CONSTIPATION
DEFINITION:
Constipation is a condition in which you may have. Fewer than three bowel movements a week. Stools that are hard, dry, or lumpy. Stools that are difficult or painful to pass. a feeling that not all stool has passed.
Symptoms:
Signs and symptoms of chronic constipation include:
- Passing fewer than three stools a week
- Having lumpy or hard stools
- Straining to have bowel movements
- Feeling as though there’s a blockage in your rectum that prevents bowel movements
- Feeling as though you can’t completely empty the stool from your rectum
- Needing help to empty your rectum, such as using your hands to press on your abdomen and using a finger to remove stool from your rectum
Constipation may be considered chronic if you’ve experienced two or more of these symptoms for the last three months.
Causes:
Constipation most commonly occurs when waste or stool moves too slowly through the digestive tract or cannot be eliminated effectively from the rectum, which may cause the stool to become hard and dry. Chronic constipation has many possible causes.
Blockages in the colon or rectum:
Blockages in the colon or rectum may slow or stop stool movement. Causes include:
- Tiny tears in the skin around the anus (anal fissure)
- A blockage in the intestines (bowel obstruction)
- Colon cancer
- Narrowing of the colon (bowel stricture)
- Other abdominal cancer that presses on the colon
- Rectal cancer
- Rectum bulge through the back wall of the vagina (rectocele)
Problems with the nerves around the colon and rectum:
Neurological problems can affect the nerves that cause muscles in the colon and rectum to contract and move stool through the intestines. Causes include:
- Damage to the nerves that control bodily functions (autonomic neuropathy)
- Multiple sclerosis
- Parkinson’s disease
- Spinal cord injury
- Stroke
Prevention:
The following can help you avoid developing chronic constipation.
- Include plenty of high-fiber foods in your diet, including beans, vegetables, fruits, whole grain cereals and bran.
- Eat fewer foods with low amounts of fiber such as processed foods, and dairy and meat products.
- Drink plenty of fluids.
- Stay as active as possible and try to get regular exercise.
- Try to manage stress.
- Don’t ignore the urge to pass stool.
- Try to create a regular schedule for bowel movements, especially after a meal.
- Make sure children who begin to eat solid foods get plenty of fiber in their diets.