Conditions
Constipation
Constipation is extremely common and can affect a broad range of ages. It is generally defined as a problem in opening the bowels, but it can also mean opening the bowels less often than normal (perhaps less than three times a week) or passing hard or pellet-like stools on more than a quarter of occasions. Cases range from the acute (occasional and temporary) to the chronic (persistent), and can be triggered by poor diet; irregular mealtimes, and certain medication (particularly codeine-based painkillers and antacids containing aluminium). There are no long term complications for anyone suffering from constipation, although it can be a symptom of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). And with all the eye-bulging straining on the throne, you may also end up with a case of piles or an anal fissure. Still, it’s nothing that a high-fibre diet and lots of fruit and vegetables can’t sort.
Comments
You can share your experiences and thoughts with other Embarrassing Bodies site-users below. Comments are reviewed before they are published.
Please note: Unfortunately Channel 4 cannot respond to individual inquiries. If you have any concerns, you can check out the Channel 4 Health site or NHS Choices, but ultimately it is always best to check with a health professional.
Hi, I had a Baby 8 months ago and ever since i have had a real problem going to the toilet. I go once or twice a week and i have tried changing diets etc. i have even tried laxatives but nothing is working. I have got to the point now where i hate going to the toilet.When i need to go i get shooting pains in my tummy and it is just getting worse as time goes on. Sometimes i feel like im bursting to go and when im on the toilet nothing comes out. can u please help me? thanks
im 19 and im really embarrased about not being able to go to the toilet. it is getting to the point where im not going for 2weeks or more and when i do its just a little. ive been to the doctors and what they have prescribed dont work.please can you help me.
Hi,
I'm 30 and as long as I can remember I have passed small grapes sized stools, If i'm am lucky I can go twice a week but usually only once, when I do go it feels like i've past lots (but I haven't) and I don't have any pain or discomfort. I eat healthly and regularly and drink plenty of fluids. I have slight piles (that only bother my by itching) these came after my second child. I haven't really bothered about it, although my husbands says it's not right, until was talking to another mum and she told me about your show and told me to have it checked out?
i have trouble with my bowels. i can't seem to go normally i get reali bad stomach cramps and can try fr days before i go an when i do go i get a stabing pain around my bum and it can beme unbearable i seem to vary between being constipated for weeks to sudnly having dioreaha i would realy appreciate some advice on this plese
im not too sure i have IBS but im getting seriously worried. im 13 and ive eaten a chinese last week i havent been the same, i cant go to the toilet properly, i spend ages trying to, and when i do, they are tiny lumps, and they have changed colour, from light brown, and getting darker. everytime now and again i get small tummy aches, and when i go to the toilet, it goes, and i had really bad wind in the first few days, and it smells. i never have wind anymore, and if i do, i cant control it. i want it to be gone before i go back to school because what if i do pass wind in class? ill be a total laughing stock. and i already am one as it is. my mums said ive got constipation and it can be sorted by drinking lots of orange juice because that drink does generally make me need a poo (or stool, whatever its called.) but im scared it will block up and hurt me even more. should i take her advice? my dad also says ill need surgery as a joke, but im beginning to believe him now. will i need surgery? is it signs of some sort of disease or cancer? will it affect me long term too? im really worried, and my parents arent telling me the right things i want to hear. please help me embarrasing illnesses!!!
Hi, I'm 19 and have had problems going to the toilet ever since i was little, but within the past 2 years it has become much worse to the point where i am at most going once a month.
Also, I find that when I go merely the 'pushing, squeezing' motion is not enough to pass a poo and I have to press with my hand between my vagina and bum to move the poo and rearrange it inside me so that it is able to come out.
No matter what i do though it is always extremely painful and i have a tear on my bum so that whenever I go i bleed.
I've tried many types of laxatives but with little success and these tended to cause my to excrete what appeared to be blood, but it was not the same asmfrom the tear I mentioned before.
It is also a concern because I constantly feel bloated and never hunger, as a result I tend to eat little and I'm underweight with a BMI of 16. I am scared of the idea that eating any more food than I have to will just end up sitting inside my body and become harmful to me and that the next time I go to the toilet will be even more painful than the last time.
Please help me because it has started to effect the way I live and is in my mind everyday about what I should eat and how it will affect me when I do eventually go… Thankyou x
I have been suffering from constipation for a few years. What I am about to post may or may not be the proper medical things to do but it alleviates pain and the incompetance to pass stools immediately. I use a water bottle and literally squirt hot water up my backside (obviously luke warm). You only need about 50 mls, this instantly cures the problem of passing stools, which do come out like hard pellets. I have tried fruit and veg and plenty of fluids but the fact is results vary from passing stools easily to not being able to. This is not too disimilar to having an enema although in a smaller scale. After I do this I throw away the bottle. All I can say is thank god for Highland spring. I hope this helps others
i have been suffering with constipation for about a year now, i didnt go to the toilet for 6 weeks, and my doctor gave me lactolose, that didnt help, and know i go to the toilet sometimes once a week or not at all, when i do go i get real discomfort, i get shooting pains in my stomach, it takes me forever to go to the toilet and most of the time its not even a big poo, it just a few little dots, but they take me nearly half an hour to get out.
Please help, im really scared that i could end up with IBS
When i go to the toilet i have noticed white jelly in my stools.Ive had this over three weeks and there is quite alot of it. What could it be. Im 28 years old i dont go to the toilet often maybe once a week.
Hi my 10yr old daughter has had feacal impaction causing overflow diarrhoea, she has been on movicol but it hasnt worked, she was admitted into hospital where she was given lactolose and 2 ememas, she has been discharged without any medication for 5 wks, but unfortunately we got 2 weeks down the line and she hadnt passed a stool for 5 days, i took her back to the gp and he gave her picolax, this has worked and she was continually passing stools for about 30hrs. My worry is that her stools are very dark and thick looking, could this mean that she has blood in her stools, the doctor that she is under at the hospital doesnt seem at all worried about her condition, but I am very worried and would like your advise. Thanks
Important Notice
The information provided on this website (including any NHS Choices medical information) is for use as information or for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical care by a qualified doctor or other qualified healthcare professional. We do not warrant that any information included within this site will meet your health or medical requirements. This Embarrassing Bodies site does not provide any medical or diagnostic services so you should always check with a health professional if you have any concerns about your health.
If you want to embed our videos in your site, read our embedding T&Cs here
The EB doctors have been looking at your comments and have answered some of the common questions below. Remember that it is always best to check with a health professional if you have any concerns about your health.