Can anal sphincter relaxation be cured?

Anal sphincter relaxation sounds complicated, but a simple explanation is that a muscle nerve in the anus relaxes, resulting in anal pain and anal incontinence. You don't need to understand other too complicated things. There are treatments for anal sphincter relaxation, but they all involve surgery, so the risk is that the relaxation condition will be aggravated. Moreover, the rate of anal incontinence increases with age, which means that it will still occur in old age.

Anal levator exercises are a good way to prevent and treat anal diseases, and to promote the recovery of wounds and anal function in patients after anal surgery. During the anal levator exercises, the indirect contraction of the muscles acts as a "pump", improving pelvic blood circulation, relieving the anal sphincter and enhancing its contraction ability.

Patients with anal fissures mainly suffer from severe pain caused by anal sphincter spasms, which makes the fissure difficult to heal. On the contrary, if the anal sphincter is too relaxed and the support for hemorrhoids and rectal mucosa is insufficient, it will cause hemorrhoid prolapse and rectal prolapse. For people who have undergone anal disease surgery, the anal sphincter muscles are often damaged to varying degrees. At this time, effective anal function exercises can improve local blood circulation, reduce congestion and dilation of hemorrhoidal veins, enhance local disease resistance of the anorectum, promote wound healing, and avoid and reduce the recurrence of anal diseases.

Anal sphincter relaxation is anal incontinence, which refers to the dysfunction of anorectal control and defecation function, and the inability to control the discharge of feces and gas at will. In severe cases, the patient cannot perceive the capacity and nature of the rectal contents and cannot control nighttime defecation. Reports on the incidence of anal incontinence vary widely among the population. According to a large-scale survey in the United States, up to 7.1% of the general population suffer from anal incontinence to varying degrees, and the incontinence rate increases with age and a decline in mental and physiological state. There is still a lack of survey reports on the incidence of anal incontinence in China.

Anal sphincter relaxation is more common in the elderly and infirm and in patients with surgical injuries to the anorectal ring after anorectal surgery. It is rare in young people, most of whom suffer from anal sphincter injuries due to primary spinal cord lesions or spinal nerve damage, or due to anal surgery or trauma. Birth trauma, severe hemorrhoids, long-term constipation, rectal inflammation, rectal prolapse, and various rectal surgeries can lead to a decrease in rectal capacity; long-term diarrhea, tumors, radiotherapy, Crohn's disease, etc. can destroy the sphincter function; perianal scars, anal canal malformations, mucosal eversion, etc. can all cause relaxation of the anal sphincter.