those messiest emergencies.

4. Stay positive

This is huge. Having this symptom really sucks and can get your morale way down. No one likes to deal with this every single day and it gets tiring really fast. But if you get down on yourself and dwell on it, that doesn’t help either. So try and stay positive. Be thankful for pads and wipes to make things workable and although it’s hard to get used to, stay hopeful that things will improve in the future.

How about you? Do you deal with butt leakage? How do you manage? Comment below, we love to hear from you.