Types of Constipation, New Silicone Colon Tube, and more

Constipation and "The Right Fit"

I sit in a hotel in sunny North Carolina, just outside Charlotte. I have spent the last 2 days here assisting my son with his college selection process. He was accepted at Davidson in Davidson, North Carolina, so I told him I would drive him down here to make sure the school was a good fit for him.

The drive was 16.5 hours from Madison, WI. Even though, as we left in the morning, I had felt the urge to move my bowels, I didn't poop all day long during the trip. Yes, the following day, I had two days worth of bowel movements; however, I still experienced constipation.

This experience got me thinking about writing a newsletter article on constipation. As the idea rolled around in my mind, it hooked up with this other aspect of my life: helping my son find a good college "fit." I want to share with you, my reader, that there are different types of constipation and you will do best if you address your specific type of constipation.

At this point, I imagine you are asking a few questions: "How do I know if I am constipated? How can I know what causes my constipation? How do I treat my type of constipation?"

"How do I know if I am constipated?" is an important question to address because the widespread word is that you are constipated if you have two or fewer bowel movements in a week. This is absolute nonsense. If you are not constipated, you will move your bowels at least one time per day, and two or three times is better.

With once per day as a guideline, you can also consider the type of stool. Here the Bristol Stool Scale is useful (see below).

If you have Type 1 or Type 2 stools, you are constipated.

Ideally, you want Type 3 or Type 4 stools.

I suggest that if you have Type 3 stools, your bowels aren't emptying often enough and, in order to optimize your bowel function, you will want to work toward Type 4 stools.

If you have Type 5, Type 6, or Type 7 stools, your body is likely working to get rid of a slight-to-extreme bacterial infection or other irritant, and as soon as it does, you will return to Type 4 stools.

If your body doesn't adjust back to Type 4 stools, you could be looking at an infection or a bowel disease. If you continually have a Type 5 to Type 7 bowel movement, consider a Gastrointestinal Health Panel.

The causes of constipation are many: hormonal, dietary, anatomical, a side effect of medication, poisoning by heavy metals, liver and/or gallbladder problems, lack of physical activity, mental/emotional decision, to name a few.

In my recent case of constipation, my bowels obviously shut down because I was sitting in a car all day, continually communicating to my body, "It isn't time to go to the bathroom!" We had left at 9:30am CT, which meant that we weren't to get to our hotel until at least 1:00am ET, and my son needed to be at the college at 8am ET the following day. We didn't have time to waste on pooping!

In retrospect, I needed to take an additional 5-30 minutes at home in the morning before we left to empty my bowels, which is almost always when I do. Given that I didn't do this, I would have liked to take an enema when I arrived at the hotel (way too sleepy for this) or to use a stimulating herbal formula the night before I left for the trip, such as MediHerb Colax, which contains dill seed, cascara, yellow dock, dandelion root, and chamomile. Next time I have a long trip to take in a car, I plan to remember my experience and take a half tablet of Colax when I go to bed. (The Optimal Health Center offers Standard Process whole food supplements and MediHerb herbal supplements through its consultation and testing services only.)

Let's look at other situations that can cause constipation and what you might do about them.

Hormonal constipation is very common among women. Think about pregnancy - many women become constipated during pregnancy due to high progesterone levels. As it turns out, as one's hormone levels fluctuate on a monthly basis, and/or over the course of a lifetime, constipation can become an intermittent or a chronic problem.

Hormonal constipation is not likely to be addressed simply with the common prescription of adding more fiber to the diet. With that said, increasing dietary fiber along with optimizing hormone levels based on the individual-specific results of a Female Hormone Panel will generally relieve a woman of constipation.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) can cause constipation. IBS is often caused by a gluten, lactose, or casein intolerance. For some, just giving up the offending foods relieves the constipation.

Pharmaceutical drugs can often cause constipation. Dietary changes, exercise, optimizing hormone levels (in both women and men), and regular sleep can often allow one to need fewer drugs, or no drugs at all, which can in turn eliminate the constipation.

A gut flora imbalance can cause constipation, which can be addressed using probiotic therapy.

Luckily, whatever the cause of your constipation, enema therapy and/or colon hydrotherapy will always assist a sluggish bowel to be cleared out for a fresh start.

As you can see, there are many causes of constipation, and not all of them will be addressed by the common medical suggestion of "adding more fiber" to your diet. If you need support unraveling the cause of your constipation, please contact the Optimal Health Center for support.