I am constipated. What should I do?

I am constipated. What should I do?

Charles Triay (General Practicioner) gives expert video advice on: What is the best treatment for indigestion?; What produces excessive stomach gas and can it be cured? and more...

What everybody who has constipation must understand is that they must drink a lot of fluid. That is the first step to treating constipation. One of the functions of the large bowel is to absorb water back into the system and therefore leave your stool to be far drier and harder. The second step in treating constipation is to make sure you have enough fibre in your diet. This expands the walls of your large intestine and stimulates them to contract, and by doing so you pass a stool. If neither of those two treatments are working, we resort to laxatives to deal with constipation. There are three types of laxatives: bulking agents, which are fibre supplements, softening agents that are not usually absorbed into the system, and a medication that stimulates your bowel to contract. In a constipation patient who has tried it all and is not getting better, it may well be worth considering a specialist opinion, because some test may identify some rare conditions that can be treated.