Constipation

Health Tips

By Lifestyle

Chronic constipation is one of the most common disorders affecting millions of individuals worldwide. This is a condition where one experiences irregular, painful, discomfiting, or difficult bowel movement. Chronic constipation is arrived at as a conclusion if the individual has not gone to the bathroom to release stool in more than 3 days.

Symptoms
Constipation is characterized by these symptoms: Feeling bloated from having waste products staying longer than 24 hours in the intestine; a high consistency of stool which would makes it hard for the body to expel, straining and fecal impaction in medical parlance; minimal bowel movement which when finally expelled is expelled slowly and incompletely; irritability from feeling unclean from within.

What constitutes normal trips to the bathroom for regulating and expelling wastes in the body would be once every day. However, going to the bathroom every two or three days is still considered normal especially for people who are past their prime.

Causes
Chronic constipation occurs suddenly and may be attributed to— stress; travel; lack liquid and fiber in the diet; bed rest after surgery or illness; bowel obstruction; discomfort in the anal area because of hemorrhoids; hormonal changes such as the onset of menopause or puberty, pregnancy; and drugs such as pain or cough medicine.

Short–term conditions happen because of sudden changes in diet; dropping weight quickly as in cases of going on a crash diet; after a bout of diarrhea; and short-term fasting. Other causes would be inadequate dietary fiber intake, improper nutrition; and, too little exercise;

Complications
Constipation must be taken seriously because this could cause the onset of disease in the digestive area which is expectedly accompanied by a number of unpleasant side-effects such as mental stress, flatulence, rectal bleeding, skin problems, lower abdominal pain, cancer tumors in the colon area, and hemorrhoids.

Natural Treatments
Before using any medications, resort to natural measures first such as correcting the diet, taking in regular exercises, toilet conditioning, minimizing stress, drinking up to eight liters of water and up to 2 glasses in the morning with lemon juice to jumpstart the bowel.

Improve nutritional requirements. Choose fresh, organic, green, and leafy vegetables and fruits; Include minimal meat in your meals; Avoid fatty, greasy, and salty food. Choose water over soda.

Exercise. Walk or enroll at the gym for regular exercises.