Such a delicate problem as bowel obstruction is faced by people of all ages. In our article, we will talk about why there is constipation in women, and what modern methods of treating an ailment exist, and also share recipes for folk remedies.
What is constipation?
In what cases can we talk about the diagnosis of bowel obstruction (full or partial)? Most people, thanks to advertising propaganda, are sure that the process of bowel movement must occur at least once a day. In fact, the body of each person is individual. In medicine, it is considered normal stool frequency from three bowel movements per day to three per week. It is necessary to take into account not so much the number of daily trips to the toilet, how much to pay attention to the change in the number, frequency of bowel movements, as well as the accompanying symptoms, which can be found in more detail below.
Symptoms of constipation
In addition to the rare frequency of bowel movements, the patient has one or more secondary symptoms:
- Stool reduction
- Fecal masses become dense, difficult to remove
- There is a feeling of incompleteness of the bowel movement, heaviness in the abdomen.
- Decreased appetite.
- Bad breath.
- Blood and mucus in feces.
What is constipation dangerous?
In addition to discomfort, abdominal pain, flatulence, constipation in women can lead to various complications:
- Accumulating feces, decomposing, can cause intoxication of the body, which is manifested by nausea, vomiting, headaches. In extremely severe cases, sepsis may develop.
- Possible prolapse of the rectum, anal fissures or rupture of the intestines, mucous membranes, which is accompanied by bleeding.
- Constipation increases the risk of infectious diseases, including intestinal infections.
- Long-term use of laxatives is fraught with the development of intestinal motility disorders.
- With constipation, the necessary nutrients are poorly absorbed from food.
- During pregnancy, various complications may appear, which we will discuss in more detail below in a separate paragraph.
Causes of constipation in women
Medical statistics noted that women are constipated 2 times more often than men. This is explained by the anatomical features of the structure of the genitourinary and hormonal systems. Future mothers often complain about problems with a chair. Why does constipation occur in women? The reasons may be the following:
- The most common cause of bowel problems is malnutrition. Modern women simply have no time to take care of a complete diet. Fast food is saturated with fats and useless carbohydrates, while fiber and vitamins in such foods are often completely absent. Contributing to the development of constipation and improper diets, sudden changes in diet or change of foods.
- The causes of constipation in a woman may lie in a passive, office lifestyle.
- The lack of daily volume of water. Replacing it with sweet sodas and coffee also leads to constipation.
- Violation of the intestinal microflora due to improper administration of a course of antibiotics or uncontrolled use of laxatives to cleanse the body or lose weight.
- Endocrine diseases. Frequent complaints of stool problems occur in people with diabetes.
- Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract disrupt the proper functioning of the excretory system of the body: ulcers, dysbiosis, hemorrhoids and others.
- Most often, pregnant women suffer from constipation. This occurs both due to hormonal changes in the body, and due to pressure on the intestines.
- Constipation in an elderly woman occurs due to age-related changes in the body that disrupt the intestines.
- Neoplasms in the intestine are benign and malignant.
- Mechanical injuries of the gastrointestinal tract.
Constipation in women: causes, treatment during pregnancy
A common complaint of women who are in an “interesting” position is constipation. The problem occurs in 57% of expectant mothers. Extremely dangerous during this period, constipation in women. The causes of the disease are as follows:
- A growing uterus squeezes the intestines. In this case, blood flow is disturbed and stagnant processes appear in the pelvis.
- The human body produces special substances that trigger the process of intestinal motility. During pregnancy, the level of synthesis of such substances is reduced in order to prevent uterine contractions and a possible miscarriage. But such an unconditional protective reaction of the body affects the process of excreting feces.
- Hormonal restructuring also adversely affects the work of the intestine, weakening its function.
- The causes of constipation in a woman in the postpartum period most often lie in the weakening of the pelvic floor muscles, ruptures during delivery and pain in the bowel movement.
The process of treating constipation in pregnant women is complicated by the fact that many drugs cannot be used in this category of patients. In this case, laxatives and physiotherapeutic procedures are contraindicated, as they can provoke spontaneous abortion. Most often, the problem of constipation in expectant mothers is solved with the help of a diet and moderate physical activity. More details about these treatments can be found below.
Why are constipation in women during pregnancy a danger? Complicated bowel movements can adversely affect the process of bearing a child, up to the termination of pregnancy. Inflammatory processes, intoxication of the body, joined infectious diseases lead to serious complications of the fetus.
