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18 May 2009CONSTIPATION – DESCRIPTION

You are constipated if your motions are hard and you have difficulty opening your bowels. It doesn’t really matter if you don’t open your bowels very often, as long as your motions are soft and easy to pass when you do.

I’m sure you know some of the simple things that can cause constipation—not eating enough (especially not enough fibre), not drinking enough fluids, and lack of exercise. Certain drugs can make the bowel work sluggishly, including most painkillers, the chemotherapy drugs vinblastine and vincristine and some antacids. The barium that is given by mouth for X-rays of the stomach and intestines or in enema form for X-rays of the lower bowel is also very constipating. Constipation is one of the symptoms caused by excessive calcium in the blood.

Another possible cause for constipation is damage to the nerves which supply the muscle in the wall of the bowel. This can happen if you have a cancer growth pressing on the spinal cord or on the nerves as they pass through the pelvis. With constipation due to nerve damage, you may not be able to tell when you need to open your bowels. This is because the nerves which carry this message are often damaged along with the ones which supply the bowel muscle.

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