Intrarectal Balloon Training: How it can help you with your bowel challenges

If you are someone struggling with constipation, bowel leakage, or bowel urgency, you may benefit from retraining your pelvic floor and rectal muscles!

Intrarectal Balloon Biofeedback Training is a unique type of treatment that we offer that can help people who are struggling with:

• Chronic constipation

• Difficulty pooping due to not being able to relax your pelvic floor muscles

• Fecal urgency (feeling a strong urge to poop often)

• Fecal incontinence

A trained pelvic floor physical therapist uses a special medical grade balloon on a catheter, called an “Intrarectal Balloon” or “Anal Balloon.” Your rectum is designed to expand and relax appropriately with as stool enters the rectum. If you have a rectum that is too sensitive you may have fecal urgency, or frequency and/or difficulty differentiating between gas and stool. If you have a rectum that is not sensitive enough, you may have chronic constipation, fecal incontinence, or not feel the urge to defecate.

As the balloon enter the rectum, your therapist will gradually inflate the balloon with air. They will then guide you through a series of exercises and breathing techniques depending if you have too much or too little sensitivity. You will typically do this treatment across several sessions. This treatment can be incredibly helpful for resolving these symptoms.

If you are struggling with these symptoms or have questions about we can help you, we’d love to connect.