sacral dimple and constipation

[lookatreestar]

for those of you that have little ones with a sacral dimple have they ever had issues with constipation?

my ds is 11 months and mostly breastfed with some solids. he drinks plenty of water but he is still having hardish stools. totally formed. it is kind of freaking me out since at this stage my dd still had breastfed poo with bits of food in it, depending on how much she would eat.

my niece also has the dimple and is struggling big time with constipation at 2.5 years. she was also breastfed for 2 years.

i want to get to the root of the issue and heal things instead of just treating the symptom with suppositories and whatnot. thanks!

[sbgrace]

Has he had imaging to make sure there isn't a tethered cord? I believe constipation is a sign of that (and in cases the tethers show with age/damage isn't immediate). You'd want to know if he does have a cord issue so you can have that treated as, in my understanding, damage occurs as the child grows and the cord is tethered and can't accommodate that growth.
If you've not had that ruled out already (??), hopefully Katwrangler will be by soon to correct anything I said wrong or give you more information.

[lookatreestar]

would someone have suggested this? at his ped appointments no one said anything about u/s. i will try and get an appointment soon just to be on the safe side. thanks

[KatWrangler]

Where exactly is the dimple? Can you see the bottom of it?

Yes, constipation and a sacral dimple can be a sign of tethered cord and or Spina Bifida Occulta. OR it could be nothing more than a coincidence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spina_bifida

FWIW my daughter was born with a hemangioma at the base of her spine which our Ped blew off as fine, nothing to worry about. Well in fact she has lipomyelomeningocele, tethered spinal cord, neurogenic bladder and neurogenic bowel. The Ped didn't know what she was talking about. I should of followed my Mama instinct and sought a 2nd opinion when she was born. Oh well, can't turn back the clock.

For your peace of mind I would get an Ultrasound or MRI done. Usually at 11 months they would do an MRI. My daughter was 4 1/2 months old when they did the first MRI and she got her diagnosis.

[lookatreestar]

Originally Posted by KatWrangler

Where exactly is the dimple? Can you see the bottom of it?

Yes, constipation and a sacral dimple can be a sign of tethered cord and or Spina Bifida Occulta. OR it could be nothing more than a coincidence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spina_bifida

FWIW my daughter was born with a hemangioma at the base of her spine which our Ped blew off as fine, nothing to worry about. Well in fact she has lipomyelomeningocele, tethered spinal cord, neurogenic bladder and neurogenic bowel. The Ped didn't know what she was talking about. I should of followed my Mama instinct and sought a 2nd opinion when she was born. Oh well, can't turn back the clock.

For your peace of mind I would get an Ultrasound or MRI done. Usually at 11 months they would do an MRI. My daughter was 4 1/2 months old when they did the first MRI and she got her diagnosis.

it is pretty far down, about 1.5 mm away from his anus. and now its a very shallow dip, hardly noticeable. it doesnt look like a hole at all. this is all very interesting. my friends ds has one in a similar spot. i cant find any sites with clear symptoms. my ds has been walking for about a month now but i will prob still get it checked out. so is an u/s not an option, just mri? thank you btw

[Mom2M]

My 5 month old DD just had an u/s to rule out tethered cord associated with a sacral dimple. It was normal
Anyway, the ped said he wanted to get it done before 6 months because after that you can't see the cord through the vertebrae with an u/s, you have to get an MRI.
You can still walk with a tethered cord so that doesn't rule it out.
I'm sure it's ok, but I would get it checked to make sure.
Hope everything goes well!

[KatWrangler]

With a tethered cord, it depends on where the cord is tethered and what nerves are there. My daughters tether (she is tethered again) affects legs (wears a KAFO on her left and hinged AFO on her right. She has no feeling below the knee on the left leg), bladder and bowel. Now some kids the tether is/was much lower on the spinal cord and only slightly affects legs. No problem to bladder. There are others where the tether is much higher on the spinal cord and it affects bladder, bowel, legs much more severe than my daughters.

So it's a weird thing.

eta - We didn't have any problems with my daughter's right leg till January 2009. Then the leg and foot started to deteriorate to the point of needing a brace for that leg and special physical therapy.

[JessicaS]

My son has a dimple but hasn't really had constipation issues.

He had a u/s for his.

[utpala]

my one year old daughter has a sacral dimple about an inch above her anus and it's fairly deep but we can see the bottom ofi it. It's not a hole. She has been really constipated for a month. It started when I wondered if her light sleeping/night waking was from hunger. I breastfeed and started her late on solids and she wasn't getting protein at that point. My friend suggested rice and lentils. She loved it and gorged at a few meals. Really bad constipation followed and has never cleared up fully. Two bouts of five days with no poop and lots of crying when she finally goes. Do you all think I should get her checked for tethered cord?

Thank you in advance for your help

[MountainMamaGC]

My DD has a sacral dimple, and she has chronic constipation, but its from withholding stool.