Mega colon

My daughter was chronically constipated as a young child, and had urinary incontinence as well, and the term was thrown around then. She had enormous stools, that just would not shift until they were ready. As I understand it, activity massages the intestines and keeps the contents moving. The bowel contents simply stops moving food along. The colon, and perhaps the rectum get fatter and fatter, I imagine, if the anal sphincter cannot open far enough. The longer stool is in the body, the more water is drawn out of it. Old people are notorious for not drinking enough, so the body gets water from the stool.

Lack of activity was not my daughter's problem, but they were worried about megacolon developing later in life if she couldn't get on top of the constipation. I think they were worried that the fascia that surrounds the rectum would eventually give way, and the colon could then expand as far as it wanted to without being in its fascia jacket. The paediatrician went through his raft of treatments and eventually said, "Too hard to solve this one. She will just have to learn to live with it!" I was unimpressed at this prospect and took her off to a chiropractor, who had her 90% fixed in about six weeks. End of story. And you wonder why I don't have a lot of faith in medical treatments as the treatment of choice?

The stretching of the fascia could allow the rectum to push into the vaginal space. The fascia between the rectum and the posterior vagina wall tethers the two organs loosely together, so that each can distend without affecting the other too much. If one moves down, the other will follow it. If the vagina moves in, it takes the rectum with it. If this fascia becomes damaged it can leave a hole, a bit like a big moth makes in a spider web. This hole destabilises much of the web and it may eventually spread and destroy the structure of the web.

So yes, megacolon could be associated with developmenht of rectocele. And rectocele, because the fascia is already damaged, may contribute to megacolon. But they are not the same.

Yes, you have drawn the right conclusions about sitting around a lot, and eating poorly! And your response is absolutely correct. It is important to move our bodies to the maximium range of movement in all directions, to keep the fascia moving, and to keep our muscles moving. It is also important to eat well. Have you ever returned from a long walk and discovered that you need a poo?

The development of prolapse is a canary in the mine to remind us that we need to look after our bodies better, in so many ways. Exercise and food are but two of them.

Could you cure megacolon with exercise and good food? I am not medically qualified. Perhaps, depending on what is causing it? The inactivity of old age is, as you would know, almost impossible to overcome. The mind may be willing, but the body is weak. For those of us who are fully able to move, our movement is probably a major factor in preventing megacolon.

Rectocele, however, needs mainly careful improvement of posture, to rotate all the pelvic organs forwards, so that they are supported on the pubic bones, and resting forwards on the lower abdomen, rather than sitting right on top of the pelvic floor muscles and squashing the rectum down like a tangled rope at the bottom of the heap. In this posture the pelvic organs are drawn into their correct alignment, so that emptying is easier.