Ibs With Constipation. What Is A Normal Bowel Habit?

People vary a lot in how often they open their bowels usually between three times

a day and three times a week in the UK, interestingly people living in different parts of the country and people from different ethnic backgrounds may have different bowel habits, possibly because of variations in their diets, if worried a change in your diet and developing a good bowel habits, together with increased exercise, will be enough for most people to relieve their IBS with constipation and control any tendency to gain weight a stool should be solid but moist and easy passed.

How the bowel works: contraction and relaxation of the colon and rectum are regulated by three separate parts of the nervous system (sympathetic, parasympathetic and enteric nervous systems). Physical disorders affecting these pathways will influence how often you need to open your bowels. The activity of muscles in the colon is also stimulated by factors as food and emotion.

When there are sufficient faeces in the rectum to distend it, this cause its smooth muscle to contract in a reflex action and also makes the internal sphincter muscles (which keep the anus closed) relax. The stool is then expelled when we contact the diaphragm and abdominal muscles, and relax the pelvic floor muscles and external sphincter muscles.

What does the bowel do: food passes from the stomach to the small intestine and then to the large intestine, we absorb nutrients from the digested food and most fluids that we have drunk, some of this fluid is from intestinal secretions. The remaining waste matter (faeces) is pushed to the rectum where we expel it through the anus. The bowel:

Receives the food and liquids that we eat and drink

Increases the amount of fluid in the intestines by liquid secretions from its lining

Propels food contents from the stomach down its length to the back passage ( anus)

Absorbs most of the nutrients from our food and drink into the bloodstream

Excretes waste material as stools

What is constipation: constipation is largely a subjective sensation and has no universally accepted definition. A person can be considered to be constipated when fewer than three bowel actions happen in a week, or if there is often a need to strain to pass a stool.

Constipation is hardly ever harmful in that you wont become 'poisoned' or 'dirty' if your bowels dont open. Although constipation is not a disease, it is occasionally a symptom of an underlying disease. Your abdomen may feel uncomfortable or bloated and you may have a sense of fullness above your back passage (rectum and anus). Straining can lead to piles which may bulge at the anus or bleed; women may also find intercourse uncomfortable if the bowel is full.

The most common cause of IBS with constipation are simple and easily to but right, if your diet does not contain enough fibre, it is more difficult for your bowel to pass food along and keep the faeces soft enough to pass easily, modern lifestyles make it difficult to respond immediately to the urge to empty your bowels, ignoring this urge means that the faeces are stored longer and they can become hard and dry.

Some people do not strain effectively or fail to relax the anal muscle to allow the rectum to empty; retraining the use of the muscles will help this problem.

What makes constipation worse: your bowel function is affected by many factors, these can make any tendency to constipation worse, and you must drink enough fluid each day about two litres. If you become dehydrated your faeces will become hard.

Physical exercises massage the bowels and help the passage along the gut, so inactivity will make any constipation worse.

Your emotions have a strong affect on your bowels, anxiety can speed the passage along your bowels, but other emotions can slow it down and lead to constipation.

Painful conditions that affect the anus will aggravate any constipation, piles are the result of straining, which you are more likely to do if you are constipated. As they are painful it makes it harder to respond to a need to empty the bowels.

Working hours can interfere with regular bowel habit, you may to be at work early in the morning and leave home before you have emptied your bowels, or you may work shifts that interfere with your normal body rhythm.

A lack of suitable toilet facilities can aggravate constipation; many people need to feel comfortable before they empty their bowels.

What disorders cause constipation: a number of organic and functional disorders can affect bowel movements, any obstruction of the bowel as a result of scarring or inflammation or the growth of a tumour can lead to constipation. The pressure of an enlarged uterus and other changes in pregnancy can affect bowel movements. An interactive thyroid gland often results in constipation. Any alteration in the nerves or muscles that control bowel movement, as happens in IBS with constipation can happen.

If you are constipated, this does not mean that bodily wastes are being absorbed and damaging your health, if you have any worries about IBS with constipation then it is an important piece of information that you consult your doctor or a healthcare professional for their advice and guidance

by: George Faulkner

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