It’s not every day that I get to wear “moon pants” so that someone can stick a probe up my butt, but that’s just what I did last week. That probe was actually part of an anal manometry test.
In the continuing saga of abdominal pain and other IBS related issues, I headed back to my GI doc to see what he thought might be up. Evidently, the only test he could come up with that he hadn’t already had me do in the last two years was something called AnalRectal Manometry.
Anal what, you say?
are shorts with a flap at the butt, so they can get easy access.
What to expect from an anal manometry test
First off, you’ll be put in an exam room and asked to take your pants off; no worries as they will give you a fun new pair of pants to change into – Moon Pants! Actually, they
The medical professional will then have you lay on your side, so they can insert this long metal rod into your butt.
The rod is used to measure the strength of your rectal muscles.
On the end of the rod is a balloon, which they will blow up while it’s inside you. As the balloon expands you’ll feel some pressure. When you feel the urge to poop you let them know and they deflate the balloon.
This part is so much fun they do it again – 3 times.
For the final part of the test they blow up the balloon onelast time and leave it inflated while you sit on a toilet and they time you to see how long it takes you to poop it out.
Then, they blow up a little balloon inside your butt, and have you tell them when you feel like you have
The whole anal manometry procedure took less than a half hour, and it really wasn’t bad at all (for me).
The nurse I had was a super sweet lady named Carol. While she worked, we chatted about Biofeedback and how Blue Cross of AL won’t pay for it. Which got me a little worried since I’m currently doing some Biofeedback as part of Pelvic Wall physical therapy
As has become the norm for me, the results for this test were totally normal, nothing to cause concern. It’s frustrating to go through these tests and not get answers.
bonnie says
Noticed the dates of replys are of later times hope your still charging.
I am going through the whole routine of test also and find it all frustrating,
Biofeedback is being an option ànd I’m not sure how this will help. Did you do the biofeedback for vowel issues.
Julie says
I have tried biofeedback but not for the bowel issues. That said, in the years since this test and the worst of my IBS issues, I have found a few things that really helped turn things around. 1. A powerful probiotic that really changed the way my system works. I went from so irregular, to having perfect movements most of the time. 2. Finding ways to remove and/or control major causes of stress (as stress has proven to be a major cause of digestive distress for me). As much as possible I’ve just removed major causes of stress… but when not possible I’ve found that Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction helps a lot to control the stress.
CoCoJo says
How fun is that! Ugh, I had to do some anal probe type stuff for spasms years ago. That was very humbling…
Julie says
I’ve had my share, I’m just usually asleep for them.