Treatment of Chronic Constipation and Excretion difficulty
One of the hardest times for anyone is the time spent in the bathroom while having a severe constipation feeling a combination of pain, Anxiety and even Boredom. You can even invest this time searching for a solution or a treatment for that annoying feeling.
In the beginning, you find out that a day or more passed without defecating or even if you defecate you can’t reach the final relief that it is done, you actually feel like there is still some stool that didn’t pass through your rectum and that leaves you irritated the whole day.
To be diagnosed with chronic constipation you must feel at least one of these symptoms
1- Defecation is hard and needs lots of effort.
2- Stool is hard and it’s texture is clumpy.
3- Constipation lasts for 3 days or more.
4- There is a need for aid like pressing your stomach or using your finger or a laxative to defecate.
5- Feeling like there is still stool at the rectum and you can’t feel complete relief.
Feeling these symptoms for more than a month is a major sign that you have chronic constipation and that you need help.
Treatment options for chronic constipation
First and foremost, you need to change your whole life style starting from your diet, your habits and adding exercise to your day so you here are some tips for you:
- Go to the bathroom whenever you feel like defecating. Don’t let your rectum congest or accumulate stool in it as that affects your intestinal muscles and makes them stiff and cause the stool to harden and make it even harder for the rectum to push it outside.
- Do some exercise or even just walk, it is enough for your body to move to increase the muscle tone and that has a positive effect on the intestine and rectum muscles.
- Increase your fibre intake by eating more vegetables and fruits and avoid fast food which contains lots of unsaturated fats that impacts the colon and increases the risk of having flatulence and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
- Even with your essential food like bread and oil,you can switch to whole grain bread which contains high nutrition value and saturated fats within the seeds and olive or coconut oil which are saturated oils that are light on the stomach and have a great role in relieving colics and IBS.
What if that wasn’t enough for your body and need a medical support to relieve your chronic constipation
The first line of medication for chronic constipation is laxatives which is great as effect and as safety too so that you can have them over the counter in pharmacies without the need of physician prescription, but also it is preferred to ask your doctor before taking, so let’s talk about laxatives in details:
1- High fiber content laxatives: which increases the fiber concentration in stool to soften it and make it easier for the patient to defecate it.
A- psyllium fibers like: Metamucil powder and konsyl fiber.
B- Polycarbophil calcium polymer like Fibercon.
C- Methyl cellulose like Citrucel.
2- Bowel stimulants: which has a positive effect on the intestine and motivates its movement so increases the bowel movement and the number of defecation times, But it needs two to three days to reach its full action.
A- Bisacodil like Dulcolax and Correctol.
B- Senna like Senokot and Ex_Lax.
3- Mineral oils: which acts as a glider that captures moisture and water into the stool to soften it and facilitate its movement through the rectum like: Paraffin Oil.
4- Stool softeners: from its name it’s obvious that it increases the moisture in the stool and softens it. It mimics the mineral oils effect like: Na-Docusates and K-Docusates.
5- Osmotic laxatives: by osmosis it absorbs water from the gastrointestinal system to the rectum and prevents it’s reuptake leading to increasing the water content in stool like: Lactulose and Mg citrate.
6- Suppositories and enemas act by two ways: absorbing water from the Git and triggering rectum movement leading to fact evacuation of the rectum, that’s why we use them before surgeries.
If Laxatives didn’t solve your problem completely you should visit a physician which will prescribe you one of these:
- If your Chronic Constipation results from anxiety and distress; your solution is a serotonin receptor that relieves the intestinal colics and facilitates bowel movement like: Prucalopride.
- If your constipation is due to shortage of water content your solution is Lubiprostone or Plecanatide.
- If you are an opioid addict or have a severe illness that requires continuous intake of analgesics and opioids and that causes you constipation like: Naloxegol or N-methyl-naltrexone (NMTX).
- If all that didn’t work you probably have a medical issue that needs surgical procedure like Intestinal obstruction or rectum fissures.
Is there an immediate solution for severe Chronic Constipation?
Yes(If it is not chronic) there are some remedies that were proven to be helpful in treating Chronic Constipation.
One strong drink is cumin with lemon, simply you boin cumin with half a glass of water and then add some slices of lemon and drink it warm 3 times daily.
Another method that gives great results is adding coconut oil to your food like yogurt and salads or even adding it to popcorn.
We talked a lot about adult constipation but what about babies what to do if they had Chronic Constipation
1- Do circle movement exercise, it is letting your baby legs ride a bike in the air, that has a great impact like what you can achieve by sport as an adult.
2- Give your baby a warm bath to relax his muscles.
3- make some changes to your baby diet and that differs according to his age as
A- If your baby is less than 4 months and he is breastfed then you as a mother should increase your intake of fiber and water and avoid Dairy products that may cause Chronic Constipation.
B- If the baby is four months or more and is already having external food other than breastfeeding, you can give him water or vegetable juice like apple juice which is great in relieving constipation for kids.
4- If the previous trials were not successful you may consider a glycerin suppository(after consulting your pediatrician).
Latest studies in treatment of chronic severe Chronic Constipation suggested using a primitive bathroom that requires squatting position while defecating or if you have a normal bathroom you may use a small chair under your feet to mimic the squat position.
