Health Complications Associated with Chronic Constipation!!

Chronic constipation may leads to a number of severe health conditions such as hemorrhoid, hernia, prolapse of the womb, and dependency on laxatives.

It is characterized by enlarged or swollen hemorrhoidal veins around the anal opening. It is mainly caused by straining to pass a stool over a long period of time. Hemorrhoids may be of two types:

Internal Hemorrhoids: - These hemorrhoids are located in the rectum and may not cause pain initially. The most prominent symptom of internal hemorrhoids is red blood coating stools in the toilet.

However in case of formation of clot in the vein or injury, pain may become severe. Internal hemorrhoids later on become large enough to protrude through the anus, appearing as moist masses, reddish and results in chronic fecal leakage.

External Hemorrhoids: - These hemorrhoids appear as itchy, tender with bluish swellings at the anus. External hemorrhoids make defecation painful and cause bleeding and anal spasms

Anal fissures: - They are characterized as superficial, small, painful cracks in the lining of the anal canal. Anal fissures occur due to the passage of hard and irregularly shaped stools. As a result spasms and painful defecation occurs.

Laxatives Dependency
People often pass sluggish bowels who abuse laxatives over an extended period of time

Hernia
Hernia is characterized by bulging of the abdominal contents. It occurs through a weak point in the abdominal wall. It may become more severe when a person tries to pass hard stools.

A Prolapsed Womb or Rectum
It may occur due to excessive straining and weakness of the muscles in this area

Medical Tests to Diagnose Constipation!!

Constipation is the most common health problem faced by individuals now a days. It is a problem of digestive system which involves less frequent bowel movements than normal. A person who is having constipation often feels difficulty or pain in passing stool.

A constipated person feels bloated, uncomfortable, heavy and sluggish. It may leads to a number of other problems as elimination of waste products from the body is necessary to maintain proper health.

How to Diagnose Constipation?

Constipation is associated with certain symptoms like abdominal bloating, abdominal pain or cramping, difficulty in passing stool, no bowel movement (over three days) etc.
Furthermore you can take advice of doctor. In order to diagnose chronic constipation certain tests are there:

• Constipation is a common symptom of hypothyroidism so thyroid test can be done.
• To view the anatomy and content of your rectum and colon, doctor can use “barium enema” technique. It is an X-ray test.
• Stool sample analysis will be helpful in diagnosing the constipation problem
• Another procedure to examine the rectum and lower colon content is “Sigmoidoscopy”. In this test a flexible lighted instrument is inserted through the anus that reaches to rectum and colon.
• A flexible camera-equipped tube can be used to examine the entire colon by using “Colonoscopy” procedure.
• Anorectal manometry procedure includes insertion of a narrow, flexible tube into your anus and rectum which will diagnose the underlying cause of constipation.

Constipation: Causes and Consequences!!

Constipation is not a disease but a symptom which is characterized by difficulty in passing stool from the body and irregular bowel movement. In constipation bowel movement is quite painful. Most of the people suffer from constipation at some point of their life. In case of chronic constipation certain other problems arise like coated tongue, depression, gas, fatigue, headache, diverticultis, hemorrhoids, hernia, indigestion, insomnia, malabsorption syndrome, appendicitis, bad breath, obesity, varicose veins and abdominal cramping.

A person is said to have constipation problem if he has bowel movements fewer than three times a week. As some people can even pass their bowel three times a week or three times a day. Thus you can say that a person is having constipation problem if he experiences straining, hard stools, pellet-like stools and cannot fully empty his bowels.

Morever a number of factors can leads to constipation. These factors are mentioned below:

Factors Causing Constipation

 Intake of diet deficient in fiber and fluids
 Ageing
 Lack of exercise
 Poor diet
 Bowel diseases
 Kidney failure
 Diabetes
 Neurogenic disorders
 Muscle disorders
 Structural abnormalities
 Pregnancy
 Stress and depression
 Obsessive-compulsive behaviors
 Anxiety
 Eating disorders
 As a result of side-effects of certain medications like antidepressants and pain killers

Furthermore, the major complications associated with constipation are:
 Anal fissure
 Diarrhea
 Hemorrhoids
 Fecal impaction
 Prolapse and uterine hernia
 Rectal bleeding

Thus don’t let constipation a reason for number of other ailments.