Myths and truth about chronic constipation

Constipation, the most common complaint of indigestion, can make a person’s life unbearable. Constipation gives you a feeling of bloating, headaches, and irritability, but the ability to make the symptoms of constipation easier, especially long-term, or reduce the symptoms of chronic constipation is time consuming and expensive.

Chronic constipation: what is it?

The definition of chronic constipation is different for different types of people with different health conditions. For some people, chronic constipation means rare bowel movements over several weeks, which is a rather difficult time for them. For others, chronic constipation means straining during a bowel movement and dry stools.

For example, many people do not know what chronic constipation is, what a feeling you have during a bowel movement, but no matter how long you sit in the toilet, the discharge of feces may simply not happen.

In chronic constipation, you must form a chair, it may be small in volume and mass, thin like a pencil, or a combination of rare hard formations of fecal matter.

Typically, the definition of chronic constipation is a stool with a frequency of less than three times a week, and this condition lasts for several months. However, experts believe that many people think that they suffer from chronic constipation, but they may actually underestimate the frequency of defecation, so this definition may not be accurate.

Every year, chronic constipation in the US leads to a doctor’s visit to about 2.5 million people, and the drugs they buy to treat chronic constipation are the costs of many hundreds of millions of dollars.

The spread of chronic constipation

People are becoming more prone to constipation. In the past, people who suffer from chronic constipation, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, or even urinary incontinence, keep these problems in themselves. They stay at home most of the time and suffer unpleasant symptoms. Today, people are not willing to accept problems like chronic constipation. They know that medical devices are an excellent method and these health issues can be successfully addressed.

Doctors explain the symptoms of chronic constipation as follows

• Excessive stress during bowel movements.
• Hard chair
• Feeling of incomplete evacuation of the chair.
• The use of such methods of evacuation, as the impact on the pelvic organs.
• Feeling that you can not walk or can not make a bowel movement (due to intestinal obstruction).
• Decrease in the frequency of bowel movements.

Chronic constipation can be associated with normal or slow stool passage, functional bowel disorders (dyssynergic bowel movements), or a combination of both of these symptoms. With slow bowel movements or long stool delays, constipation comes to a person. Obstacles in the rectum are characterized by either difficulty or inability to expel stool. Pelvic dysfunction (weak energy of the appearance of defecation), the muscles of the lower pelvis, which surround the rectum and the muscles of the small pelvis, do not work normally. The third type of constipation occurs with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), where constipation alternates with bouts of diarrhea.

Chronic constipation: what causes it?

After eating, it passes through your digestive tract. The intestines take water and nutrients from food. As a rule, the process continues until a chair is formed. In the intestine, there are movements, contractions aimed at eliminating the feces from the body.

Because constipation is often associated with hard stools, according to one theory, too much water is absorbed from the stool, leaving it dry and hard. Another theory is that abnormal hormonal reactions of the body to water can cause chronic constipation. More research is needed to better understand how constipation occurs, and to unravel the mysterious connection between the intestines, hormones and the brain.

Chronic constipation: what is normal and what is not?

If you or your loved one suffers from chronic constipation, a lot of anxiety and disasters can result from a lack of knowledge about this problem. A person not only has exaggerated fears about what might be causing the problem, but the inconveniences of chronic constipation can themselves be insurmountable.

Constipation can worsen your work activities and even lead to recreational activities (these are different types of activities, such as tourism, amateur artistic activities, drawing, physical education - types of activities aimed at rehabilitation, treatment and cultural education). That is why it is important to know the facts about chronic constipation and discuss your personal health situation with your doctor.

Let's take a look at some myths about chronic constipation, and then determine the real facts.

Chronic constipation - Myth 1 If you do not have at least one bowel movement per day, this is not normal.

Truth Less than 50% of people have less than one bowel movement per day.

Chronic constipation - Myth 2 Less than five or six bowel movements a week is considered chronic constipation.

Truth 95% of adults spend bowel movements between three and 21 times a week. The range - only three bowel movements per week - is normal.

Chronic constipation - Myth 3 Toxins that accumulate in the intestines during bowel movements are not uncommon.

