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How To Stop Constipation Pain

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Should I Take Laxatives And Are They Safe

Get Fast Relief From Constipation, Bloating, and Gas!

Regular use of laxatives is generally not encouraged but occasional use is not harmful. Things to consider:

  • The effects of laxatives are unpredictable a dose that works today may not produce an effect tomorrow.
  • Laxatives can cause pain and result in the passage of loose stools especially if the dose is too high.
  • Long term use can lead to the bowel becoming progressively less responsive in some people, and in these individuals it may be important to switch to a different agent.
  • Certain laxatives will not work in some patients.
  • While laxatives and suppositories may ease bowel opening, they dont often help the common problems of pain and bloating.

Nevertheless, the balance of scientific evidence suggests that laxatives do not cause any damage to the bowel and there is no evidence that using them puts you at risk of getting colon cancer. Sometimes doctors will advise people to take laxatives and some people do need them longer term, if your doctor has advised them, they are unlikely to be harmful in the long term. Suppositories or mini-enemas are more predictable than laxatives and tend to be very well tolerated and effective. They are especially useful for people who have difficulty with needing to strain to evacuate their bowel. It may be best to use laxatives only with proper guidance.

Taking laxatives does not result in weight loss, they work on the large bowel and most of the goodness from food is absorbed in the small bowel.

Lower Stress With Mindfulness Meditation

The brain and the digestive tract are so closely linked that researchers have coined the term gut-brain axis.

Digestive symptoms like constipation can lead to anxiety and psychological stress. In turn, stress strongly affects the gut.

Chronic stress is known to modify the gut microbiota and to alter nerve action in the intestines .

Psychological stress influences the gut both directly and indirectly. Availability of coping mechanisms and social support helps determine severity of symptoms and impact on quality of life. Click to enlarge. Image source.

Its important to manage stress, both for overall health and to ease digestive symptoms.

Mindfulness meditation has shown particular promise in reducing IBS symptoms .

In one high-quality study, IBS patients who received online mindfulness training reported a 42% reduction in symptoms at 3 months. By contrast, IBS patients who had access to an online discussion forum reported a 12% increase in symptoms .

The study also showed that the benefits of mindfulness training appear to be long-lasting. Participants who completed all mindfulness training sessions reported sustained benefits 1518 months after the study ended, even without seeking additional treatment .

The cell phone app Headspace offers a free trial of guided mindfulness meditation sessions. There are also many resources online that teach how to practice mindfulness.

It Has Prebiotic Effects

Prebiotics are nondigestible compounds that nourish intestinal bacteria and help them grow. Researchers believe that psyllium has prebiotic effects .

Although psyllium is somewhat resistant to fermentation, intestinal bacteria can ferment a small portion of psyllium fibers. This fermentation can produce short-chain fatty acids , including butyrate. Research has linked SCFAs with health benefits (

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What Are Complications Of Constipation

Constipation can cause complications, such as hemorrhoids, which occur by straining to have a bowel movement, or anal fissures which occur when hard stool stretches the sphincter muscle. This can result in rectal bleeding.

Sometimes, straining also causes rectal prolapse, where a small amount of intestinal lining pushes out from the anal opening. Constipation may also cause fecal impaction, which occurs mostly in children and older adults. The hard stool packs the intestine and rectum so tightly that the normal pushing action of the colon is not enough to expel the stool.

Q: So How Do I Know If I Am Constipated Whats Normal

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A: While the nursery school book Everyone Poops still rings true, how often they do so is another story.

Theres no real normal. Men are different from women. Age changes things. Pregnancy changes things, adds Dr. Zutshi. As long as you have a bowel movement that occurs regularly not too few in a week and has a regular consistency, youre fine.

But whats not too few, you ask? Constipation is defined as lessthan three in a week. Uh-oh. So now what?

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Complications Of Chronic Constipation

Some of the complications of chronic constipation include:

  • Faecal impaction the lower bowel and rectum become so packed with faeces that the muscles of the bowels cant push any of it out.
  • Faecal incontinence an overfull bowel can result in involuntary dribbling of diarrhoea.
  • Haemorrhoids constant straining to open the bowel can damage the blood vessels of the rectum.
  • Rectal prolapse the constant straining pushes a section of rectal lining out of the anus.
  • Urinary incontinence the constant straining weakens pelvic floor muscles. This makes the involuntary passing of urine more likely, especially when coughing, laughing or sneezing.

How Common Is Constipation

You are not alone if you have constipation. Constipation is one of the most frequent gastrointestinal complaints in the United States. At least 2.5 million people see their doctor each year due to constipation.

People of all ages can have an occasional bout of constipation. There are also certain people and situations that are more likely to lead to becoming more consistently constipated . These include:

  • Older age. Older people tend to be less active, have a slower metabolism and less muscle contraction strength along their digestive tract than when they were younger.
  • Being a woman, especially while you are pregnant and after childbirth. Changes in a womans hormones make them more prone to constipation. The baby inside the womb squishes the intestines, slowing down the passage of stool.
  • Not eating enough high-fiber foods. High-fiber foods keep food moving through the digestive system.
  • Taking certain medications .
  • Having certain neurological and digestive disorders .

