Choosing Your Constipation Cure: A Combination of Remedies May Be Best

Constipation is a common condition in the very young and the more mature. It's most often a problem for infants, toddlers, and persons over the age of 55.

Fortunately, an effective constipation cure can be simple, effective, and often free. And your most effective constipation cure may be the prescription medications you don't take.

If you take bowel-blocking medications such as codeine or hydrocodone painkillers (such as Vicodin), antacids that contain aluminum, many antidepressants, all iron supplements, or drugs used to treat Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, and bipolar disorder, tell your doctor about your bowel problems and ask about alternatives.

Switching to an appropriate medication may provide an almost immediate constipation cure.

If you don't take any of these medications, the next most important constipation cure is to make sure you drink at least 8 cups of water a day.  That's 2 liters of water every 24 hours.

The reason water is an important constipation cure is that dry stools are constipating. Increasing the amount of water you drink is more important than adding any food for constipation relief to your diet.

Just drinking more water can be a complete constipation cure all by itself, especially if you are diabetic, if you take diuretics, or if you work or work out in high temperatures.

Fiber, however, also often helps.

When using fiber supplements or fiber-rich foods for constipation relief, always start with  tiny servings of the fiber-rich food or the smallest possible dose of the fiber supplement. Be patient. Gradually build up to enough fiber to effect constipation relief. Slowly increasing your consumption fiber helps you avoid problems with bloating and flatulence.

Fiber can be your constipation cure, but it won't work overnight.

Moreover, sometimes fiber not only isn't a constipation cure, it simply won't help at all. This is particularly true if you have had a neurological condition like multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's disease for a long time.

If the nerves controlling the passage of waste products through the lower digestive tract have been damaged, adding fiber to the mass of waste products that has to be moved won't help. People with chronic neurological problems often need specialized prescription drugs for constipation relief.

Even in chronic neurological conditions, however, you can use prunes as a nutritious constipation cure.

Prunes contain fiber, but fiber isn't what makes them a constipation cure. Prunes and prune juice release sorbitol and other sugars that are only slowly absorbed into the bloodstream.

While these sugars sit in the intestine, they draw water into the central cavity. The additional water softens the stool.

The common herbal treatments for constipation-aloe bitters, cascara sagrada, buckthorn, frangula, rhubarb, and the most familiar, senna-are constipation cures appropriate for urgent constipation relief.

Once chemicals in these herbs have been converted to their active forms by friendly bacteria, they stimulate the muscles that push stool downward. They relax the muscles that hold stool in place.

Stimulant laxatives made from herbs don't work if the colon does not host Lactobacillus and other friendly bacteria. They will not give you constipation relief if you're taking antibiotics.

Any stimulant laxative, herbal or synthetic, is a less effective constipation cure the more often it is used. It's never a good idea to use any stimulant laxative for more than 2 weeks at a time.

And it is very important to your bowel comfort to avoid using stimulant laxatives and fiber supplements at the same time. You can actually pass out from the pressure on your colon if you take a combination of fiber and laxatives.

Other simple methods of constipation cure are things you do, not things you take.

Exercise can help, that is, if you don't exercise already. If you don't get any exercise at all, as little exercise as walking around the block is one of the most effective constipation remedies.

If you already exercise, unfortunately, getting more exercise probably won't be your constipation cure. It won't hurt, either.

Natural health experts and doctors alike advise that one of the best methods of constipation cure is to set aside a regular time every morning to attempt to evacuate the bowels.

The most effective time to try to evacuate the bowels for most people is immediately after breakfast. Sit on the commode for at least 10 minutes every day, whether you have a bowel movement or not.

Eventually, your body will attempt to take advantage of the opportunity to evacuate the bowel, if you are taking other steps to maintain bowel health.

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