Straining?

I believe it's because you can't cause a prolapse. CeCe - one of the members here - produces a hard cough at the end of evacuation and that helps all the little bits exit. Once you're past hernia producing time you could try that to see if it helps.

Pushing 'a little harder' shouldn't do much damage.... unless it does. In other words, one never knows what or if something will cause a problem. I don't have any problems with straining with my 22-year old pouch - it still works just fine.

kathy

To explain further, even though your pouch is made of small intestine that has been in your body your whole life, it is put to a use it was not designed for. The rectum has a lot of muscle tissue in it that contracts when you have a bowel movement and provides support. The ileum does not. Straining with a rectum can cause problems too, like hemorrhoids, fissures, rectal prolapse, even a stroke (many strokes occur during a bowel movement).

However, with the ileal pouch, in addition to the above, severe straining can cause prolapse severe enough to cause internal collapse, or even extrusion of the pouch through the anus. This can lead to very serious emptying problems, often requiring surgical repair.

So, best not to strain.

Jan

Oh ok... I was just curious. I'm not having to strain but had noticed while thread surfing that it is recommended by my not to strain to hard. Thanks for the knowledge.

I agree, admonishments without understanding just makes you want to say, why not? Once you understand something, then you can decide if it matters to you or not. Plus, there is minor pushing/bearing down and really straining (like where you see stars).

Jan