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Remedies And Treatments For Stomach Pain And Gas

Most stomach pain and gas will go away on its own, but there are steps you can take to ease discomfort and prevent future gas pain. Gas-related stomach pain remedies include:

Pass Gas

The only way to get rid of gas is to pass it. Donât hold it in. If youâre worried about odor, try reducing foods that contain sulfur-producing compounds such as broccoli, cabbage, and beer.

Over-the-Counter Medications

Many gas-relieving products are marketed, but scientific evidence of their effectiveness is limited. Many people claim to experience relief, so they may be worth trying. The most common medications that claim to relieve immediate symptoms are activated charcoal and simethicone .

Herbal Remedies

Peppermint and peppermint oil have the best record as digestive aids, but there are many other foods that may help. In one study, Chinese herbal formulae outperformed placebos in soothing IBS symptoms. Commonly included ingredients are:

  • Wearing ill-fitting dentures

Enzymes Before Eating Certain Foods

Taking enzymes before you eat can help you better digest your meal. Most enzymes are only available for those with a medical condition that prevents them from producing their own. However, two widely available enzymes for problematic foods are:

  • Lactase supplements can help those who are lactose intolerant.
  • Alpha-galactosidase supplements can help people digest legumes.

This Factsheet Is About Constipation

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Constipation is a symptom that can mean different things to different people, but the usual meaning is that a person has difficulty or infrequency with opening their bowels. Constipation affects around 1 in 7 otherwise healthy people. The two groups of people most likely to be trouble by constipation are young women and the elderly especially those who need to take regular medicines.

There is a common belief that people need to open their bowels every day, but this is not the case. Opening the bowels can vary between three times a day to three times a week in healthy individuals. Symptoms can constantly fluctuate and 3 people in every 100 adults have persistent constipation over 20 years. It is a common problem and does not usually mean that anything is seriously wrong. Most cases are temporary and will clear up with simple lifestyle measures.

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How To Get More Fibre Into Your Diet To Stop Your Pain In Back From Constipation

This is the first place to start. As it really does play the most important part in the prevention of constipation in the first place. The main food categories that prevent constipation. In the first place, lets start with what foods have high fiber in them. As a diet lacking in fiber is the number one cause. So how much fiber and what foods have the most and right type of fiber for bowel movement. The level of fiber on a daily basis should be between 25g to 30g for an adult.

In reality, most of us consume a fraction of this, it is said on average we consume less than 20g. But this average and takes all adults including those who eat too much. Too much fiber can be bad for you in other ways such as gasses bloated abdomen and yes constipation itself. Why not try some Vegan Recipes?

Fruits: Blueberries Strawberries Pears Blackberries Apples Avocado Raspberries Bananas

Vegetables: Beetroot Carrots Broccoli Kale Tomatoes Spinach Artichoke Brussels sprouts

Legumes: Kidney beans Lentils Split peas Baked beans lima beans edamame black beans Chickpeas

Cereals and Whole Grains: Quinoa oatmeal brown rice whole rye wild rice millet barley buckwheat bulgur wheat berry freekeh sorghum popcorn

Seeds/Nuts: Almonds Pistachios Walnuts Chia Seeds Fresh Coconut Sunflower Seeds Pumpkin seeds

Other Good Sources of Fibre: Sweet Potatoes White Potatoes Dark Chocolate .

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Fiber Is Not Always The Answer

If adding fiber to your diet in the form of food orsupplements makes you more bloated and blocked than before, there are a numberof potential reasons. For example, in slow transit constipation, a conditionwhere the bowel does not move things quickly through, fiber sits in your gut andcan make you feel worse.

Long story short: If fiber makes you worse, dont just addmore. See your doctor.

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When To Call Your Doctor

Constipation can often be treated at home, but chronic constipation that interferes with quality of life warrants a visit to the doctor.

Unresolved chronic constipation can result in fecal impaction. With impaction, the bowels cannot be evacuated just by the normal muscle contractions that push stool out of the body. Medical intervention is usually needed.

Speak with your doctor if :

  • You have a fever, rectal bleeding or recent weight loss.
  • Your symptoms interfere with sleep.
  • You are frequently constipated and have a family history of bowel disease.
  • You can feel a lump or mass in your abdomen or rectum.
  • You are over 50 years old and chronic constipation is a new problem for you.
  • You have severe abdominal pain and vomiting.
  • You are not passing gas.

How To Relieve Constipation Fast

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When talking about immediate constipation relief, its important to have some patience. It takes some time for these remedies to get things moving through your system, so the impact wont be as quick taking a Tylenol for a headache, for example.

