Painful constipation

Introduction

When a person is constipated, it means that they are not having frequent bowel movements. Even though the condition is most commonly associated with having a cold or the flu, the second most common reason for people being constipated is actually related to back pain, believe it or not.

Naturally, the most common symptom of constipation is not being able to go to the bathroom regularly, but the second most common symptom is back pain.

Back pain and constipation

The lower back is an area of the body that receives a huge amount of constant press and impact in one’s everyday life, especially when people are active. Walking, running and many other normal, everyday motions can trigger back pain, and it can be made even worse by constipation.

The back pain caused by constipation results from the fact that the colon is full and natural movement is being obstructed, which causes great strains on the back.

Even children can experience such problems, because constipation is, simply put, a symptom of the body not being able to get rid of waste on a regular enough basis.

When waste stay in the colon for a long period of time, the body starts to reabsorb water and the still then become very hard and dry. When someone tries to pass this hard and dry stool which is also very large usually, they can experience a lot of pain and strain on the back because the muscles of the back are being used to force the intestinal muscles to push the stool out.

In addition to this, there can also be pain of the anus because of scratches to the skin suffered from pushing the dry stool out of it.

When to see a doctor

When people have severe and chronic constipation it is called fecal impaction, and they should go see a doctor about it immediately. This occurs when the rectum is blocked by the hard stool, and it leads to severe back pain, cramps, bloating and feeling of lethargy that are caused by the excessive amount of toxic waste that has been in the body for an extended period of time.

A doctor needs to be visited when the pain is constant and it does not improve even when the person is on their back and resting, when the pain is sudden and the person is either under the age of 20 or over 55, if the pain is traveling up and towards the chest, if there is nausea and a loss of appetite accompanying the constipation, when there is a weakness and numbness in the legs, feet and buttocks, and there are additional problems with the bladder as well.