refloxology to cure constipation/soiling

[Snooks14]

My son has just turned 6 and since he was about 3 we have had real problems with him soiling his pants.
It seemed to start with him holding the poo in and not wanting to sit on the toilet. We can now get him to sit on the toilet ok but I think he has been holding it in for so long that he no longer really gets the signals that he needs to go.
He also will not go to the toilet while he is at school or aftercare as he says he is too embarrassed.
We have had him at the docs a few times - not much help to be honest - we have lactulose and he has been taking that every day for a couple of months - he is pooing pretty regularly now but still soiling a lot.
I know it is not his fault but it is really hard at times not to get angry when you are standing washing through pants and pjs again and again.
We try to keep his diet as good as we can and really try to make sure he drinks as much as possible.
We have also spoke to the school nurse and she has suggested we ask for a referral to a reflexology clinic as there has been a lot of success in treating constipation with this - has anyone else heard of this or tried this?

Really sorry to hear of the situation your son is in.

I have been getting reflexology for some time now and find it to be amazingly relaxing. The therapist is able to feel differnt things in my feet and ask me if I am having any discomfort or issues in those areas and all the time she is correct. For example I was having issues with my bladder and every time I could feel tender spots on certain areas of my feet. When the session is finished I tell her where I felt it most tender and she is always able to say 'yes, that area felt lumpy' to me too. I felt a difference in my symptoms for the better.
Now - I also suffered constipation and during my pregnancy I received reflex and I think that it did help me. If anything it helps to relax and often days after the treatment the effects are noticeable.

It is worth a shot to help your son, as the body parts are mapped out on the feet and hands and are rebalanced or stimulated during a treatment. I feel better after receiving a treatment.
If you can get this on the NHS all the better. However, the part where you think he is holding the poo in, I am not sure how you can deal with this. It might be learned behaviour he has developed to deal with not diong a poo. My little nephew is the exact same although he is only 3 at the moment and is learning slowly to go to the loo on time. He is still on lactulose I think, this makes it more bearable for him - although he really doesn't like doing poos either. I know that he wears nappies just in case. Can you identify why he is too embarassed to use the loo at school or aftercare?

Thanks for that - think we are going to take him to the docs this week to see if we can get a referral - I need to feel that we are doing something and not just waiting to see if he grows out of it.
But I have a feeling that even if the reflex helps we won't solve the matter until he starts using toilets at school - I'm tried talking to him about it and I think he just doesn't like the idea that other kids would know what he is doing in the toilet.
Think he is also worried that someone might get into the toilet while he is there.
We've tried to reassure him - explained that everyone has to go - all his friends, even his teachers - trying to get him to realise that it is just a daily part of life.
Hopefully with a combination of lactulose, the reflex is we get referred and patience we will finally get there.

have you considered if he is gluten or dairy intolerant?

To be honest it is not something that I've considered at all and it is not something that has been mentioned in any of the info I have read about it.

i would go ahead with the reflexology, but if that does not bring improvement pls do investigate gluten/dairy.

I would second the food intolerance suggestion - loads of info if you google.

DS (8) has suffered with constipation for the past 5 1/2 yrs, We've tried endless treatments with no improvement. He's only recently been diagnosed as dairy intolerant despite me querying it years ago. Keep a food diary, see if he feels better or worse after eating certain things.

Alternatively it could be a parasite or gut imbalance ( an unfortunate side effect of antibiotics).

The lactulose is causing the soiling - it turns the hard mass in liquid which leaks out basically. Lactulose will sort of treat the problem but it won't stop it occuring. My advice ( after years of concern, upset and washing out pants !) is to find out the cause and treat it, not just treat the effect

Went to the docs today and he felt DS was impacted - he described Ducusol to help things moving. Gave DS some tonight and he has had 3 poos so far so for just now I'm going to dose him for the next couple of days and see how it goes.
Think one of DS major problem is he is ignoring signals and until that stops the problem will keep occuring.

hope that helps. (and if not pls look at - gluten/dairy)

nb would not think your DS is ignoring signals, probably after 3 years of problems his system is in something of a muddle and the signals it is gving him are also pretty muddled.

Agree with improvingslowly - its likely that the signals are muddled (or even non existant). Ds specialist said that years of constipation and impaction can mean the bowel gets stretched to increase capacity, so the first thing is to get things moving regularly with medication. Eventually the bowel gets used to a reduced (ie normal) capacity and then appropriate sensations can start to develop. It has been a long haul for us to stop the soiling but it has at happened!

We are having the same problem with DD, getting so fed up with washing trousers and pants. We have an appointment with a paediatrician now as we are just getting nowhere and she starts school in September, she was fine until last November and then we moved out of the house for a week while some buidling work was done and she has never been the same since. I have a friend who is a reflexologist to will ask her.

I'm sceptical about reflexology but anthing which helps you all to relax should help.

The turning point with my DD was when I managed to stop getting wound up about it.

I know its bloody awful but it will resolve with time and patience.

Thanks for all the messages - today has been pretty good - for the first time in months DS woke up with clean pjs! Have dosed him again today and he had a poo after lunch. He was out playing with his friends all afternoon which is always a dangerous time cos so far there is no chance that he will interrupt playing to come in and do the toilet.
But his pants are still pretty ok - I know we are still in for a long haul. And I do know that his system is prob so messed up that he might not really be getting signals.
But hopefully this medicine will keep things moving!!! And I know eventually he will decide himself that he is not going to ignore signals.

ds's consultant says it can be up to six months until 'normal' signals return... they should have done a coeliac test as part of the investigation - when i spoke to the gp they were still waiting for the result of ds's...

madwoman - intersting info, DD has been on lactulose since beginning of November and sadly things are no better.

Snooks sounds like he had a better day.

My DD had suffered with constipation (my fault I think from giving her high fibre cereals/wholemeal bread) & at age 2 I asked for her to have sodium docusate. At first I mixed it with 1tsp of latulouse in her milk, then she took it twice a day. It made a MASSIVE difference to her & within less than 3 mths, when she potty trained, she was no longer constipated.

Please do ask your Dr to prescribe this & if you are giving him high fibre creals, please change as they products needs much more water to move through the system.

Lovingthesun - that's interesting - I wld have thought that high fibre cereals and wholemeal stuff would be better. We do try and get DS to eat Weetabix and also I only use wholemeal pasta and spag - do you think this could be making things worse?