Most of these natural remedies for constipation will take a few hours or days to bring relief. However, these treatments for constipation have the potential to offer long-lasting benefits because they are, in effect, lifestyle-based.

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Products Both Natural Prescription And Over The Counter:

Prescription Drugs for Constipation:

While your own medical physician is best placed to advise on the use of the above it is not an ideal solution over the long term.

Gas Pain: When To See A Doctor

Veloso says to be on the lookout for abdominal pain and bloating that persists even after constipation improves.

You may have celiac disease or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth , which can cause these symptoms and can occur with either constipation or diarrhea. You may also have irritable bowel syndrome or another problem, she notes.

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Medical Treatment For Constipation

Medicine

If over-the-counter treatments donât do the job, your doctor may prescribe a different kind of medication.

  • Prescription laxatives such as linaclotide, lubiprostone, and plecanatide work by increasing the amount of water in your intestines and speeding up the movement of stool. Note that Amitiza is approved for use only in women.

  • Serotonin 5-hydroxytryptamine 4 receptors. Prucalopride is a powerful stimulant thatâs used for chronic constipation without a known cause.

  • PAMORAs. This is a shorter way of saying âperipherally acting mu-opioid receptor antagonists.â These work on constipation thatâs caused by opioid pain medicines. These drugs include methylnaltrexone and naloxegol

Surgery for constipation treatment

Sometimes constipation is caused by a structural problem in your colon or rectum. Your colon may be blocked or unusually narrow, or you may have a partial collapse or a bulge in the wall of your rectum. In that case, surgery can correct the problem.

Surgery may also be a last resort if your colon just works too slowly and treatments havenât helped. You may need to have a section of your colon removed.

Q: What Causes Constipation

How to treat abdominal pain and constipation

A: Constipation happens when your bowel movements occur less often or cause more strain than usual. Dr. Zutshi says there are three kinds of constipation:

  • Normal transit constipation.
  • Slow transit constipation.
  • Outlet defecation syndrome or ODS, a type of chronic constipation involving hard stool and an inability to pass stool that occurs at least once a week for six months.

Normal transit and slow transit constipation are both considered motility disturbances. And to understand motility, look no further than the morning commute.

Motility is how well the roads or in this case, the muscles in your gastrointestinal tract are moving.

  • Normal transit is like driving the speed limit until some roadwork at your exit derails your expected arrival time. Stool moves through your GI system normally, but a problem such as hard stool makes it difficult to pass.
  • Slow transit is bumper-to-bumper traffic the whole way through. The muscles in your GI system contract slowly, causing the stool to take a long time to get to its final destination. You go less often, with more straining and harder stool.

And just like there are many causes for snarled roadways, there are different reasons your inner streets are backing up, such as a lack of:

  • Fiber.

You have less control over these other constipation causes:

  • Medical conditions, including diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome or even a spinal cord injury.
  • Medications such as antidepressants or herbal supplements.
  • Being pregnant.
  • Stress.

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It Could Be Constipation

While youre spending a lot of time at home, you may not be moving as much as you usually do. You may also be eating different foods. This can lead to constipation. You may be constipated if you experience:

  • Fewer bowel movements than normal for you
  • Stool that is lumpy or looks like pebbles
  • Difficulty passing stool or a feeling that you still need to go after youre finished

Fortunately, you can make a number of at-home changes to help relieve your constipation. These include:

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How Can Exercise Help Constipation

Exercise helps constipation by lowering the time it takes food to move through the large intestine. This limits the amount of water your body absorbs from the stool. Hard, dry stools are harder to pass. Plus, aerobic exercise speeds up your breathing and heart rate. This helps to stimulate the natural squeezing of muscles in your intestines. Intestinal muscles that squeeze better will help move stools out quickly.

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Head To The Drugstore

Pin on You and Constipation

Some people find relief with over-the-counter products, such as simethicone and activated charcoal. Of the two, simethicone is considered the better option, although experts are not quite sure how it works. Brand names for simethicone include:

  • Maalox Anti-Gas
  • Gas-X
  • Phazyme

You should know that activated charcoal may result in constipation, diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Therefore, its use is somewhat controversial within the medical community.

In addition, if you decide to try activated charcoal, you may find that it turns your stool black. However, black stools from charcoal supplements are not something to be concerned about.

As with any OTC product, check with your doctor before use. People who are pregnant or breastfeeding should generally avoid these products.

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How To Prevent Constipation Bloating

There are several lifestyle changes you can make that can help you prevent constipation-related bloating:

  • Slowly increase your fiber intake. Fiber adds bulk to your stool, making it easier to pass. However, if you add too much too quickly, you can experience worsening bloating.
  • Increase your water intake. Drinking more water can also add bulk to your stool, reducing constipation.
  • Stop smoking. Smoking can increase many gastrointestinal symptoms, including constipation.
  • Take part in regular physical activity. This will help keep your bowels moving.

You can also make dietary changes to help reduce bloating.

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