HealthInfo Canterbury
Overview of constipation
Constipation is a very common problem. It either means passing hard or painful bowel motions (poos) or going to the toilet less often than usual to empty your bowels.
Different people need to pass a bowel motion (have a poo) at different times. For some people it's quite normal to have a poo three times a day, while for other people it's quite normal to go just three times a week. If you need to have a poo more or less often than this, there may be something wrong.
Causes of constipation
Constipation can be caused by several different things. They include:
- not eating enough fibre. Fibre-containing foods such as wholegrain breads and cereals, nuts, seeds, fruit and vegetables will help to keep your bowels working regularly
- not drinking enough fluids
- holding on, rather than going to the toilet when you get the urge
- being immobile or not being active enough
- anxiety or depression
- side effects of some medications. These include some pain medicines (particularly those with codeine or very strong pain medicines, such as morphine, oxycodone and fentanyl), ondansetron, antacids that contain calcium, some antidepressants and iron supplements (there are many others)
- some medical conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome and other gut disorders
- pregnancy. Women are more likely to get constipated when they're pregnant.
Important
It's uncommon for constipation to be due to bowel cancer but a bowel blockage (when you don't poo for several days and have a painful swollen tummy) may be due to this. This is different to constipation. If this happens, it's important to see your doctor straight away as you may need to go to hospital for treatment.
Diagnosing constipation
It's important that you see your doctor if you experience any of the following:
- a recent change in how often you go to the toilet. For example, if you have just become constipated and there seems to be no obvious cause.
- bleeding from your back passage (bottom)
- alternating constipation and diarrhoea
- several days without having a poo or passing wind (farting)
- constipation that isn't getting any better after about four to six weeks of home treatment.
Your doctor is likely to ask you questions about how often you go to the toilet, what you eat and how active you are. They may ask you to complete a bowel diary. A bowel diary records information such as how urgent your need to go to the toilet is, the time and effort needed and any accidents you have.
They may also examine you. This examination may include a check of your abdomen (tummy) to feel that your organs are normal. It may also include a check for faecal impaction, which means hard, dry poo collected in your rectum (bottom).
If your doctor thinks you may have faecal impaction, they may do a rectal examination. This involves putting one finger gently into your anus (bottom) to feel for hard poo.
Your doctor may also check you don't have any other disease or condition that might be causing your constipation. You might need a blood test.
Treating constipation
Eating and lifestyle measures can help you get over constipation and stop it from happening again. If these changes don't help, your doctor may prescribe a laxative to help your bowels move.
On the next page: Self-care for constipation
Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed July 2021.
SourcesReview key: HICSA-13804
