What to do if you have chronic constipation

The harm of constipation is self-evident, and if it is long-term constipation, it will be even more miserable. In daily life, some people suffer from long-term constipation. There are many reasons for this condition, some are due to improper diet, and some are caused by disease. Therefore, when symptoms of constipation appear, you need to pay attention to timely conditioning. If the conditioning symptoms cannot be relieved, you need to go to a regular hospital for treatment.

For people who suffer from chronic constipation, they should not think that constipation is a small problem. It is wrong not to seek treatment within the range that they can tolerate. What should you do if you suffer from chronic constipation? Let’s learn about the treatment of constipation.

1. General treatment

Patients with constipation need to adopt comprehensive treatment according to the severity, cause and type of constipation, including general lifestyle treatment, drug treatment, biofeedback training and surgical treatment to restore normal bowel movement physiology. Pay attention to lifestyle treatment, strengthen education for patients, adopt reasonable eating habits, such as increasing dietary fiber content, increasing water intake to strengthen stimulation to the colon, and develop good bowel habits, such as defecating in the morning, defecating as soon as you feel the urge, avoiding straining during defecation, and increasing activity. During treatment, attention should be paid to clearing excess feces in the distal rectum; a positive adjustment of the mentality is required, which are extremely important for obtaining effective treatment.

2. Cognitive therapy

Patients with severe constipation often have symptoms of psychological factors or disorders such as anxiety or even depression. They should be given cognitive therapy to help them eliminate tension and, if necessary, anti-depression and anti-anxiety treatments, and a psychologist should be asked to assist in diagnosis and treatment.

3. Drug treatment

(1) Saline laxatives such as magnesium sulfate and milk of magnesium can cause serious adverse reactions and should be used with caution in clinical practice.

(2) Commonly used osmotic laxatives include lactulose, sorbitol, polyethylene glycol 4000, etc. It is suitable for fecal impaction or as a temporary treatment for chronic constipation. It is a good choice for patients with constipation who are poorly responded to bulk laxatives.

(3) Bulk-forming laxatives mainly include soluble cellulose (pectin, psyllium, oat bran, etc.) and insoluble fiber (plant fiber, lignin, etc.). Bulk-forming laxatives are slow to act with few side effects and are safe, so they are effective for constipation during pregnancy or mild constipation, but they are not suitable as a rapid laxative treatment for temporary constipation.

(4) The prokinetic agents mosapride and itopride have a gastrointestinal motility-promoting effect, and prucalopride can selectively act on the colon and can be used according to the situation.

(5) Lubricating laxatives can lubricate the intestinal wall, soften the stool, make it easier to excrete, and are easy to use, such as enema, mineral oil, or liquid paraffin.

Although constipation is a common disease and is not considered a serious illness, it can endanger your health if not treated. Among the many treatment methods, patients can receive targeted treatment based on the cause of their constipation. It is important to remind you that unhealthy lifestyles such as staying up late, improper diet, and laziness to exercise are common causes of constipation. I hope everyone will pay attention to this and change their lifestyles.