Constipation Basics

No condition is experienced by more and yet treated less than constipation.  It can strike suddenly and linger around for days on end without relief causing irritability, abdominal pains, fatigue, and sometimes pain when passing stool.  While it may be caused by temporary conditions such as sudden travel or dehydration, other, more serious, health factors may be at play leading to chronic constipation problems.  In time, the problem may become acute and lead to feces and bacteria flooding through the blood stream causing infection and other health problems—including septicemia and even death!  Make no doubt about it, constipation is the untreated health issue that can end up costing you dearly if not taken seriously.

In this report you will find answers to a lot of questions you never knew to ask but will nonetheless help you prepare for and prevent a future bout with constipation.  There will also be a number of remedies for temporary and chronic constipation that will help you manage the condition and prevent acute symptoms from forming.  In most cases, remedies such as laxatives will not be necessary.

One of the first questions to answer is just what exactly constipation really is.  Most definitions include something about having difficulty passing hard or dry stool.  Infrequent or missing bowel movements are also listed as symptoms.  But how often should a person have a bowel movement and when should someone be concerned?

Normal people might have as many as three bowel movements a day. However, it is not uncommon for otherwise healthy people to have a bowel movement every 2-3 days and still be considered normal.  The important thing to remember is that your body will have its own idea of what a normal interval between bowel movements is—if you are more than a day or two late for a bowel movement, then you may want to consult with a physician before more serious health issues arise.

It is important to understand that constipation is any condition of bowel movement that causes you pain or discomfort.  The duration of time in between bowel movements may fluctuate in a normal person, but the movements themselves should not cause any pain or discomfort.

As with any medical condition, the first path to recovery is realizing that you have a problem.  The following symptoms need not all be present in order for a person to have constipation, but the presence of 3 or more should be considered as sufficient warning signs to seek a physician:

  1. Bloating
  2. Daytime fatigue
  3. Loss of appetite
  4. Lower back pain
  5. Nausea
  6. Pressure on the rectum
  7. Stomach rumbles

In order to determine whether or not the presence of any or some of the symptoms above are due to constipation, check to see if any of the following occur when having a bowel movement:

  1. Abdominal pain during bowel movement
  2. Full feeling even after evacuation of stool
  3. Bright red blood on toilet paper after passing stool is evidence of constipation and potential evidence of hemorrhoids

The pain and discomfort of constipation can linger for years at a time if a person does not seek treatment.  In time, chronic constipation will lead to more serious health issues:

  1. As stated earlier, hemorrhoids are a genuine concern with constipation, especially when trying to pass hardened or dry stool.  This occurs when the veins outside the rectum become strained or swollen.
  2. Diarrhea is also a possibility with constipation, especially in the case of a blockage.  The blockage will not allow other feces materials around it and ultimately will only allow fluids to pass around it—in the form of diarrhea.
  3. Blockages that cause constipation can ultimately cause toxins and bacteria to the blood stream and cause septicemia or even death.
  4. A dependency upon laxatives.
  5. Osteoporosis caused by impacted stool preventing the intestines from absorbing calcium.
  6. Prolapsed, or turning outward, of the uterus in women or of the rectum in either sex caused by constant strain upon the rectum
  7. Increased chances for development of cancer and polyps

Yes, chronic constipation is indeed a risk factor for cancers.  When waste slowly winds throughout the colon, disease-causing bacteria have more opportunities to reconstitute estrogen and testosterone previously broken down by the liver.  When these hormones have been reconstituted and returned to normal circulation, the increased testosterone stimulates abnormal growth of prostate tissue in men while abnormal breast tissue growth in women is stimulated by increased estrogen.

Constipation is also a known risk factor for colon cancer.  Middle-aged people seeking constipation relief at least once a month are twice likely to develop the disease as those who never have to take laxatives. Middle-aged adults who have to take laxatives once a week are nearly 4 times more prone to develop colon cancer than those who do not.

Chronic constipation is also a common cause of urinary incontinence.  The long-term effects of chronic constipation cause the integrity of the bladder to diminish and break down.   The link between constipation and urinary incontinence is even greater among women who have delivered more than two children, those who take diuretics or are obese.

So what exactly causes constipation and leads to any of the health issues listed above?  A number of factors are responsible for both long and short term constipation conditions.  Short term problems with constipation can be caused by any of the following:

  1. Sudden change to diet
  2. Dehydration
  3. Reaction to new medication
  4. Not enough physical activity
  5. Consuming food or beverage that you are allergic to
  6. Traveling
  7. Pregnancy or menstrual cycle

While most cases of short term constipation will disappear within a few days once the cause has been identified, there are times when the condition will worsen and a chronic case of constipation develops.  Some causes behind long term constipation are:

  1. Blockages in colon or elsewhere in digestive tract
  2. Long term malnutrition and unhealthy lifestyle
  3. As a symptom of a larger medical condition, such as diabetes
  4. Polyps which lead to blockages, and blood in stool

In order to best treat short and long term constipation, the cause must first be determined. We will address the common causes of constipation and how to best correct them in the remainder of this report.

Try New Colon Sweep today and discover how natural, safe, gentle and effective chronic constipation relief can be.