Today we would like to discuss a delicate issue. The work of the digestive tract largely determines our well-being, cheerfulness and good mood. Moreover, it is important not only proper nutrition, but also stable emptying, so that the body does not send waste products. It is very good if you have never encountered such problems, and the morning toilet does not cause unpleasant associations. But most people know firsthand what a spasm of the rectal sphincter is. The symptoms are extremely unpleasant, it is pain and distension in the lower abdomen, which are difficult to cope with without taking antispasmodic drugs. Today we will talk about this phenomenon and ways to deal with it in a little more detail.
A little about physiological features
What is the rectal sphincter? This is a muscle element. It is located directly in the rectum and is designed to regulate the excretion of feces. On the one hand, it performs a locking function, and when sufficientaccumulation of masses - opens. This is usually a controlled process. The rectal sphincter opens only in the right place (in the toilet), and not on the way home from work.
In order for the sphincter to work smoothly, its surface is lined with a large number of receptor cells, and the inside is smooth muscle that forms a ring. While the child is small, it works in a natural mode, that is, immediately after the need that has arisen, bowel movements follow. As you get older and potty trained, the rectal sphincter becomes more and more exercised, effectively holding back feces and gas.
What is sphincter spasm
This is not a disease, but only a manifestation of it, so doctors will have to conduct a full diagnosis to determine what caused this phenomenon. And we will start by telling you what characterizes the spasm of the sphincter of the rectum. Symptoms are primarily pain. It is not caused by inflammation, but by painful muscle contraction, which is psychological or somatogenic in nature.
This picture is typical for most proctological pathologies, so if doctors talk about spasm of the rectal sphincter, they mean that there are no organic lesions of this segment of the intestine. That is, there is pain of undiagnosed etiology.
Features of the disease
Difficult is not only diagnosis. Diseases with such symptoms usually proceed for a long time and are quite difficult. stop bowelfor the duration of his treatment, we cannot, even with a sparing diet, the load on him still remains. And constant pain, which is difficult to remove even with strong drugs, exhausts physically and psychologically. Often, terrible diagnoses come to mind, most often of an oncological nature, which further aggravates his condition.
More about symptoms
How can you suspect that you have spasm of the rectal sphincter? Simple enough. Strong, paroxysmal pain will not make a mistake. In this case, the following signs are observed:
- Acute, paroxysmal pain that radiates to the perineum. In this regard, patients tend to attribute symptoms to chronic kidney disease, problems of the pelvic organs.
- Please note that pain may accompany or be separate from defecation.
- Most often, after taking a bath, the pain subsides significantly, although it may not go away completely.
- The important point is the cause of the spasm. This is the key to the solution, as well as the appointment of adequate treatment. Most often, it is provoked not even by somatogenic diseases, but by psycho-emotional ones: experiences, chronic stress and neurological problems, as well as inadequate physical activity.
What everyone needs to know
We've touched on this a bit already, but it's important to get to the bottom of this. Treatment of the rectal sphincter, or rather its effectiveness, directly depends onas far as the doctor understood the reasons. What causes spasm? This is a contraction of smooth muscles. This may involve the external or internal sphincter. But that's half the trouble. When smooth muscles contract, pulling, sometimes throbbing pains occur, varying in duration and intensity, as nerves and blood vessels are pinched.
Most often this pathology occurs in middle-aged people. At the same time, there is no division into men and women; everyone is susceptible to the disease. Why is this part of the intestine prone to spasms? This is due to good innervation. What can be attributed here:
- constipation;
- inflammation;
- violation of the integrity of the mucosa;
- varicose veins or blood vessels.
As a result, the patient feels severe pain that is difficult to correct with medication.
Risk group
Before we talk about how to relieve spasm of the rectal sphincter, we will dwell on one more point. There is a certain group of patients in whom the risk of this pathology is more likely. These are the people:
- mentally unstable;
- suffering from CNS pathology.
As a result of the above pathologies, anal spasm develops, which increases emotional lability and, as a result, pain. In addition, this syndrome may be due to various disorders of innervation. This is a consequence of trauma or difficult childbirth. Often, spasm of the anal sphincters develops inemotionally unstable women. Men are less likely to fall into this category, although gender, as we have already mentioned, is not predominant.
Types of spasms
The most common problem is when the internal rectal sphincter spasms. First of all, they can be divided by the time of the attack:
- fast passing;
- long.
Usually mild pathology is both quickly passing. At the same time, to alleviate the condition, the use of serious drugs is not required. Violation manifests itself in the form of sudden pulling or stabbing pains. Very often, patients feel severe discomfort in the perineum. Moreover, some of them begin to unsuccessfully treat fictitious diseases of the prostate gland, kidneys and uterus. Once again, I would like to remind you that any therapy begins with an adequate diagnosis. Without this, it is not only ineffective, but also dangerous.
Prolonged pain of unknown etiology practically does not respond to anesthesia, and attacks can go on for several days. Moreover, an uneven course is characteristic, after a while the frequency of attacks increases. At the same time, the factors that cause exacerbation of pain are not fully defined. However, doctors have long noted that the emotional state of the patient greatly affects the state of his intestines. Stress and anxiety instantly cause the situation to worsen.