Truth Contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence that "toxins" accumulate during bowel movements - with rare feces or constipation, lead to diseases such as cancer. However, if you still feel constipated after trying to drink laxatives or milk of magnesia, it is time to see a doctor for a diagnosis.

Chronic constipation - Myth 4 The number of bowel movements increases with age.

The truth In fact, the number of bowel movements decreases with age.

Chronic constipation - Myth 5 Chronic constipation does not affect people's health.

Truth Chronic constipation is a serious issue that affects the health of 15% to 20% of the population.

Chronic constipation - Myth 6 If you eat right, exercise, and drink plenty of fluids, you will never suffer from chronic constipation.

Truth Sometimes psychological problems trigger the effect of chronic constipation. For example, in childhood after sexual or physical abuse... Or stress as a result of parental divorce, separation or death, can lead to chronic constipation in adulthood. Constipation is often combined with depression.

Chronic constipation can also be caused by autoimmune diseases, such as low thyroid hormone production.

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Chronic constipation: why is the body in danger?

If a person was born between 1946 and 1964, he may wonder how chronic constipation tends to increase with age. There are several reasons that cause constipation during aging people.

"As adults at a solid age, we tend to become less mobile, we can eat and drink less and take much less fiber in our daily diet," say the elderly, "all these are habits that provoke chronic constipation."

Then, according to patient reviews, more problems arise when you already have constipation. It passes and is aggravated depending on the intake of laxatives. Within a few days, this habit of laxatives can aggravate the course of chronic constipation, and the type of laxative should be changed, then it should be done again and again.

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Bad habits

It is not only lifestyle that leads to constipation, but also habits that trigger a risk for chronic constipation. Many prescription drugs provoke constipation, and those that are usually taken to treat arthritis, back pain, hypertension, and allergies. And even depression can lead to chronic constipation.

When older people go for more than one medication to deal with health problems, chronic constipation can be the result. The most common drugs that aggravate constipation are narcotic analgesics, such as codeine and tylenol, as well as oxycodone, proposyphene and acetaminophen, which are sometimes used to eliminate severe pain after osteoarthritis, inflammatory arthritis, disc disease, and other problems.

Since pain relief medicines are known to cause chronic constipation, many doctors are ready to go ahead for the treatment of constipation and at the same time pain medications prescribed for the treatment of chronic constipation develop them and become a serious obstacle to health.

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Constipation medications

In people of all ages, some medications lead to chronic constipation, including some analgesics for the treatment of pain, antidepressants and drugs for the treatment of hypertension, among others. Iron supplements, which many women of childbearing age take as part of a daily dose of multivitamins, increase the risk of chronic constipation, especially during pregnancy.

What does medicine recommend for relieving chronic constipation? Active rest and daily exercises. Also, watch the doses of your fluids and drink, even when you do not feel thirsty, because older, adults sometimes lose this mechanism, which warns us to drink plenty of fluids. Add more fiber to your diet and maybe consider a laxative if necessary.

Medical professionals also recommend low doses of magnesium hydroxide (milk of magnesia or Ducolax® milk of magnesia) to their patients to relieve chronic constipation.

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Chronic constipation: a visit to the doctor

If you have chronic constipation or if constipation is new or changes your normal bowel movement, call a doctor. Since chronic constipation can be an early symptom of serious problems, such as colon cancer, the doctor will ask you about your medical history, physical examination data, and then recommend that you do laboratory tests for screening purposes. Some medical circumstances, such as hypothyroidism, irritable bowel syndrome, Parkinson's disease, diabetes and others, may also be the causes of chronic constipation. Treating the disease itself can help with chronic constipation.

Your doctor will perform a rectal exam to look at hemorrhoids or to test the function of the anal sphincter muscle. If your history includes a physical examination, and laboratory results do not provide clues as to what is causing chronic constipation, your doctor may order an x-ray examination of the colon and rectum to rule out more serious problems.

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6 steps to relieve chronic constipation

Chronic constipation can be relieved by the following steps.

