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Symptoms

Stools are hard, dry, and infrequent. It is difficult to have a bowel movement.

Other symptoms may include abdominal discomfort, lack of energy, dull headache, poor appetite, and low back pain.

Causes

"Constipation" comes from the Latin, and means "crowded together."

The bowels should move daily, ideally, after each meal. When this does not happen, waste material moves too slowly through the large bowel. Elimination becomes painful, and toxins are reabsorbed by the system, placing an overload on the liver and kidneys. All waste in the body should be expelled within 18-24 hours.

A number of different physical problems are partially caused by constipation: bad breath, body odor, depression, appendicitis, fatigue, gas, headaches, hernia, indigestion, the malabsorption syndrome, varicose veins, obesity, insomnia, and the coated tongue.

Toxins, reabsorbed from a constipated bowel, can also result in migraines, chronic gas and bloating, thyroid problems, meningitis, and myasthenia gravis.

Constipation tends to be common during pregnancy.

Older people often have constipation because they are not drinking enough water.

Persons with spinal injuries may have problems with constipation, due to damage to certain nerves.

Treatments

• Include enough fiber in your diet each day. Drink enough water. Get enough exercise, especially out-of-doors, so you get enough fresh air. Avoid poisonous substances and emotional tension. Relax, thank God for your blessings, and take time to be a blessing to others. Follow the advice in this paragraph, and many of your problems will vanish.

• As soon as you awake, start drinking warm water, a little at a time. By the time you are ready for breakfast, you should have at least taken a quart. Faithfully following this regime, you will tend to develop regularity in your morning bowel movement. This plan nicely starts the day off right.

• Then, after breakfast and every other meal, go outside and walk a little or a lot. Breathe deeply.

• The larger the amount of fiber in the diet, the larger and softer will the stools be.

• Eat smaller amounts of food at each meal.

Concentrated foods, such as meats, sugar, and cheese are excellent for producing constipation.

• Dairy foods, soft drinks, white flour, salt, coffee, alcohol, highly processed foods, and sugary foods should not be used, if you want to solve this problem.

• Iron supplements cause constipation. So do painkillers and antidepressants.

• All decongestants and antihistamines are drying agents, and may cause the stool to become dryer than it should.

• Eat prunes or figs. Flaxseed meal (best freshly ground) is helpful. Both will soften stools. Psyllium seed is also good, but take it quickly with a full glassful of water.

• When necessary, take cleansing enemas to relieve the load on the bowel. But the solution is better living, not reliance on enemas.

• A small, cold enema helps eliminate the enema habit. (See "Enema Habit, how to overcome.")

• There is always the possibility that, if constipation occurs too frequently, that cancer, or some other obstruction of the bowel, may be involved. Other symptoms of colon cancer include severe cramping; blood in the stool; a tender, distended abdomen; and very narrowed feces. But cancer can be present without these symptoms occurring.

• Alternate diarrhea and constipation may point to irritable bowel syndrome (which see).

J.H. Kellogg, M.D., Formulas

INCREASE PERISTALTIC ACTIVITY-Drink half a pint to a pint of cold water before breakfast, preferably distilled water. Increase the bulk of food, with free use of fruit, especially apples, oranges, and figs; also brand cakes, etc. (instead of so much smooth, non-fibrous food). Small Cold Enema; Graduated Enema; Fomentation over liver twice daily, followed by Heating Compress during interval between. Hot Abdominal pack at night; Abdominal massage; Cold Fan Douche to abdomen; Cold Percussion Douche to spine; Cold Planter Douche for 1-3 minutes; Cold Rubbing Sitz Bath at 700-750 F., 5-20 minutes. Avoid complete emptying of colon, using small Cold Enema instead of a large quantity of warm water, except when necessary, to relieve autointoxication or remove hardened, impacted feces. If necessary, introduce into rectum, as high as possible, at night or before breakfast, to be retained till the next bowel movement, a small pledget of cotton saturated with raw linseed oil or with glycerin.

INCREASE ACTIVITY OF INTESTINAL GLANDS-Half a pint to a pint of water at bedtime, to be retained overnight; abdominal message; Hot Abdominal Pack, without plastic covering.

REMOVE ACCUMULATED FECAL MATTER-Large Hot Enema or Hot Colonic; Neutral Enema; oil retention (oil enema to be retained throughout the night). Repeat the application till bowel is thoroughly emptied, then inject a pint of water at 750-700 F., to tone the bowel.

DILATION OF THE COLON-Graduated enema; Cold fan Douche to abdomen and spine opposite the stomach; running Cold Foot Bath; Cold Rubbing Sitz Bath; Hot Abdominal Pack, without plastic covering, changing every 4 hours.

INCREASE STRENGTH OF ABDOMINAL MUSCLES-Cold fan Douche; Cold Plantar Douche; Percussion Abdominal Douche; Cold Compress to abdomen, renewed every 4 hours without impervious covering; massage; special exercises, particularly head raising and leg raising while lying on one's back.

ENTEROPTOSIS-Restore prolapsed bowels to position; strengthen abdominal muscles as indicated above; correct normal sitting position; abdominal supporter.

HEMORRHOIDS-Long Cold Sitz Bath; Cool Anal douche; Cold Compress to anal area; small Cold Enema; if inflamed, rest in bed; Fomentations over the nates, followed by cold compress. Repeat Fomentations every 3 hours.

PAIN-(1) If due to a fissure: hot applications, sitting over steam [hot vapor, not actual "steam"]. (2) If due to irritable rectum: hot colonic. (3) If due to pain in abdomen: Revulsive Compress; Revulsive Douche; Hot Enema at 1100 F., followed by small cool Enema; Revulsive Sitz Bath.

RELIEVE SPASM OF SPHINCTER ANI MUSCLE-Prolonged Neutral or Hot Sitz Bath; Warm Colonic; Hot Colonic; Fomentations over the nates (the "nates" are the fleshy prominences formed by the gluteal muscles-the area where a child is spanked).

RESTORE SENSIBILITY OF RECTUM-Alternate Hot and Cold Colonic, Cold Douche to lower spine and nates. Shallow Cold Sitz, Cold Anal Douche, Alternate Anal Douche.

CONTRAINDICATIONS-Strictly avoid Sweating Baths that sometimes induce Constipation, also abuse of the Fomentation and the habitual use of the Warm Enema, which should be strictly avoided. If the Enema is used daily, the temperature, at least at the conclusion of the enema, should be 650-75o F., so that a tonic effect may be secured.

GENERAL METHOD-Each case must be carefully studied, with reference to the leading cause or causes which are operative in the individual case. Most important of these are the following: aparalytic or atonic condition of the intestine through disturbed or defective innervation; diminished intestinal secretion or an abnormal absorption of intestinal secretion, resulting in unusually dry and solid fecal mass; dilatation of the colon, giving rise to accumulation; relaxation and weakness of the abdominal muscles with lowered intra-abdominal tension; hemorrhoids and other diseases of the rectum; prolapse of the colon and other abdominal viscera; loss of normal sensibility of the rectum; spasm of the anal sphincter muscle.

This page was last modified on 2 December 2010, at 00:34.

URL: http://naturalencyclopedia.com/Constipation

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