Constipation – causes, treatments, and home remedies for constipation

Proven content

Constipation occurs when intestinal contents remain in the digestive tract for an extended period of time. It is considered correct to pass one stool once a day (every day), but in practice, people with normal bowel movements can still include those who have bowel movements at least three times a week, provided that the stool is the correct consistency, color and volume, and therefore weight.

1. Stool that is donated less frequently may have a stronger and more unpleasant odor due to more advanced fermentation and putrefaction processes of food residues due to its longer retention in the gastrointestinal tract
2. It is a fact that the number of stools and their volume are determined by many causes, not necessarily related to the disease, e.g. lifestyle, diet, nervous system tension
3. Constipation may be related to some medical conditions
4. More current information can be found on the Onet homepage.

What is constipation?

Constipation is a prolonged presence of intestinal contents in the area of ​​the digestive tract (usually in the large intestine) or problems with the excretion of stools from the final part of the digestive tract, i.e. from the rectum. As a result of a longer stay in the large intestine, the intestinal content is overly thickened (by water absorption), and the stool thus significantly reduces its volume, becomes harder and more compact. A person passes a hard stool usually once every few days (often the so-called mushy stool), usually after pharmacological provocation or cleaning agents.

Constipation can be a symptom of intestinal parasites. At Medonet Market, you can buy a package of mail order tests for parasites in the stool. Samples are taken at home, which significantly improves the comfort of testing.

Types of constipation

Accidental constipation: we talk about it when constipation occurs due to various situations (e.g. travel, sudden change in eating habits).

Short-term constipation it is usually periodic and recurrent. It is characterized by the fact that constipation is mixed with the stages of proper bowel movement.

This type of constipation, if not eliminated, requires examination of the gastrointestinal tract to determine the objective cause. There can be many reasons, and each of them usually requires consulting a doctor. The examination is the more urgent the more troublesome constipation is.

Chronic constipation they are very often referred to as habitual or atonic.

Most often, however, we meet with idiopathic constipation, which are caused by disturbances in the functioning of the digestive tract. This type of constipation is diagnosed in about 90 percent. people. This type of constipation is associated with an inadequate diet, low physical activity and inadequate hydration. When you struggle with chronic constipation, it is worth undergoing diagnostic diagnostic tests for bowel diseases.

Constipation – causes

Among the possible causes of constipation should be mentioned

1. neurological diseases (multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, a tumor of the spinal cord or vascular diseases of the brain and diabetic neuropathy).
2. elongation of the large intestine with disturbed innervation,
3. enlargement of the large intestine caused by the lack of ganglia in it,
4. situational reasons (e.g. long journeys, inability to defecate, prolonged lounging in bed),
5. narrowing of the intestine lumen by a tumor that grows inside the intestine or compresses the intestine from the outside,
6. functional disorders (e.g. habitual constipation or sphincter spasm)
7. diabetes,
8. Hypothyroidism,
9. endometriosis,
10. ovarian / uterine cancer,
11. hernia,
12. hemorrhoids.

Acute enteritis can manifest as chronic constipation. In order to exclude the existence of the disease, it is worth performing appropriate diagnostic tests for enteritis.

Attention! Certain medications can also cause constipation. It is recommended to check each time that the drugs: painkillers, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, containing calcium or aluminum, anesthetics, drugs for hypertension, contraceptives – do not cause constipation.

If you have constipation problems, try Dicopeg Liquid Constipation Liquid, available at a great price on Medonet Market. As a support for the functioning of the entire digestive system, we recommend the Intestine Formula – Panaseus dietary supplement – a natural preparation containing fennel seed extract, marigold flower extract, Indian incense bark resin extract.

Symptoms of constipation

Among the symptoms that accompany constipation, the most common are:

1. passing hard feces with pain,
2. nausea,
3. flatulence
4. lack of appetite
5. dizziness,
6. belching,
7. a feeling of fullness (caused by gases in the gut that cannot escape because there is stool in the gut)
8. a stool with little mucus (due to irritation of the lining of the intestine),
9. a feeling of distension in the upper and mid-abdomen,
10. fever as an accompanying symptom,
11. weight loss
12. blood in the stool
13. anemia,
14. night abdominal pain.

Symptoms related to the digestive system are a group of ailments that a gastroenterologist deals with. Initial or follow-up health assessment can be performed during an online e-visit to the gastroenterologist.

Check if you should consult a doctor. Go through the initial medical interview yourself.

Diagnosis of constipation

A patient who comes to a doctor with symptoms of constipation first undergoes a medical interview. The specialist asks a number of questions to help find the causes of the disease. Sample questions:

1. How often does the patient have a bowel movement?
2. What is the appearance of your stools?
3. Does constipation happen periodically or all the time?
4. Is constipation accompanied by diarrhea?
5. Is the patient taking any medications?
6. Are there any other symptoms besides problems with bowel movements?

Of course, in the diagnosis of constipation, a number of additional tests are also used, including: blood count, ESR, CRP, glucose level, urea and TSH levels, creatinine levels, stool test for occult blood. Buy a package of basic laboratory tests and a mail-order test for fecal occult blood and take care of your health today.

Endoscopic and radiological examinations are also useful, especially in patients over 50 years of age. Colonoscopy is performed when constipation is accompanied by other alarming symptoms. Occasionally, doctors may perform rectal and anus manometry – a test that assesses how the muscles responsible for passing stool work. When there is a fear of Hirschsprung’s disease, an X-ray of the abdominal cavity is performed, and in rare cases a histopathological examination of the colon section taken.

To reduce the risk of constipation, it is worth using Oat Fiber VEGE OstroVit, which is available at a promotional price on Medonet Market.

