Definition of constipation

Here is the medical definition of real constipation:

A person has constipation when bowel movements are too hard to pass easily or are so infrequent that uncomfortable symptoms result. Constipation does not mean failure to pass a stool daily; this may be imaginary constipation. Hard movements that require straining can bring about rectal troubles such as hemorrhoids and fissures or may aggravate a hernia or the tendency to hernia. Constipation may cause uncomfortable symptoms such as nausea, heartburn, headache, or distress in the rectum or intestines, continuing until the stool is passed. 

Notice that we say uncomfortable rather than harmful symptoms; that are because these symptoms stem from nerve impulses to various parts of the body when the rectum is distended by retained fecal matter. They are not due to "autointoxication," or absorption of poisons from the fecal matter. It has actually been established that similar symptoms can be brought on when cotton is placed in the rectum after all fecal matter has been removed. Some people suffer more than others from these symptoms, not because of their imagination but because they are actually more sensitive. 

In imaginary constipation, the bowel movements are not difficult to pass; they cause no unpleasant symptoms; they simply do not take place as often as the individual thinks they should. Often, it is a mother or other relative who insists the movements should be more frequent. The fact is that bowel movements can be normal without being "average." While the "average person" has a movement daily, usually immediately after breakfast, countless people are normal even though they have more than one movement a day, or a movement only every second day, or every third, fourth, fifth, or even eighth day. 

People vary markedly in body makeup, type of intestine, eating habits, physical activity, and custom. By self-induced constipation, we mean the kind caused by one or more of the following: improper diet (eating the wrong things or eating too little); the use (that is, abuse) of laxatives, cathartics, etc.; irregularity in habits of elimination.

Modern living, with its strains, stresses, and sedentary habits, helps promote constipation; indeed, in some primitive languages there is no word such as constipation because the need for it does not exist. Functional constipation can also be caused by "sluggishness." As we have seen, after food has been digested in the stomach and intestines, the residue, a watery material, enters the colon. Water is absorbed in the colon; that is why the feces may become hard and difficult to pass if they remain too long in the colon. The stools are propelled along by a series of wavelike, peristaltic movements. Usually the waves are strongest in the morning, which is why it may be easiest to have a bowel movement before or just after breakfast. In some people, peristalsis is weak. 

This may happen with increased age, and some elderly people may require an aid to elimination. Mineral oil is the best remedy. But we think it wise to accept as helpful virtually any method that an elderly person has long used and found satisfactory -whether it is hot lemon water early in the morning or the enema that some elderly people believe has magical virtues. In such cases, the important thing is to watch for any sudden change in established bowel habits. How to Cure-and Prevent-Functional Constipation If you now do have constipation, there are certain things you can do to Cure it, and these same methods will also prevent you from becoming constipated.