Constipation Home Remedies

Irregularity is one of those things that no one likes to talk about. It’s personal and, well, a little
embarrassing. But if you’re one of the millions of people who’s ever been constipated, you know it can put a real damper on your day.

The first thing to realize when you’re talking about constipation is that “regularity” is a relative term. Everyone has his or her own natural rhythm. Ask four people to define regularity, and you’re likely to get at least four different answers. Normal bowel habits can span anywhere from three bowel movements a day to three a week, according to Marvin Schuster, M.D., professor of medicine with a joint appointment in psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and chief of the Division of Digestive Diseases at Francis Scott Key Medical Center, both in Baltimore.

“One of the most common forms of constipation is imaginary or misconceived constipation,” says Schuster. It’s based on the idea that if you don’t have the “magical” one bowel movement a day, then somethings wrong. Constipation has a lot to do with a person’s comfort level, says Peter Banks, M.D., director of Clinical Gastroenterology Service at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and lecturer on medicine at Harvard Medical School, both in Boston. People who are constipated often strain a lot in the bathroom, produce unusually hard stools, and feel gassy and bloated.

Schuster calls it “constipation” if you have fewer than three bowel movements a week or if you experience a marked change in your normal bowel patterns.

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