Constipation can be downright inconvenient if not painful. It can end up causing hemorrhoids or other much more serious complications if not dealt with.
Causes of Constipation
24 Counter Stools
But what exactly causes constipation? More importantly for those of you suffering constipation, how can you obtain immediate relief? How can you prevent it from re-occurring again? What causes the stool to get so hard that it becomes very difficult to expel it?
When we eat, the food works its way through our stomach to our intestines. The intestines in turn move the food along and remove moisture in the process of obtaining nutrition from it before the body expels it in a bowel movement.
A person becomes constipated when the food sits in the intestines for too long. If the food moves along too slowly, too much water ends up being removed from it before it makes its way out of the body. This results in a hard, lumpy stool that is difficult to pass.
There are many reasons why food might take too long to move through the intestines. Among the most common are pregnancy, dietary reasons (since some foods cause constipation), medical reasons that have to do with the type of medications one is taking, and physiological reasons like stress and certain medical conditions.
But somehow or other, all these causes of constipation have to do with the removal of too much moisture out of the food matter moving through our digestive system and causing the stool to get hard.
How to Relieve Constipation
Assuming that there are no medical or other such reasons for why a person is constipated the best way to relieve it involves eating foods that will soften the stool and make it move along faster. If one is really constipated glycerin suppositories can be inserted through the rear end to soften and allow the hardened stool that is already there to come out easier.
Or one can take laxatives or other over the counter drugs though such a means of relieving constipation is not recommended compared to a more natural approach that increases the amount of fiber being eaten.
But whatever one decides to do...all constipation remedies involve either adding more moisture to the stool or otherwise helping the stool move along at a faster rate than it would otherwise do if left on its own.
The very best means of combating constipation is to get consistent exercise, eat plenty of fiber and otherwise drink lots of fluid.