Diet Constipation Treatment
How to overcome constipation in women? Causes and treatment are interconnected. To get rid of the disease, you must first eradicate the root cause of the problem, namely malnutrition.
The main rule of the diet for constipation is the use of large amounts of fiber. It is not digested in the body, but serves precisely to remove waste products from the intestines. Fiber is rich in fresh vegetables, fruits, unrefined cereals, wholemeal bread, bran and dried fruits. Prunes occupy a separate place in the diet. In addition to fiber, it contains a substance such as sorbitol, which has a laxative effect. Drink compote from dried fruits or eat a few pieces of prunes, soaked overnight in water, in the morning on an empty stomach.
Constipation in a woman can also occur due to a lack of fluid in the body. It is imperative that you consume enough water. It helps soften feces and gently remove them from the body. The mineral healing water “Essentuki”, “Jermuk”, “Borjomi” and others helps.
Sour-milk products improve intestinal motility. Eat foods such as kefir or yogurt daily, and natural kvass helps with constipation.
Eliminate the use of rice, flour products, sweets, animal fats. But vegetable oils, especially olive oil, on the contrary, normalize the intestines.
Physical activity for constipation
Why are constipation in women more common? The answer lies in the lack of movement and activity. It is difficult to overestimate the beneficial effects of moderate physical activity with bowel problems. Thanks to exercises, the muscles of the pelvic floor are strengthened, blood flow and metabolism are accelerated, intestinal motility improves. Choose the right type of physical activity for you and do not forget to exercise daily. This can be a visit to a sports club, pool or home morning exercises. For example, the following exercises help with constipation:
- Lying on your back, lift your legs bent at the knees alternately to the chest and both at once.
- Lying on your back, move your bent legs left and right alternately.
- “Kitty” exercise: stand on all fours, round your back with an arc, then bend in the opposite direction.
- Exercise "bike": lying on your back, "pedal" your feet.
- From a standing position, pull each knee to the chest in turn.
Repeat all exercises 15 times.
For pregnant women, swimming, yoga and exercise with fitball are effective methods of preventing and treating constipation. Before attending training sessions, be sure to consult your doctor.
Drugs for constipation
Not always following a diet and playing sports leads to solving the problem of constipation. Especially often, elderly people need taking medications. Medicines for constipation are classified as follows:
- Drugs that provoke intestinal motility: buckthorn root, senna grass, Guttalax, Senadexin, Dulcolax. Such drugs do not work immediately, the result will appear 10-12 hours after application.
- Medicines that hold water in the intestines, which helps to soften feces: sodium sulfate, Karlovy Vary salt, magnesium sulfate.
- Prebiotics during splitting form acids, which increase the volume of feces and retain water: Dufolac, Export. The effect of the drug will manifest itself within a day.
- Preparations with dietary fiber have the effect of consuming fiber: cellulose, flaxseed, agar-agar.
The drugs are available in the form of syrups, tablets and capsules, as well as rectal suppositories. The latter type of medicine is the safest and most effective. Such constipation suppositories as Evacue, Bisacodyl, and Microlax are popular on the Russian market.
Most drugs are addictive and have a number of other contraindications and adverse reactions. Constipation in an elderly woman, its treatment with drugs requires special monitoring by a doctor. Self-medication is unacceptable.
Physiotherapy
Physiotherapeutic methods are widely used to treat constipation. Their doctor prescribes, taking into account the symptoms, the severity of the disease process, and related health problems. The following procedures apply:
- electrophoresis with antispasmodics;
- Ultraviolet irradiation of the abdomen;
- thermal procedures;
- mud and paraffin baths;
- diathermy;
- rising shower;
- reflexology.
ethnoscience
In folk medicine, the healing properties of plants are used, making decoctions of them. Such herbs as constipation help:
- alder buckthorn;
- liquorice root;
- agave leaves;
- kelp;
- senna leaves;
- plantain seeds.
In order not to make a mistake in the dosage, it is better to purchase ready-made collections of medicinal herbs in a pharmacy and apply according to the instructions.
Vegetable and fruit juices also have a laxative effect: beetroot, peach, carrot, drink from radish, celery, redcurrant.
Not just an unpleasant, but also very uncomfortable problem of constipation in women. The causes and consequences of the disease are very diverse. Constipation is a serious ailment that is dangerous with complications. It requires a specialist visit. Do not forget that proper nutrition and physical activity are effective preventative measures.