Constipation and hemorrhoids

Often times the right information can change a person's
life. Read this carefully and I hope it will help you.
Most of us overlook constipation as a dangerous complication, and
each day that passes by and we don't deal with it, risk of
hemorrhoids grows more and more.
Any number from 3 to around 15 times a week ought be ok for
a natural bowel movement, less then that and we can speak
about constipation.
Constipation signs:
1) If you have hard stool less then three times a week.

2) Often strain during bowel movements.
3) Are bloated or feeling discomfort.

There is no scientific evidence that body absorbes more
toxins if you have irregular or infrequent stool, but one
thing is sure, as your stool ''waits'' inside, more and more
water is absorbed by your body and stool becomes harder and
harder. Constipation can be divided between the recent
(acute) or long-term (chronic). Long term constipation
requires fast medical check-up and diagnosis because it can
be caused by dangrous medical problems.

Origin of constipation
One of the most frequent cause of constipation and
hemorrhoids is not paying regard to your bowel movements.
Occasionally it's ok to postpone bowel movements, when there
is no toilet around or place is not permitting, but most of
the times we postpone it because of pure laziness.
During digestion, waste is pushed through your intestines
by muscle contractions and during that, most of water and
salt is absorbed back. If your water intake is inadequate,
water absorbed by digestion will stiffen your stool causing
intestinal slowdown. Slow-paced transit of digesting food
through colon is the most common source for
constipation.
Alternate causes may be medications (iron
supplements, antidepressants, pain medications), diet
(shortage of fiber), bad bowel movement habits, over use of
laxatives, colon diseases, hormonal disorders or pelvic
floor dysfunction.

How is constipation diagnosed and evaluated?
As constipation is the leading cause of hemorrhoids, lots
of tests for constipation and hemorrhoids are alike, and
patient history is extremely significant. Which exam or
tests will be performed by physician will depend on your
condition. History of patient can expose medications and
diseases that may be the origin for constipation, also
keeping a food log for a one or two weeks can show a lot to
your physician, for example a diet low in fiber. If one of
these basic methods are not sufficient to point to
constipation source, your doctor can also perform one of the
consequent methods similar for diagnosing cause of
constipation and hemorrhoids: colonic motility studies,
abdominal x-ray, blood tests.

One other argument why you ought to deal with constipation
as soon as you can is that it can lead to a condition called
fecal impaction, when stool hardens so much that it can not
be passed by natural bowel movements but have to be removed
manually. You should also refrain from using laxatives
regularly, or you could develop lazy bowel syndrome, when
that happens you have become so addicted to laxatives that
your bowels don't function normally.

Constipation treatment
Prevention for constipation and hemorrhoids is quite alike,
excellent treatment is a small switch in your life style,
nothing desperate is necessary, just increase fiber intake
in your nourishment and drink more water. Keep in mind that
by preventing and treating constipation you are also
preventing #1 source of hemorrhoids.
Eat extra dietary fiber, along fiber supplements, try to
spin your cooking around, less meat-more veggies, have
whole-grain cereals for breakfast, eat sandwiches with loads
of greens and whole-grain bread.
Recommended fruits: apples, pears, apricots, peaches,
oranges, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, figs,
raisins, kiwi, prunes (dry prunes especially), dates.
Recommended vegetables: oats, legumes (beans, peas,
soybeans, green beans etc.), broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes
(with skin), artichokes, barley, nuts and seeds, carrots,
red beet and different root vegetables.

If you don't have sufficient time or resources to cook full
meals (as most of us don't), take natural fiber supplements.

Take a quick snack of apple or orange between your
meals, by doing that you'll limit risk of hemorrhoids by at
least 50%, high fiber bars are the best for increasing your
everyday fiber intake. Increase your physical movement,
walk, swim, and jog or drive a bike, do anything to get up
and stop wasting your time in front of TV. 20-30 minutes of
exercise per day is sufficient, it will aid your colon
motility. Drink enough water, or fruit juice, avoid spirits
and caffeine (caffeine is a diuretic and for alcohol
digestion your body needs a lot of of water) because they
cause dehydration. Set aside period in a day for bowel
movements, try to get regular, in a certain part of the day.
Whatever period is best for you, morning, mid day, afternoon
or nightfall, just do it. Early morning just previously or
after breakfast is the best, try to aim for that, test and
see which food works best for you as a bowel movement
stimulator. For lot of people coffee works miracles, just
be sure to drink lot of of water latter during the day to
make up for the water lost because of coffee. Don't rush,
take your time, avoid risk of hemorrhoids inflammation, just
don't read or sit to long during bowel movements.
We have come to the end of my informational article. It's now
your job to take this information and do something with it.
Good luck and thanks for visiting.

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