There is a classification according to the etiological factor. In this case, allocate:
- Primary spasms. If we compare twophoto of the sphincter of the rectum - spasmodic and completely he althy - you can see that they are not much different. In our case, this is just a muscle spasm, which most often develops against a background of stress and disappears after the situation returns to normal.
- Secondary. This violation does not appear on its own, but develops against the background of certain pathologies of the rectum. These include hemorrhoids and fissures, Crohn's disease and tumors in the anal canal.
Any problems with the intestines require attention, timely consultation with specialists. The earlier the cause is determined, the more effective the therapeutic effect will be.
First trip to the doctor
Everything starts with an examination. An important role is played by the collection of anamnesis. Quite often, primary diseases are determined in patients, which led to such a development of events. These are injuries and various operations. Even more often, diseases of the rectum and organs of the genitourinary system become the root cause. Do not forget that the smooth muscle muscles of our body are interconnected, so the primary proctology is combined with spasms of the muscles of other organs. What diagnostics includes:
- visual inspection;
- anus palpation;
- examination of the walls of the rectum;
- colon examination with colonoscopy.
What to do
Since it will not work overnight to relieve spasm of the rectal sphincter, you will have to follow a number of doctor's recommendations in order to achieve improvementstates. The choice of treatment methods will depend on the general and psychological state of the patient, the presence of somatic diseases.
But the doctor's first task is to relieve spasm of the rectal sphincter. Treatment should begin with the elimination of the disorder and the elimination of inflammation. For this purpose, antispasmodics and painkillers are prescribed. If necessary, prescribe antibacterial agents, and for constipation - laxatives.
Sphincter relaxation
This is the goal of the patient and doctor, which is not always easy to achieve with drugs alone. Thermal procedures, as well as physiotherapeutic methods of treatment, help very well in this case. In parallel, it is imperative to carry out anesthesia with the help of antispasmodics and analgesic suppositories. It is best to use "Relief Advance", "Procto-glivenol", "Venoruton", "Ultraprokt", "Sterizan forte", candles with belladonna and sea buckthorn oil. Of the antispasmodics, No-shpa is most often used, as well as warm sitz baths.
Solving problems with constipation
It is very important to pay close attention to the toilet. It is extremely important to keep the anus area perfectly clean. Every morning you need to wash yourself using a shower for this. It is good to repeat the procedure after each act of defecation, so as not to irritate the mucous membrane by friction. Proper diet is one of the most important factors. Food should be as sparing as possible in order to reduce the load on the digestive tract. Everything is quite simple here: fatty, sweet, fried and spicy should beexcluded from the diet. The basis is soups and lean cereals, baked fruits and vegetables. Stay hydrated.
Surgical treatment
If alternative treatment does not work, then more radical measures will have to be chosen. At first, doctors use various drugs, as well as conservative methods of treatment. If the attacks become more frequent, and severe complications also join, then there is no choice. In this case, they resort to surgical intervention - sphincterotomy. It consists in partial excision of the muscles of the anal sphincter. This causes the smooth muscles to relax and the pain is greatly reduced. The cause is not eliminated, but the patient still gets a good result.
Folk treatments
If the situation has not yet gone too far, then you can use herbal medicine recipes. In this case, it is recommended to treat spasms of the anal sphincter with decoctions of medicinal herbs or a solution of potassium permanganate. The treatment regimen includes enemas and microclysters, tampons and suppositories.
Sitz baths are easy to make. To do this, collect some warm water in a basin, add potassium permanganate. The procedure must be repeated for at least 7-10 days. Not bad help baths with a decoction or infusion of medicinal plants, which have an antispasmodic or sedative effect. This is chamomile and yarrow, St. John's wort and oak bark, calendula. Plants can be mixed or alternated. A decoction of medicinal herbs is used to prepare enemas and tampons.
Sphincter weakness
This is the exact opposite of the one we discussed above. If before that we discussed how to relax the sphincter of the rectum, normalize the waste of gases and feces and relieve pain, now we need to pay attention to what to do when the same locking ring is loosened. A weak rectal sphincter leads to incontinence of gas, liquid or solid stools.
Treatment requires taking into account the individual characteristics of the person, as well as violations. As a rule, if the rectal sphincter is relaxed, a special diet, electrical stimulation and physiotherapy exercises are prescribed. Drug therapy in this case should be aimed at the treatment of inflammatory diseases and dysbacteriosis.
If the sphincter is weakened due to organic causes, surgical intervention is necessary, namely sphincteroplasty. After this operation, a long-term rehabilitation treatment is required with a mandatory diet.
Instead of a conclusion
The he alth of our intestines largely depends on us. Proper diet, the optimal ratio of physical activity and rest, avoiding serious stress - all these are the main methods for preventing diseases of the digestive system in general and the intestines in particular. Excessive tension, as well as weakness of the rectal sphincter, can be the result of a number of serious ailments, each of which requires careful attention and medical support.
