Your gastrointestinal system – no reason to be grossed out

A common lament I hear from my patients as they try to discuss a real concern they have about their body: “I’m sorry; this is so disgusting!” Their cheeks burn with shame as they tell me how their bowels have betrayed them. No matter what the issue is, so many of my patients are mortified discussing their diarrhea, constipation, fecal incontinence. My response, always, is “you can’t gross me out – we talk about poop every day in this clinic.”

Plenty of things can go wrong in the gastrointestinal tract and even minor issues can be really disruptive in a person’s life. Certain features of bowel...