Constipation – treatment and home remedies

To avoid constipation, try to:

1. regulation of the lifestyle, if it can be seen as a causal factor in constipation,
2. changes in the diet, if it causes errors conducive to the formation and persistence of constipation, e.g. on a coarse-grain diet and high in fiber (wholemeal bread, buckwheat, salads not too crumbled), etc.,
3. consuming in the morning, immediately after waking up, a glass of lukewarm water, kefir, sour milk, prune compote, 1/2 glass of sauerkraut juice (ecological sauerkraut juice is available at Medonet Market), or 2 tablespoons of honey poured earlier (in the evening) a glass of cool, boiled water and eating a wholesome breakfast,
4. restoring the reflex to pass stools regularly by trying to defecate every day at the same time of the day,
5. taking 3 teaspoon of natural (i.e. unboiled) linseed 1 times a day,
6. avoidance, up to gradual exclusion, the use of laxatives, etc.

In order to regulate bowel movements and reduce constipation, reach for Safflower Oil Bioherba, available at a favorable price on the Medonet Market.

During constipation, it is worth taking osmotic drugs, e.g. glycerol or lactulose, which reduce stool thickening. Lactulose is a very often recommended preparation, but people who are intolerant to galactose should not take it.

1. See what teas help with constipation

Other preparations recommended for use in constipation:

1. herbs: aloe, Mediterranean plantain and sandworm seeds, buckthorn seeds (buy now ECO tea recommended for constipation);
2. lubricants in the form of paraffin oil, agents stimulating the work of the large intestine (anthranoids, bisacodyl), stool softeners;

Cardamom also works well for constipation. lime tea with mint – Lime Mint Bio Yogi Tea. You can buy it on Medonet Market. Refill your home stocks of herbs with mint in the form of freeze-dried organic tea. Mint has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the digestive system. You can use probiotics and digestive supplements to alleviate gastric problems. They contain natural ingredients that help control the regularity of bowel movements. One of such dietary supplements is Harmonix 500 ml – it contains extracts of 10 herbs and chokeberry juice, thanks to which it effectively reduces constipation and flatulence.

What if the patient suffers from habitual constipation? He should change habits during bowel movements. The aim is to loosen the anal sphincters during defecation. Constipation caused by muscle dysfunction is treated with osmotic drugs or rectal enemas, which are designed to clear the rectum of residual fecal masses.

In patients who have cancer, preparations that increase the size of the stool should not be administered. Fecal masses resistant to expulsion, sometimes even manually. You can try the Constipation Pear for this purpose, which you can buy in different sizes on Medonet Market. There are also special products for making an enema at home. Check out the Clisma Lax Deflating Enema offer.

Constipation in children

Parents very often visit the doctor with their children because of constipation. In children, this condition is often associated with severe pain, a lack of appetite or a bad mood. The pediatrician most often indicates a diet with too little fluid, carbohydrates and fiber as the cause of constipation. An important element is also the conditions in which the child lives, often the disturbances in bowel movement are influenced by travel, classes at school and kindergarten, or other stressful situations.

The Do.Best brand offers the Do! Fiber dietary supplement with fiber, which is in the form of a powder, so it can be administered with a meal. This form will facilitate regular supplementation for the youngest children from 3 years of age.

Constipation in children – diagnosis

Doctors who examine a child with constipation initially look for malformations in the anus, as it may include:

1. anal stricture,
2. anorectal ring,
3. prolapse of the anal mucosa or sphincter,
4. rectal diverticulum.

Symptoms of constipation in children include not only rare bowel movements, but also dirty linen. Some children experience a fear of defecation, and sometimes blood appears in their stools, and pain is a characteristic symptom of constipation. Sometimes constipation is accompanied by inflammation around the anus and an anal fissure.

Diagnosing constipation in children involves a rectal examination, which helps doctors assess the tone of the anal sphincter, if there are any strictures, and if there are fecal masses in the anus (if so, what is their nature). Manometry is another test done in children with constipation that helps to assess rectal and rectal pressure.

You can also give your baby a special drinking marker to analyze how it passes through the digestive tract (especially at what time) and whether constipation is caused by prolonged passage of food. Finally, the test result is compared with the standards.

Histopathological examination of the rectal biopsy is performed if there is a suspicion of Hirschprung disease (a defect of the intestine consisting in the absence of nerve ganglia in the distal part of the large intestine and dilatation closer to the part of the colon, and problems with defecation). The examination is to assess the presence of submucosal ganglia.

Another diagnostic step is to perform a contrast infusion into the large intestine. Similarly, structural changes to the large intestine, i.e. inflammatory constrictions or tumors, are searched for.

1. Constipation in children? Try a pear for constipation

Constipation in children – treatment

Treatment of constipation in children consists of:

1. getting rid of fecal stones in the intestines with medications or cleaning infusions;
2. a balanced diet that includes a lot of vegetables, juices, fruits, wholemeal or rye bread;
3. physical activity, including biofeedback-type exercises in children;
4. eliminating factors that are stressful for children.

When the above methods do not help, pharmacological treatment should be applied just like in adults. However, be careful. In the treatment of constipation, the following are used:

1. lubricating preparations in the form of paraffin, linseed;
2. bulking preparations, e.g. Mediterranean plantain, methylcellulose;
3. irritating preparations, which include castor oil, bisacodyl or sennosides A and B;
4. choleretic drugs such as cinametic acid or dehydrocholic acid;
5. the suppositories and ingots already mentioned;
6. osmotic preparations in the form of sodium sulphate, magenzium or lactulose.

At Medonet Market you can buy Lactibiane probiotic, which contains vitamin D and supports the proper functioning of the digestive system of children.