Chronic Constipation

Chronic constipation is a common condition in the very young and the more mature. This exceedingly common condition is most often a problem for infants, toddlers, and persons over the age of 55.

Everyone knows what this condition is, but doctors have difficulty defining the term precisely. Here’s what the dictionary says:

“A condition in which bowel emptying occurs infrequently or in which the stools are hard and small or where bowel movement causes difficulty or pain.”

Where definitions disagree is in assigning a number to frequency. Generally speaking, healthy people may have as many as three bowel movements a day or as few three bowel movements a week. But it’s possible to have a bowel movement every day and still be constipated if stools are hard and difficult to pass.

Basically, it is any condition of bowel movement that causes you discomfort, whether your trips to the bathroom are frequent or seldom. Chronic condition is having that discomfort all the time.

If you experience stomach pain when you pass stools, chances are you are a sufferer. If you have a feeling of fullness even after you evacuate your bowel, you are a sufferer. If you see bright red blood on toilet tissue after bowel movement, you almost certainly have been constipated for a long time.

Chronic cases have bowel discomfort continuing for weeks or months at a time. And it is a condition you should treat, because it can lead to:

Hemorrhoids, swollen veins in and outside the rectum that can cause pain or bleeding,

Hernia, bulging of the abdominal contents through a weak point in the wall of the abdomen,

Laxative dependency, a condition in which taking more and more of a laxative has less and less benefit,

Osteoporosis, when impacted stool keeps the intestine from absorbing calcium,

Prolapse, or turning outward, of the uterus in women or of the rectum in either sex, resulting from straining of abdominal muscles and even,

Diarrhea, as the fluid contents of the digestive tract flow around the hard mass of stool in the center of the intestine.

What can you about chronic constipation?

First, ask your doctor about alternatives to medications that may be causing the condition. Bowel-blocking medications include painkillers that contain codeine or hydrocodone (such as Vicodin), antidepressants, antacids that contain aluminum, iron supplements, and some drugs used to treat Parkinson’s disease.

If you don’t take any of these medications, the next most important thing to do is to make sure you drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. Dry stools are hard to pass. Drinking water is more important than any other change to your diet.

Fiber, however, can help a great deal.

Fiber from fruits and vegetables is always more beneficial than any fiber supplements. That’s because fruits and vegetables offer fiber in small doses. There’s enough fiber to contribute to regularity but not so much fiber as to create its own clogs in your colon.

If you take a fiber supplement, always start with the smallest possible dose. It’s better to build up to taking enough fiber to increase regularity. Slowly increasing dosage helps you avoid problems with bloating and gas.

What kind of fiber should you take for chronic constipation?

There are two broad classes of fiber, soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber forms a gel when mixed with water. Insoluble fiber does not. Soluble fiber can form various nutritional byproducts in the intestine. Insoluble fiber passes through intestine intact.

Soluble fiber slows down the digestive process. It combines with and keeps fats and sugars from being absorbed into the bloodstream.

Soluble fiber is found in barley, beans and peas, apples and oranges, carrots, flax seed, oatmeal and oat bran, and psyllium (the fiber source used in Metamucil).

Insoluble fiber speeds up the digestive process. It flushes toxins out the digestive tract. It may or may not keep fats and sugars from being absorbed through the large intestine.

Insoluble fiber is found in peels and skins of fruits and vegetables, corn bran, flax seed, vegetables such as green beans and cauliflower, and whole-wheat products.

Soluble fiber relieves constipation slowly. Insoluble fiber relieves constipation quickly. Both kinds of fiber are beneficial in chronic constipation.

Certain foods contain substances other than fiber that relieve constipation. The best-known food remedy from chronic constipation is prunes. Prunes and prune juice contain sorbitol and other sugars that are only slowly absorbed into the bloodstream.

While the sugars sit in the intestine, they draw water into the lumen, or central cavity, of the organ, softening and loosening stools.

Most herbal remedies for constipation—aloe bitters, cascara sagrada, buckthorn, frangula, rhubarb, and the most familiar, senna—work by alternately stimulating and paralyzing nerves that serve the colon.

Once chemicals in these herbs have been converted to their active forms by friendly bacteria, they stimulate the muscles that push stool downward and relax the muscles that hold stool in place. Stimulant laxatives made from herbs don’t work if the colon does not host Lactobacillus and related microorganisms. They aren’t a good idea if you’re taking antibiotics.

And they’re not a good idea for long-term use. The effect of any stimulant laxative, herbal or synthetic, diminishes with use. Don’t use any stimulant laxative for more than 2 weeks at a time. Avoid using fiber and stimulant laxatives at the same time.

What else can you do to fight chronic constipation?

Experts advise that one of the best ways to establish regularity is to set aside a regular time, every day, to attempt to evacuate your bowels. For most people, the best time to try to have a bowel movement is immediately after breakfast. Sit on the commode for at least 10 minutes every day, whether your bowels move or not.

Eventually, your body will attempt to take advantage of the opportunity to evacuate the bowel, if you are taking other steps to maintain bowel health.

Also read our article about Home Remedies for Constipation