Constipation refers to the difficulty in passing stools, dry and hard stools, constipation, difficulty in passing stools, reduced frequency of bowel movements or prolonged intervals between bowel movements, or the inability to pass stools despite the desire to pass stools, or the difficulty in passing stools even if they are not dry.
A. Hazards of Constipation
It tends to induce many diseases, such as toothache, hemorrhoids, acne, emotional irritability, elevated blood pressure, blood clot dislodgement, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular accidents and other events.
The understanding and classification of constipation in Chinese medicine
Chinese medicine refers to constipation as “constipation”, “constipated and astringent stool”, “difficult stool”, “spleen contract”, “cold accumulation”, etc. “cold accumulation” and so on. Constipation can be divided into two major categories: actual constipation and deficiency constipation
Actual constipation is divided into three types: heat accumulation in the intestines and stomach, qi stagnation, and yin-cold stagnation;
Deficiency constipation is divided into four types: qi deficiency, blood deficiency, yin deficiency and yang deficiency.
In clinical work, TCM to improve constipation is a disease that is easier to treat.
B. Chinese medicine treatment of constipation
The treatment of constipation is divided into internal and external treatment.
Internal treatment usually requires the prescription of herbal tonics that fit the type of evidence after dialectic examination, such as Ma Zi Ren Wan (spleen contracted constipation), Wen Spleen Tang combined with Half Sulfur Wan (cold constipation), Liu Mo Tang (qi constipation), Huang Qi Tang (qi deficiency), Run Intestine Wan (blood deficiency), Zeng Li Tang (yin deficiency), and Ji Chuan Decoction (yang deficiency constipation).
External treatment refers to the use of Chinese herbal soup with laxative and abdominal drainage effects to retain enemas, or acupuncture treatment using acupuncture points on meridians such as spleen meridian and stomach meridian, or abdominal acupuncture point embedding, acupuncture point application and gua sha treatment.
C. Health care methods for constipation
(1) Defecation should be natural. “Health care, but the natural”. To achieve the stool is not forced to bear, stool is not forced to earn.
(2) arrange regular defecation time. Good defecation habits are based on a stable routine. Early in the morning after waking up a little activity easy to produce defecation reflex. If you drink a glass of warm water early in the morning after waking up, not only helps to cleanse the stomach and intestines, but also can promote intestinal peristalsis, thus generating the desire to defecate, when defecation is smoother. In addition, after breakfast, gastrointestinal activity is enhanced, can also cause intestinal peristalsis to promote defecation.
(3) take a comfortable defecation position. Squatting is the best defecation position, because squatting abdominal muscles under pressure, so that the pressure in the abdominal cavity increases, can promote the discharge of feces, but if suffering from hypertension, cardiovascular disease should avoid taking squatting defecation, so as not to squat for too long resulting in changes in blood pressure or increase the burden on the heart and accidents. Sitting defecation is more suitable for people with weak physical strength or cardiovascular disease, because squatting defecation is more laborious and easy to fatigue. Sitting defecation body tilted forward, which helps to increase abdominal pressure and promote defecation. Weak people defecate, hands should be held on the side of the support (railings, stools, walls, etc.), so that after the defecation can help to get up. Also note that the speed of getting up after defecation should be slow, so as not to cause dizziness or fall.
(4) Sports massage for laxation. The use of sports massage can play a role in unblocking Qi and blood, enhancing gastrointestinal function and digestive and excretory functions, strengthening the peristalsis of the large and small intestines, and smooth stool. Usually you can use some traditional health care exercises, such as taijiquan, qigong guide health care, abdominal massage health care method. Massage abdominal methods generally have four kinds.
- Mo spleen and stomach: the right hand full palm pressure, paste in the left under the rib arch, and from the left under the rib arch push touch to the right under the rib arch, repeated several times.
- pushing the abdomen to lower the rebellion: the full palm of the left hand is applied to the lower part of the saber, and slides straight to the pubic bone, then the same operation with the right hand, repeated several times.
- umbilical butterfly turn: the right hand full palm press the umbilicus, palm does not move, with dark force repeatedly clockwise rotation, the force point according to the small fissure, palm root, large fissure, four fingers end of the order of rotation, repeated several times.
- abdominal circumferential rotation: the right hand palm force, clockwise from the lower right abdomen, then to the upper right abdomen, then to the upper left abdomen, then to the lower left abdomen, in this order to press, because we know that the lower right abdomen is the junction of the ileum and colon, followed by the ascending colon, transverse colon, descending colon, as well as the sigmoid colon and rectum. The peristalsis of the intestines is also in this direction, so when rubbing the belly in constipation, pressing this direction may be more helpful for defecation.
(5) Reasonable diet to help with laxation. Dietary conditioning, pay attention to dietary diversity, more vegetarian and less non-vegetarian, coarse and fine combination is conducive to defecation. Should be appropriate to drink more water, eat more food rich in dietary fiber, such as a variety of fresh fruits, vegetables, grains and cereals, beans and other foods. Especially green leafy vegetables containing more plant fiber such as celery, spinach, rape, cabbage, or adzuki beans, lentils and other beans, can increase the residue of food and stimulate intestinal peristalsis to promote bowel movements. Fruits such as apples, bananas, pears, etc. Do not be partial or too fine food, forbidden to eat cold, spicy, fried and other irritating food. For normal weight blood lipid is not high and no diabetes can be appropriate to eat more honey, sesame oil and other lubricating intestinal food, so as to stimulate intestinal peristalsis. You can also eat more porridge, especially vegetable porridge and other porridge with laxative effect.
(6) pay attention to anal hygiene and post-poo conditioning. Particular attention should be paid to anal hygiene. Usually people do not pay enough attention to anal hygiene, and anal diseases may occur over time. The hand towel used after the bowel movement should be thin and soft, small and even pleats are appropriate. Every night before going to bed, it is best to wash the anus with warm water, or often hot water bath, to keep the anus clean and good blood circulation. The underwear should be made of thin and soft cotton products, not rough or chemical fiber products. In addition, with other aspects of comprehensive health care, such as mental regulation, mental relaxation, keep emotional stability; defecation should be concentrated, do not read newspapers or listen to music, so as not to prolong the stool time, over time, easy to induce hemorrhoids; for patients with constipation or hemorrhoids, serious should be actively supplemented with drugs symptomatic treatment.
D. Doctor’s tips
- Habitual constipation must pay enough attention to the cause, perfect colonoscopy and other tests to clarify the presence of intestinal cancer, intestinal polyps and other causes before active treatment will be safer.
- Patients with constipation should not use random medication to avoid aggravating the condition.
- constipation can be selected from Chinese medicine short-term conditioning, from the cause to solve the problem. Or the combination of Chinese and Western medicine combined treatment, the effect is better. Not recommended for long-term use of Chinese medicine with laxative effect or anthraquinone-rich Chinese medicine, such as senna, rhubarb, aloe vera, etc., not recommended for long-term use of “detoxification and skin care” type of health care products, long-term use may induce colorectal melanosis, which is not conducive to health.