Constipation is very common in fact it affects people of all ages
in this video I'm going to teach you how to get rid of it and prevent it
now before we begin let's first define constipation but remember we're all different so we have
different toilet habits but generally speaking constipation is when you go to
the toilet less often to empty your bowels or when you're passing hard
painful stools now there's so many different causes for constipation in adults
and sometimes there's actually no obvious reason but some of the most
common causes include a lack of fibre so not eating enough fruit and veg, dehydration
ignoring the urge to go actually I'll leave a full list in the description
below for you now the good news is that constipation can usually be treated at
home with simple lifestyle changes that we're going to talk about next but if
these that help enough I'm going to talk about laxatives a bit later on
tip number one a really simple way to help reduce straining when you try to empty your
bowels is by raising your feet so when you're sat on the toilet have a stool
there are some books place your feet on them and try make your knee come above
your hip so by doing this it straightens out where the colon meets the rectum so
this causes the stool to pass through much more easily also give yourself
plenty of time and when you have the urge to go, go don't stop yourself by the
way I am on vacation right now but I thought it'd be quite cool to film these
parts here so let's move on to tip two now to make it still softer and easier
to pass you need to drink more fluids so six to eight glasses per day and to help
your stools retain more fluid you need more fibre so more fruit, more vegetable
outs actually I'll leave a really useful link in the description below it's by the
NHS and it tells you all the different foods that have fiber in them and how
much to eat so check it out when you get a minute tip three increase your activity so
do more regular walking, more regular exercise and it's going to reduce the
time it takes for the food to pass through your large intestine so you're
gonna empty your bowels more regularly now the reason for this is that the
longer the food spends in your large intestine the more water it's gonna
absorb so it's gonna leave you with drier and much harder stools to pass and
nobody wants that now I'm gonna go off snowboarding I'll see you back in
healthcare world "Check this out!"
now if diet and lifestyle changes aren't
helping then laxatives are a medication that can help the bowels empty more
regularly however I would advise everyone to speak to their pharmacist
first before purchasing any laxatives this is so they can check it's the right
one for you, you're suitable to take it, you're not gonna have any problems
taking it and also check what medicines you're taking because certain medicines
can actually cause constipation now please remember laxatives should only be
used for a short period of time and they're not recommended for children
unless prescribed by a healthcare professional now let's move on to the
different types of laxatives and how they work I think it will be useful
knowledge for you to know so first up we've got bulk forming laxatives such as
ispaghula husk now the way these work is very similar to when you increase the
fiber in your diet it's gonna help your stool retain more liquid so it's easier
for your bowels to push the stool out please remember though bulk forming
laxatives do take two to three days for them to work they also increase
flatulence and bloating but this does settle over time because of this I
wouldn't recommend you taking at nighttime just before going to bed
next up is osmotic laxatives such as lactulose and macrogol which soften your
stools and make them easier to pass by retaining more water in the bowels this
is by a process called osmosis hence the name osmotic laxatives
now the osmotic laxatives that I've just named can take up to two days to
work it's also important to drink plenty of fluids of them because you now know
the reason why and it also improves how well they work stimulant laxatives
like bisacodyl, senna or sodium picosulfate speed up movement in the
bowels now this is caused by stimulating the digestive tract and causing it to
contract like this now remember because you now know how stimulant laxative
works with the contractions it can cause abdominal cramping because of this it
can also take up to 12 hours to work lastly we have stool softener laxatives
such as docusate sodium and glycerol which increase the fluid content of hard
and dry stools making them easier to pass now both of these laxatives work
quite quickly within 15 to 60 minutes it's also important to remember that
once your symptoms improved to stop using the laxatives unless you're advised
differently by your healthcare professional and as always with all medication always
read the information leaflet and speak to your pharmacist to make sure that you're
suitable to use it and that is the end of the video I've also left some really
useful information in the description below which I'd advise everyone to read
see you next week
(LAUGHTER) I'm filming this (LAUGHTER) "In that case if he's not here that's fine" I think he's ummm.
causing it to contract
I think this might look a bit silly
some of the most common causes are a lack of diet, a lack of diet?
a lack fibre
to release your bowels, release your bowels or empty your bowels?
bowels... be. be. bowels...
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