All living beings, small and large, old and just born into the world, in order to live, they need food and breathing. Also, to maintain life, bowel movement is also necessary. What is it, in general terms, is known to almost everyone. But why not having problems with bowel movements and how to cope with them, not everyone knows. Let's try to figure it out.
Defecation from a medical point of view
The people defecation called "go to the toilet in a big way." Sometimes the expression “chair” is also used, for example, “there was a chair”, “there is no chair”, “loose stool” and so on. Doctors call this process a bowel movement. What is it scientifically? By defecation or bowel movement is understood the process of removing from the body feces (all waste from eating and undigested particles) through the anus. Without this process, no living organism can exist. Defecation in humans should be carried out regularly. A bowel movement is considered normal from two times a day to three times a week. It is also considered normal to excrete feces easily, without pain, mucus and blood secretions.
Constipation
Almost everyone knows an unpleasant condition called diarrhea. Defecation occurs more often than three times a day, feces are rarefied. The cause of diarrhea can be a viral disease, poor-quality food, nervous breakdowns. If the act of defecation is carried out less than three times a week, or feces are excreted in small quantities, we can talk about constipation. This condition is very dangerous for health, as the feces that accumulate in the colon gradually stretch its walls. As a result, compression of neighboring organs occurs, their work is disrupted. In addition, harmful and unnecessary substances in the feces are absorbed into the bloodstream and enter all organs, causing their premature aging, undermining the immune system and contributing to the development of diseases, including cancer.
Why is constipation
The causes of constipation are great.
1. Psychological, when a person is embarrassed to go to the toilet or is afraid of painful during bowel movements, and deliberately suppresses the urge to defecate.
2. Alimentary, caused by malnutrition.
3. Dyskinetic. They can cause regular intake of laxatives or a sedentary lifestyle.
4. Endocrine, associated with diseases of the endocrine glands.
5. Toxic, caused by various toxic components (drugs, nicotine).
6. Reflex. They are associated with diseases of the genitourinary system, kidneys and other organs.
7. Psycho-nervous, associated with diseases of the nervous system.
Nutrition for constipation
Depending on the causes of the absence of defecation, treatment is prescribed. It can be medication, surgery, or diet.
At home, a person can help himself by changing his diet. So, with constipation, it is recommended to include fiber foods in the menu, which normalizes the digestive tract, in particular the intestines. Plus fiber cleanses the body of toxins. It is abundant in bran, green legumes, cabbage, apples, carrots. But those who have constipation are accompanied by pain and bloating, fiber is contraindicated. Some are sure that kefir is the panacea for constipation. However, bowel movements may worsen from this product. What does it mean? Fresh kefir really helps, and stale, like yesterday, even more contributes to constipation. In order not to be mistaken, kefir can be cooked at home on its own from milk and sourdough. Prunes in any form, oatmeal, boiled beets give a very good result with constipation. But doctors do not advise taking laxatives regularly, as this leads to severe disruptions in the intestines.
Painful bowel movements
Pain during bowel movements - an occasion to consult a urologist, coloproctologist, gastroenterologist, or at least a therapist.
Those suffering from constipation, feces that are not excreted for a long time, become dry and very hard. Moving along the rectum to the exit, they injure its walls, causing painful sensations. Sometimes even blood can appear on the stool, and pains when trying to squeeze out at least something are given to the heart, pulsate in the temples, make breathing difficult. Diarrhea is also usually accompanied by soreness. These are, so to speak, the most harmless causes of pain during bowel movements. More serious causes include tumors, polyps, fissures in the rectum, hemorrhoids. You need to treat a problem by finding out its cause. A doctor may prescribe one or more tests from the following list:
- delivery of feces (coprogram) ;
irrigoscopy (x-ray of the colon with contrast agents);
sigmoidoscopy (visual inspection with a sigmoidoscope);
colonoscopy (examination of the colon with a probe).
Treatment is prescribed based on the results. If pain occurs solely due to constipation, you can recommend the patient every morning on an empty stomach to drink half a glass of warm water with honey.
Defecation with blood
If a person discovers blood after stooling on napkins, toilet paper, or spotting is noticeable in (on) feces, a doctor should be consulted immediately. The doctor will prescribe the necessary examination, which will accurately determine the cause. A preliminary diagnosis can be made by the color of the blood. Scarlet speaks of cracks in the anus, the presence of hemorrhoidal cones in the anus, diseases of some internal organs, in particular the gastrointestinal tract. Chestnut speaks of inflammatory processes or tumors in the intestine. Black occurs when there is a suspicion of cirrhosis of the liver, cancer of the digestive tract, ulcer or gastritis. Blood clots can appear in inflammatory processes in the digestive tract. Blood in the stool itself is caused by a number of diseases, which only a doctor can determine. The diagnosis of the disease by the color of feces looks very doubtful, since the color of feces in most cases depends on the type of human food.
What are tenesmus
Tenesmus is called false bowel movement, when a person thinks he wants to go to the toilet, but the act of excreting feces does not occur. This condition occurs with irritation of the instrumental (intraparietal) nerve endings in the colon, with infectious diseases, such as dysentery, with gastritis, colitis and other gastrointestinal diseases. Sometimes tenesmus occurs with high emotional stress of a person. False urge to act of defecation is observed in the presence of tumors in the colon, when a person has the impression that not all feces are excreted, and there is always something in the colon. In some individuals, false desire is caused by anal sex or drug use.
Mucus in the feces
If, after a bowel movement without any pathological symptoms, mucus is observed in the feces, this is not always bad. Mucus must be present in the intestines. It protects its walls from chemical and physical damage, and also helps to promote stool. In addition, mucus in the feces can appear with a cold, runny nose, eating a large amount of cottage cheese, bananas, watermelons, oatmeal. So in minimal quantities, its presence on feces is allowed. But if there is a lot of mucus, or it has a purulent character, there is a suspicion of the presence of such ailments:
dysbacteriosis;
hemorrhoids (mucus may come out after the end of the bowel movement);
- mucous colitis;
bowel irritation;
- tumors, colon polyps;
cystic fibrosis;
violation of the suction process;
-worms;
intestinal obstruction;
-long constipation.
Defecation in children
The body of the child works somewhat differently than that of an adult. So, their intestines relative to body size are longer than in adults, and are in constant pendulum movement. The act of defecation in them occurs reflexively, as soon as a certain amount of undigested food enters the intestine from the stomach. Therefore, for babies, a fairly frequent defecation is considered normal. What does it mean? Breasts up to 3 months old may defecate after each feeding, and the stool should not be formed. This is not considered a diarrhea. With age, the number of bowel movements decreases, and by the year their number should not exceed 1-2 times. The absence of bowel movements in babies for a day or more is considered constipation. If breastfeeding, and diarrhea, and constipation of the baby can be caused by the mother’s diet and insufficient drinking regimen. In addition, childhood constipation causes some congenital malformations (Hirschsprung disease), narrowed or enlarged colon, adhesions, tumors. In older children, constipation can be as a result of prolonged wearing of diapers, fear of bowel movements, lack of familiarity with the pot, constraint.