Living with Colon Constipation

Constipation or the inability to effectively move our bowels to eliminate waste products is a growing problem in the USA. It is estimated that over 70% of the population in America regularly struggles with constipation, although some experts believe the figure to be as high as 80 to 90%.

Over the counter stool softeners or laxatives, is a one billion dollar per year industry in the USA. The ease of obtaining and purchasing laxatives means that constipation is often rarely discussed. It is becoming America's dirty little secret.

Everyone experiences constipation from time to time, and most of us find the problem clears up on its own. When it doesn't and we find ourselves repeatedly in pain and reaching for laxatives, its time to take action. The first step is understanding what exactly constipation is and how it is caused.

Bluntly put, constipation occurs when waste is not eliminated properly from the colon to our bowel. When we can't eliminate waste, our stomachs often become puffy and bloated, we become physically uncomfortable, and in severe cases may find trouble digesting more food. If we can't eliminate our waste, we can't properly take in new nutrients for our bodies.

There is no one factor that decides whether or not we will get constipation. Often we need to begin looking at our diets, are they rich in fruit, vegetables and protein? If not we need to take steps to correct what we eat first?

Stress plays a major part in constipation. When our bodies frequently go into fight or flight mode, one of the side effects may be difficulty in moving our bowels. Knowing what triggers our stress levels, and learning how to properly cope and deal with day to day stress is terribly important.

Having a healthy colon and regular bowel movements are terribly important to our overall health. When our colon is sick, the rest of our body tends to get sick too. Our colons are responsible for carrying water and nutrients to other areas of the body to help us function. When our colons are sick we may experience fatigue, pain, and dehydration.

When our colons become very sick we may experience what is called toxic colon. This means that the build up of waste within our colons has become infected, and that the infection has spread from the colon wall into our blood stream, and is carried to other areas of the body through our blood and lymph nodes. If left untreated, toxic colon can result in hospitalization.

Sometimes medications, such as certain types of antibiotics, may cause constipation, at least temporarily. Lengthy bouts of constipation that do not change even after we have modified our diets and worked on our stress levels mean its time to see a Physician.

A Physician will usually ask us how long we have had constipation, what we have already done to correct it and most importantly how many bowel movements we have a day. If the situation has become severe, a Physician may order a series of tests such as a barium enema or scope test to see if we have any severe problems or diseases within the colon itself. Diseases such as Diverticulitis, Irritable bowel syndrome, Colitis or Crohn's disease are often treated with prescription medication and behaviour modification with the help of a therapist, where a Patient learns how to cope with their symptoms and illness.

In recent years, there has been a resurgence of people being treated for constipation by Naturopathic Doctors. Being given special cleansing teas, drinks, and nutritional supplements has shown to significantly help people with chronic constipation. In some cases these natural approaches, according to Dr. Majid Ali have been shown to reverse some of the effects of Colitis.