Normal people’s food into the stomach and intestines, after digestion, absorption, and finally the residue into feces discharged from the body in about 24 ~ 48 hours, the interval between two bowel movements is generally 1 ~ 2 days. However, because each person’s situation is different, defecation habits may be significantly different, some people daily or 2 ~ 3 days 1 time, there are some people a day 2 ~ 3 times, although the interval or number of defecation is different, but as long as the stool is not diluted, not dry and hard, defecation is not laborious, all belong to the normal state.
If for some reason the feces remains in the large intestine for too long, the water contained in the feces is overabsorbed, the feces becomes dry and hard, and defecation is accompanied by prolonged time, difficult to discharge, anal swelling, pain, or causes symptoms such as abdominal distension, abdominal pain, excessive farting, The normal regularity of defecation is disturbed, the number of defecations is reduced, the intervals between defecations are prolonged, and in severe cases the defecated stool looks like goat dung and is in the form of small spherical pellets. If the number of bowel movements is less than 3 per week and accompanied by obvious difficulty in defecating, this situation is called constipation.
Constipation is one of the most common problems in people’s lives, a seemingly simple but actually more complex, both painful and embarrassing thing. It is estimated that more than half of the population (50% to 60%) suffers from constipation, with a high incidence among the elderly, pregnant women, children and dieters. For some patients, constipation is the only reason for a visit to the hospital. Of course, the diagnosis of constipation must be based on the usual bowel habits and whether it is difficult to defecate or not to make a judgment.
From the point of view of modern medicine, constipation is not a specific disease, but a symptom of many diseases. Constipation can be mild or severe, temporary or long-term. Because the causes of constipation are many and complex, therefore, once constipation occurs, especially the more serious, longer duration of constipation, such patients should immediately go to the hospital for examination, to find the causes of constipation, so as not to delay the diagnosis and treatment of the original disease, and can be timely, correct and effective solution to the pain of constipation, do not abuse the laxatives.
The digestive tract is a multi-functional, complex system of tubes. When food enters the mouth, it passes through the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine (colon) and becomes feces, which the body does not need to pass out of the body through the anus. After the food people eat in their mouths is digested and absorbed by the stomach and small intestine, some residue is left behind, and the peristalsis of the small intestine pushes this food residue and much of the water and some electrolytes into the large intestine. The colon has three main functions: an absorption function, mainly in the beginning of the colon, absorption of water (about 300 ~ 2500 ml per day) and electrolytes (sodium and potassium, etc.). One is a storage function, mainly at the end of the colon near the anus, where non-absorbable residues are temporarily stored. The other is a transport function, in which the colon moves its contents forward by its own slow, rhythmic contractions. This movement of the colon has two forms: a non-propulsive contraction movement, a propulsive movement, these two colon movement so that the contents of the colon fully in contact with the intestinal wall, which is conducive to the full absorption of water and other small amounts of nutrients, and ultimately the formation of solid feces, every day, there are about 80 ~ 100 ml of water from the fecal discharge. Feces is the body’s digestion and absorption of food after the remaining residues and waste, which contains undigested cellulose, mucus secreted by the digestive tract, digestive juices, bile pigment, mucin, and mucous membranes of the digestive tract shedding debris: epithelial cells, intestinal bacteria and connective tissue.