How to Get Rid of Things ©2004 Jonathan Hatch
How to Get Rid of Things
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Symptoms of Constipation:

  • Hard or painful stools passed no more than 3 times a week.
  • Abnormal need to strain in order to produce a bowel movement
  • Abdominal pain

Reasons to See a Doctor:

  • When bowel movements occur fewer than 2 times per week
  • When there are streaks of blood in your stool
  • When abdominal pain becomes unbearable
  • When stools become abnormal in shape and size

 

How to Get Rid of Constipation

Natural & Home Remedies for Constipation:

Mineral Oil is a natural stool softener, but care should be taken not to inhale or accidentally breathe mineral oil into the lungs—doing so can cause an absurdly rare and dangerous kind of pneumonia. Otherwise, mineral oil taken right before bed can help soften stools over the course of a night. Mineral oil should not be taken regularly to relieve constipation, and should be considered a temporary relief.

Biofeedback training is a newer form of natural constipation treatment. Time and effort are focused on teaching the patient to relax the sphincter during a bowel movement, something a lot of patients who have chronic constipation or a bowel disorder like anal hypertonia or pelvic floor dyssynergia. If you are a sufferer of chronic or severe constipation, I would highly recommend seeking a medical professional incorporates biofeedback training into their constipation treatment programs.

A cup of coffee in the morning seems to do the trick for me. Certainly, this isn’t the solution for every person, particularly those where constipation is severe or for people who don’t wish to start another addiction, like caffeine. Coffee helps to stimulate the metabolism and acts as a very mild diuretic, acting upon the bowels as an increased amount of water in the diet would. It keeps me regular (and alert!), so maybe you should try it to get rid of constipation.

Getting rid of constipation is a senstive topic for some people. I've had my bouts with constipation before--mostly stress and anxiety induced constipation, mind you. I've also had constipation induced by anxiety and depression medications like Welbutrin. Alas, I've never really experienced the mind-blowing pain that can be the result of not going dookie for over 2 weeks. "Two weeks?" Some people declare, "Hah! Try three weeks, or even four!" I can't imagine the kind of pain that four weeks of constipation might induce; a week to a week and a half was enough for me, and then the milk of magnesia was taken and everything got better. This article focuses not only on getting rid of constipation, but how to prevent constipation in the first place. And so, without further ado, I present to you Treatment & Cures for Constipation:

Treatment & Cures for Constipation

Questions or suggestions? Try our Physical Health Forum.

Drinking more water during the day will help you get rid of constipation. The effectiveness of your digestive system depends quite a bit upon the absorption of water and the amount of fluids in your system. Your colon regulates the amount of fluid in your stool to help ease it’s transfer to the large intestines where a large amount of the water is reabsorbed to help retain hydration and electrolytic balance. Too little water in your system will precipitate constipation by inducing a dry stool. Drinking the recommended 8 glasses of water each day may help your digestive system relieve constipation.

Eating more fiber in your daily diet will also help you get rid of constipation. Eating more bran, specifically oat bran for soluble fiber and wheat bran for insoluble fiber and/or taking a fiber supplement like Metamucil may help relieve constipation. Dietary fiber, particularly insoluble fiber, is instrumental in the regulation of fluids in the stool by the colon, as I mentioned above. Ingesting more insoluble fiber helps retain water in the colon, producing a softer stool (poop). Eating less dairy may also help you escape the trials of chronic constipation.
Exercise is one of those things people don’t think about when they’re worried about getting rid of constipation. But exercise and physical activity is actually a fundamental step in the digestive process. Do you remember getting side splints after running the mile in gym class? Well, exercise helps increase your metabolism and, well, moves stuff around a little. Try going for walks in the morning and in the evening, or going for a bike ride, or do a little rollerblading. Any kind of exercise is bound to help relieve constipation, really.
Stool softeners are often prescribed to get rid of constipation in chronic or more severe cases. Medications like Colace, Surfak, Dialose, and Fleet Sof-Lax are sometimes prescribed on a short-term basis to help soften stools, allowing them to pass without straining the patient. Straining too much during a bowel movement can actually cause hemorrhoids. If you’re suffering from hemorrhoids here’s some advice to get rid of hemorrhoids. Just keep in mind that stool softeners aren’t usually considered a long term solution, and that the first three suggestions I’ve offered are the ones you should really take into consideration.
Laxatives really are a last resort in the battle to get rid of constipation. Laxatives, in some extreme cases, can actually cause constipation. Ironic, isn’t it? The problem with non-saline laxatives (stimulant laxatives) is that they actually induce intestinal contractions, which, over time, can do permanent damage to your bowels. That’s bad. If you’re going to use a laxative, try a saline-based laxative like Milk of Magnesia. I use milk of magnesia once in a while to help clear my bowels, but not very often, and eating enough bran will often produce the same effect.
Questions or suggestions? Try our Physical Health Forum.

Commercial Constipation Remedies

When we're talking about commercial constipation remedies, we're talking about stool softeners, both prescription and non-prescription, and saline-based laxatives as well as stimulant laxatives. Stool softeners like Surfak, are considered short-term treatments because they often produce diarrhea if they're used on a regular basis. Unless you're dealing with a severely dry stool, I would stay away from regular usage of stool softeners. I used to take care of a mentally disabled boy who had constipation issues, and we gave him stool softeners almost every day. We stopped because they were causing such severe side-effects that more drugs were required to combat the side-effects, and he was spreading poop all over the walls.

Generally speaking, doctors will tell you to stay away from stimulant laxatives, too. Stimulant laxatives promote muscle contractions in the intestines to help push the poop out. Usually the muscles in your intestines do this by themselves, but sometimes they lose synchronicity and work against the flow of poop, causing a blockage. Repeated use of stimulant laxatives can cause damage to the bowels over time, which is why more doctors prefer that you use saline-based laxatives (milk of magnesia) to get rid of constipation.

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