Excretion Disorders (Bottom Wetting / Incontinence)
Excretion Disorders consist of two subgroups of diseases. These are fecal incontinence (Encopresis) and urinary incontinence (Enuresis). Encopresis is defined as the incontinence of feces in children over the age of 4,
for at least 3 months and at least once a month.
It should be considered normal for a child up to the age of 4 to incontinence of feces. Toilet training occurs at different ages for each child. Generally, parents unknowingly create psychological pressure on children by making decisions by comparing their children with other children. The development of the muscles holding it and the nervous system that controls it also differs. Sometimes children may be slightly over the age of 4
as mentioned in the description. Enuresis is the incontinence of a child over the age of 5, at least twice a week, for 3 months in a row. Generally, urinary incontinence occurs some time after going to bed at night. In some children, this may occur more than once during the night. The prevalence of enuresis in society is around 4 percent on average
.
Encopresis is seen on average around 2 percent in society. These figures are the number of children who met the diagnostic criteria
. Some studies show that 20 percent of 5-year-old children wet the bed. Most of the time, this condition is hidden by the family, as in other psychiatric disorders. Genetic causes often underlie Excretion Disorders
. Most of the time, the problem of incontinence is also observed in close relatives.
Constipation may initially underlie encopresis. Children who eat irregularly, the same type of food, do not consume enough liquids and eat ready-made foods are likely to develop constipation and then encoporesis. In some cases, enuresis may occur due to the child's small urinary bladder or inadequate development of the urinary bladder muscles.
Children with sleep disorders may have difficulty waking up and leak urine because they sleep deeply.
Improper toilet training may also lead to enuresis or encopresis.
Enuresis, one of the excretion disorders, decreases with age, but the psychological events experienced during this period may cause our child to become a low-self-confident and anxious person in the future. Encopresis is generally the external expression of the problems experienced by children. In both cases
the psychological dimension of the underlying causes should be evaluated in detail.
Sometimes there may be a simple underlying problem, while sometimes there may be problems that neither the child nor the family can cope with
. In the treatment, it is necessary to find the cause first. In cases where it cannot be found, behavioral treatments are very effective. If elimination disorders are accompanied by other psychological conditions or do not respond to behavioral treatments, medical treatments can be used.
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