Treatment for Chronic Constipation
What Worked, and What Did Not

By Stephanie

Treatment for chronic constipation just happens to be my specialty. You see, I suffered with extreme chronic constipation most of my childhood. It caused great physical and even emotional issues.

My mother is a nurse. She tried various things to help me find relief. Here is what experience has taught me.

Good Nutritional Habits

As an adult I have learned that eating a diet rich in fiber and drinking lots of water provides your system with the launching pad necessary for regular, soft stools and is a wonderful start to a constipation care plan. This is the best and most powerful long term solution for anyone dealing with chronic extreme constipation.

Foods rich in fiber include, but are not limited to, prune juice, corn, white beans, black beans, kidney beans, avocados, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, many beans, whole wheat bread, pears, artichokes, oatmeal and, of course, our friend broccoli, just to name a few.

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6 Types of Laxatives

I have used these with various degrees of success as a treatment for chronic constipation. Here are some of the laxatives available. 

1. Lubricant laxatives

Taking mineral oil orally coats the intestinal walls, preventing the colon from removing water from the stool. This is supposed to keep the stool soft and help it to keep moving.

As a child, though I oddly enjoyed the taste of a tablespoon of mineral oil, I found the help it brought to be very minimal.

Once the stool was already dry it just didn't help. They say that mineral oil can help to prevent constipation from developing, but once the stool is dry, forget it.

2. Emollient laxatives

Taken orally, this form of laxative contains a compound known as docusate, which is a wetting agent that improves the ability of water to penetrate the stool, and therefore make it softer. Therefore it could be a treatment for chronic constipation.

Though each case of constipation is different, over all I found emollient laxatives to take too long before working, if they even worked at all.

In my case, though, I had a bad habit of waiting until my constipation had reached an extreme level before administering doing something to alleviate it. I suppose this was an out of site out of mind scenario.  Most likely taking this form of a laxative would be more effective at the original onset of constipation.

3. Hyperosmolar laxatives

These are indigestible, unabsorbable compounds which remain inside the colon, retaining the water in the stool.

MiraLax is a common form of this type of laxative. It is available through prescription only.

Second only to enemas, hyperosmolar laxatives proved to be the most effective treatment for chronic constipation during my adolescence.  It seemed to only take a few hours to kick in and really helped to blast through the hardened stool, moving it out.

4. Stimulant laxatives

These cause the muscles of the small intestine and the colon to cramp and propel out their contents more rapidly.

These can be painful, plus they irritate the colon. Even natural stimulants like Aloe Vera have the same properties. As one's body becomes dependent on them they become less and less effective. I prefer staying away from these.

5. Enemas

These work by injecting a water, saline solution or a mineral solution into the colon, stimulating the colon muscles to release the stool.

As a child, before my dad had discovered the ionic sea mineral treatment for chronic constipation, enemas were my best friend. Though shooting water or other solution into my colon often brought on painful cramping from the shifting of trapped gases in my intestines, enemas did work.

It usually delivered relief within an hour or so of administration. The pressure of the water effectively dislodged the stool and moved it out.

6. Suppositories

A finger is used to push these up into the rectum. Suppositories are used to stimulate the colon. However, sometimes simply placing one’s finger inside the rectum can cause the effect necessary to bring on a stool movement.

My mom is a registered nurse, and she knew how to deal with most medical issues. Numerous times she gave me a suppository for my constipation, but with limited success.

However, I can vouch to the effectiveness of a probing finger. In some of my extreme cases, when even an enema proved ineffective, she would do the unpleasant task of inserting her finger up into my rectum to physically break up the stool so it could be eliminated. (I love you, mom!)

Sometimes just the presence of her finger worked to stimulate a bowel movement.

Ionic Sea Minerals

Of all of the above treatment methods, I have found nothing to work as well as ionic sea minerals. Their high level of magnesium does the trick, plus offers numerous other benefits. How I wish I had known about this when I was a child.

A few years back my parents came across ionic sea minerals quite by accident. They started taking it as a daily mineral supplement, and found that it quickly ended their constipation.

I now find the sea minerals to be the quickest, most effective, least traumatic way to relieve my constipation. Also, they are quite inexpensive,  perhaps more so than any other constipation product on the market.

Magnesium is the secret ingredient in Ionic Sea Minerals that really helps with constipation. It draws water into the colon to soften the stool and aid in elimination.

Magnesium products like Phillips Milk of Magnesia
or Epson Salt are only for occasional use only.

Ionic Sea Minerals is designed to be taken daily as a mineral supplement.
This can spell the end of chronic constipation.

Personally, this is what I now turn to when I have constipation issues.

All it takes for me is one to two teaspoons of this powerful liquid, mixed up into my favorite juice. Within 30 minutes or so, I am almost always able to relieve myself.

Other Remedies

1. Abdominal massage is used to help remedy constipation.
   
   
2. A colon cleanse helps in removing impacted stool, and is especially helpful for extreme constipation.
   
   
3. Bowel retraining can be time consuming, but for certain problems it is well worth it.
   
   

(Go to Stephanie's Constipation Solutions)

(Return from Treatment for Chronic Constipation to Best Constipation Remedies)