Thin stools and difficulty passing stools

Defecation can be said to be a normal physiological need of the body. Every day we eat a lot of food, but because some of it is not needed by the body, it needs to be excreted through feces. But sometimes we find that something seems wrong with our bowel movements. Moreover, during defecation, the stool becomes thinner and defecation becomes difficult. What is the cause of this?

What to do if your stool becomes thin and you have difficulty defecating

When people have abnormal bowel movements or difficulty defecating, they should be vigilant, as this indicates that there are some hidden dangers in human health. No matter how serious the condition is, the problem needs to be solved as soon as possible. So what should you do if your stool becomes thinner and you have difficulty defecating? From the nature and color of the stool and the degree of difficulty in defecation, you can roughly judge your health status. Only with timely and correct treatment and strengthened management can you get rid of the trouble.

Have regular bowel movements and do not ignore the urge to defecate because you are too busy at work, which will cause functional disorders to your body. You can adjust the condition of dry stool by changing bad living habits, ensuring adequate sleep, and eating more fruits and vegetables. Due to an unhealthy lifestyle, more and more young women have varying degrees of dry stools.

Use bulk laxatives, lubricating laxatives (such as paraffin oil), hyperosmotic laxatives (lactulose, sorbitol, etc.), and stimulant laxatives (castor oil, anthraquinone drugs) as appropriate. Defecation is an extremely complex physiological activity involving multiple muscles and nerves. Women may have a higher incidence of pelvic diseases, depression, etc. than men. Therefore, women's stools are more than four times drier than men. Therefore, young women should pay more attention to their bodies.

But young women are different from the elderly because their organs do not have problems such as atrophy and aging. Therefore, the first thing to change to prevent dry stools is an unhealthy lifestyle. Factors that may cause dry stools include drinking too little water, not getting enough exercise, and eating too little fiber.

In addition, drinking a glass of warm boiled water after getting up every morning, or adding a small amount of salt to boiled water with a slightly salty taste, can increase the moisture in the digestive tract and facilitate defecation. Eat more fruits and vegetables and less spicy and greasy food. Eat more fiber-containing vegetables (leek, celery, spinach, etc.) and fresh fruits, drink water or honey water in moderation, eat dates, sesame seeds and walnuts, etc., which also have the effect of moistening the lungs and promoting bowel movements.

Through the above introduction, everyone will be clear about what to do if the stool becomes thinner and defecation becomes difficult. The problem of difficult bowel movements is quite common. This may be due to constipation. At this time, it is important not only to improve eating habits, eat more foods rich in dietary fiber, drink more water, and supplement nutrition, but also to pay attention to proper exercise.

Causes of difficult bowel movements

1. Dietary factors

Some people eat too little, and their food is too refined and fine. The food does not contain enough fiber and water, which cannot provide a certain amount of stimulation to the intestines. Intestinal peristalsis is slow, and food residues cannot be pushed into the rectum in time. The retention time in the intestine is prolonged, and excessive water is absorbed, resulting in dry stool. The fecal residue that enters the rectum is small in amount and cannot form enough pressure to stimulate the nerve receptor cells to produce a defecation reflex, causing constipation.

2. Lack of power to defecate

When defecating, not only does the anal sphincter need to relax and the levator ani muscles need to be pulled upward and outward, but the diaphragm also needs to be lowered, the abdominal muscles contracted, and the breath held to push the feces out. The elderly, the weak, the bedridden due to long-term illness, the postpartum period, etc. may have difficulty in defecation due to the weakened contraction of the diaphragm, abdominal muscles, and anal sphincter, and the reduced abdominal pressure, which may lead to insufficient defecation power, incomplete feces, residual feces, and difficulty in defecation.

3. Delaying bowel movement

Some people regard defecation as an unimportant matter that can be done early or late, and ignore the habit of regular bowel movements;

Or due to being too busy at work, being stressed, traveling, etc., the stool is delayed, causing the stool that has reached the rectum to return to the colon;

Or the time between bowel movements may be prolonged due to anal diseases such as anal fissures and hemorrhoids, fear of pain, fear of bleeding, and fear of defecation.

This may cause the nerve cells on the rectal wall to become less responsive to the pressure generated by feces entering the rectum, causing feces to stay in the rectum for a longer time without causing the feeling of defecation, resulting in habitual difficulty in defecation.

4. Excessive water loss

Excessive sweating, vomiting, diarrhea, blood loss and fever can all cause water loss, compensatory causes of dry stools.

5. Organic obstruction

When stenosis occurs inside the intestine or compression occurs outside the intestine, such as benign and malignant tumors of the intestine, intestinal stenosis caused by chronic inflammation, rectal spasm and stenosis caused by megacolon, intestinal adhesions after surgery, partial intestinal obstruction, or huge tumors in the abdominal cavity, such as ovarian cysts, uterine fibroids, as well as pregnancy, ascites compressing the large intestine, etc., the controllable passage of feces is hindered and stays in the intestine for too long, resulting in difficulty in defecation.

6. Colorectal disease

Diseases such as allergic colitis, diverticulitis, and Hirschsprung's disease can cause large intestine spasms and movement disorders, resulting in poor stool passage and difficulty in defecation.

7. Difficulty in defecation caused by medication

Taking calcium carbonate, aluminum hydroxide, atropine, propantheline, morphine, phenelzine, bismuth carbonate, etc., and metal poisoning such as lead, arsenic, mercury, and phosphorus can cause difficulty in defecation.

Long-term abuse of laxatives reduces the responsiveness of the intestinal wall's nerve receptor cells. Even if there is enough feces in the intestine, normal peristalsis and defecation reflex cannot occur, thus leading to stubborn defecation difficulties.

8. Difficulty in defecation caused by mental factors

Strong mental stimulation, panic, emotional tension, sadness, anxiety, or high concentration on a certain task can make the urge to defecate disappear, resulting in difficulty in defecation.

In addition, nervous system disorders, endocrine disorders, vitamin deficiency, etc. can also cause difficulty in defecation.