1. Regularity

Go to the toilet at the same time every morning. Making it your morning habit is your task, since the motor activity of the colon is the highest at this time.

2. Listen to your body

Do not ignore the desire to produce an act of defecation. Intestinal peristalsis - movement, intestinal trigger - come and go. If you ignore this desire, you may lose the ability to defecate.

The longer the stool remains in the intestine, the more difficult it is to do, since more water is absorbed in the intestine, and the stool will be more difficult to evacuate from the body. The desire to defecate also increases after eating, so use the signals of your body.

3. Relax

Since stress can interfere with the relaxation of the entire body, including the intestines, it is important to use certain types of relaxation techniques daily. Many patients cannot understand this information correctly because they are too hasty in drawing conclusions. They have spent too little time to take care of their organs, say medical specialists.

4. Increase fluid intake

Drink plenty of fluids. It is recommended to drink at least eight glasses of liquid (preferably water) per day. You need to drink more on hot days and when you work. This, moreover, quenches the feeling of hunger.

5. Dietary Fiber

Dietary fiber in the composition of fiber is a natural laxative. Plantain tinctures or methylcellulose will help them - they provide plenty of fluids for the intestines to work well to relieve chronic constipation.

Wheat bran is most effective in relieving the patient from chronic constipation. Wheat bran adds volume to the stool and increases the speed of movement of feces through the intestines.

6. Talk to your doctor about medications.

Drugs, laxatives can help relieve constipation, but they should be taken carefully and for a short time. Consult your doctor before taking any medication.

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Doctor's advice

After your doctor has determined your diagnosis, you can relieve chronic constipation, these methods may include an interdisciplinary approach, dietary and lifestyle changes, and over-the-counter and prescription drugs.

If your doctor thinks that your chronic constipation requires regular medical management, you could consult a gynecologist with special experience in constipation. For constipation treatment, you can go a long way before making long-term improvements in your life to treat chronic constipation.

When you meet with your doctor, there is a list of questions that describes in detail the signs and symptoms of chronic constipation. The main problem is how doctors will give you information about constipation.

Doctors too scornfully sometimes treat symptoms when patients tell that they have chronic constipation, and patients should be more convincing when describing their problems with constipation. Doctors, in turn, should ask more questions to find out what is actually happening in the body.

To understand the mechanism that causes chronic constipation, medicine uses special tests, including studies of colonoscopy, the elimination of feces and anal examination.

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After examination by a doctor

After testing by a doctor, according to medical estimates, one third of patients with chronic constipation can get normal results in treating constipation. The state of the colon and rectum becomes normal, but there is still hypersensitivity, pain and discomfort during bowel movements, aimed at the release of feces.

But almost a third of those who suffer from chronic constipation have weak defecation, doctors say. People with weak defecation cannot evacuate stools from the intestines or have difficulty using additional mechanisms to eliminate feces. Many people with bowel problems do not know that constipation is the cause of this condition, and often they do not seek medical help other than using laxatives.

For those who have chronic constipation with defecation problems, doctors recommend a biofeedback method. This is a simple non-invasive treatment that can help correct abnormal contraction of the pelvic muscles and external contractions of the anal sphincter during bowel movements. Such therapy is shown categorically to become the only effective method for correcting a person’s behavior, and when patients learn that they are behaving incorrectly, they can ask the doctor how to fix it.

Traditional laxatives can work to relieve chronic constipation. Doctors recommend products with hay, magnesium, and fiber supplements. These medicines increase intestinal fluid secretion and can also help in relieving chronic constipation.

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Warning Signs for Chronic Constipation

Changes to your bowel health habits can be a warning sign that viral or bacterial infections, obstruction, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are lurking in the body, or you may have colon cancer. If you have one or more of the following symptoms, consult your doctor:

1. Constipation that lasts more than two weeks.
2. Severe diarrhea lasting more than two days.
3. Mild diarrhea lasting a week.
4. Inability to have a bowel movement.
5. Bloody diarrhea.
6. Black or resinous cal.

A doctor will help you recognize the type of constipation - non-permanent or chronic, and prescribe the appropriate treatment.