Bowel Incontinence Pads: Choosing the Right Products
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Do incontinence pads work for bowel incontinence?
According to healthdirect, you can use continence products, such as pads and bedding protection, if needed, and it's worth talking to your doctor or nurse continence specialist about what's available. For bowel leakage, that means two separate decisions: what's worn on the body, and what protects the bed and chair.
This is the bowel incontinence pads and pants version of the Choosing the Right Product hub, which covers product selection across the range. The millilitre ratings are left to what incontinence absorbency levels mean; what follows is the product decision only.
What to weigh up when choosing bowel incontinence products
Continence Health Australia puts it plainly: choosing the right product improves comfort and confidence, and options vary by type of incontinence, physical ability, lifestyle and budget. Products also vary in absorbency, fit and style. The four factors below, and the words quoted under them, are from that page; here's how they play out in practice.
Type of incontinence. Bowel leakage on its own and bowel leakage with bladder leakage are different starting points, and healthdirect notes that many people with faecal incontinence also have urinary incontinence. Where there's bladder leakage as well, an Insert Booster Maxi worn inside a pull-up pant or slip adds absorbent capacity; a booster always goes inside another product, never on its own. Booster pads explained covers where they genuinely help. For the volume side of the decision, see heavy incontinence products: what to look for.
Physical ability. "All-in-ones" come in a wraparound style and "can be helpful for people who find it hard to stand or walk". In our range, that style is the Comfort First wraparounds, also called slips. Comfort First pull-up pants are the other body-worn option, and both come in four sizes spanning 60cm to 180cm at the waist, set out in the waist table below.
Lifestyle. Continence products can "support independence at home, work or in the community". Think about where changes will happen: a day out means packing a spare product and some unscented bamboo body wipes, while at home the bed and chair protection below comes into play.
Budget. The page's tips are to "try samples before buying in bulk", and that "medical suppliers offer more options than supermarkets including buying in bulk, which may cost less". Financial support "may be available through government funded financial schemes": the NDIS continence funding guide and the Continence Aids Payment Scheme (CAPS) guide explain how those work, and eligibility criteria apply. Our free trial is the sample step, with the details at the end of this article.
To talk the choice through with a nurse continence specialist, call the National Continence Helpline on 1800 33 00 66. The same call is the place to start if odour persists.
Waist sizes for pull-up pants and slips
Size by waist measurement only. Not clothing size, not what you bought last year. A correct fit reduces leakage, and here is the range by waist measurement:
| Product | Size | Waist range |
|---|---|---|
| Pull-up pants | M | 60cm to 120cm |
| Pull-up pants | L | 65cm to 140cm |
| Pull-up pants | XL | 70cm to 160cm |
| Pull-up pants | XXL | 85cm to 180cm |
| Slips (wraparounds) | S | 60cm to 115cm |
| Slips (wraparounds) | M | 78cm to 125cm |
| Slips (wraparounds) | L | 96cm to 150cm |
| Slips (wraparounds) | XL | 108cm to 180cm |
If the measurement falls between two sizes, try the smaller one first. For how to measure, see the sizing guide or How to measure for incontinence products.
Bowel incontinence pads for the bed and chair
These pads go on the bed or the chair, not on the body. They're a separate decision from what's worn, and for bowel accidents that decision lands differently.
Continence Health Australia lists bed pads in both disposable and reusable forms, and notes that bed pads may help manage bowel incontinence as well as urinary incontinence. For bowel accidents, our own preference is the disposable options. When an accident involves stool, the protective layer goes straight in the bin along with everything on it, which keeps a soiled item out of a domestic washing machine and out of a shared laundry.
Three separate products cover it, and they are not interchangeable:
- Underpads Small, 30cm by 40cm, 100 to a pack. Targeted placement, chair seats, transfers.
- Underpads Regular, 60cm by 40cm, 50 to a pack. More of the sheet covered.
- Maxi Bed Mat, 60cm by 90cm, 20 to a pack.
The trade-offs between disposable and washable bed protection, and where each one earns its place, are covered properly in bed protection compared: underpads vs bed mats. For the disposal side, including what goes in general waste and what doesn't, see how to dispose of incontinence products responsibly.
Skin care between changes, and the point where it stops being a product question
The prevention layer sits alongside the product choice, not after it.
Continence Health Australia's advice is to gently clean and dry the skin each time you change the pad. Unscented bamboo body wipes can be used for the cleaning.
That is prevention on skin that is healthy. It is not treatment, and the line is worth naming clearly.
If the skin becomes red or sore, stop treating it as a product problem. That is a clinical matter, and Continence Health Australia's advice is to talk to a doctor straightaway.
When a product is not the whole answer
Faecal incontinence products manage the consequences. They do not treat the cause, and healthdirect notes that treatment depends on what the cause is.
The National Continence Helpline on 1800 33 00 66 is free and confidential, and Continence Health Australia says it is staffed by nurse continence specialists. The National Continence Program is funded by the Australian Government.
If you are having trouble controlling your bowel, healthdirect advises seeing your doctor, and also if you notice any change in your bowel habits or blood in your stools. If there are large amounts of blood in the stool, or the stool looks black, healthdirect advises seeing a doctor right away. If there is a lot of blood, call triple zero (000) and ask for an ambulance.
Continence Health Australia describes bowel incontinence as the accidental loss of faeces or wind. It is common enough that raising it with a GP should feel routine, even when it doesn't.
Bowel and bladder function are also connected, and constipation can be part of the picture. Constipation and incontinence: the bowel and bladder connection is worth a read if that sounds familiar.
Where to start
There's a sensible order to buying bowel incontinence products in Australia. The measurement and the product type come first, then everything else; the Choosing the Right Product hub walks through the rest of the range. The same order holds if you're after the best pads for bowel incontinence. Get the waist measurement, then give the product a proper trial before buying in volume.
That proper trial is your next step, and it's what the free trial is for. It's for new customers only, it lets you check the fit and the feel before committing to a carton, and a member of our team follows up once by phone or email to ask how the sample went. If you already know what you need, browse the full Comfort First range instead, or call the East Bendigo team on 03 5443 2239 and we'll talk it through.