Constipation is a recurring problem in almost everybody’s life. Though most of the people are embarrassed to admit it, as many as 14 million of people suffer from this constipation in UK only.
A change in a person’s usual routine of bowel motion is called as constipation. Moreover, it is marked by less frequency in motion and a problem in passing it. Therefore, as opposed to popular beliefs that constipation is the condition of not passing bowel motions at all, it can be rather defined as less frequency in passing bowel motion.
Causes of Constipation
The food that we eat passes through about 9 meters of gut, from our mouth till the anus, before excretion. The gut is a tube like thing that squeezes and expands, and changes the food into a paste like thing before passing it out through the anus. In the meantime the body absorbs all the nutrients. However in some instances this is not a regular process and such a stage is often termed as constipation.
Generally constipation is caused due to the following reasons:
Lack of liquid in the body
Lack of fibre in food
Stress
Too much control of bowel motions regularly for a prolonged period of time
Lack of activity
Side effect of painkillers
Changes in the environment
Hypothyroidism
Injury in the anus
Stenosis
Diverticula
Lead poisoning
Stopping to smoke
Abdominal surgery, etc.
The main way of diagnosis of constipation is through the description of the symptoms by the patient. Other severe methods include:
Rectal examination
Bowel examination
X-Ray of the abdomen, etc.
However severe cases due to constipation are very rare and affect one in thousands. Severe cases ("fecal impaction") may feature symptoms of bowel obstruction (vomiting, very tender abdomen) and "paradoxical diarrhea", where soft stool from the small intestine bypasses the impacted matter in the colon.
Symptoms of Constipation
Common symptoms of constipation includes the following:
Infrequent bowel movement (less than 3 times a week)
Difficulty during passing of bowel
Pain while passing bowel
Hard stool
Bowel obstruction sensation
Vomiting in severe cases
Loss of appetite
Constipation Treatment
This is a malaise, which is essentially lifestyle oriented and hence leading a healthy life can ensure that one solves this problem. Treatment of constipation includes:
Eating more fibre containing foods
Drinking more water, and other fluids
Regular exercise
Not ignoring the urge to go to the toilet
Less stress
Use of suitable laxatives if necessary
Seek medical advice if needed
Use of Lactulose, a non-absorbable synthetic sugar that keeps sodium and water inside the intestinal lumen.
Use of other fiber supplements, lactitiol, sorbitol, milk of magnesia, lubricants etc. may be of value. Electrolyte imbalance e.g. hyponatremia may occur in some cases especially in diabetics.
Physical intervention like manual disimpactation.
Prevention of Constipation
Constipation is one of those ailments of the body, which are better and easy to prevent then to treat medically once it attacks the body. The following are the few methods that can be taken into account to prevent constipation as soon as possible:
Eating lots of fibre contained foods (fruits, vegetables, cereals, bread, etc)
Drinking lots of water, and an increase in the rate of fluid intake like juices, clear soups, etc.
Nightly doses of natural osmotic agents
Adequate exercise
Less Stress in life
Avoiding consumption of painkillers
Avoiding caffeine and alcohol
Do not hurry your toilet timings
Use laxatives only if the doctor says. Do not make a habit of it.
Therefore since prevention is better than cure as the saying goes, one should never be casual or shy about such problems like constipation, because however harmless it might seem to be, a prolonged history of constipation can be dangerous. Nonetheless a regular lifestyle, and healthy eating habits with little bit of exercise can eradicate ailments like constipation easily.
