Constipation can be a frightening experience, especially when it lasts particularly long. In most cases, constipation should give way to treatment after a few hours, or one day at the most. But in some cases, it does last much longer. To answer the question: “ How long does constipation last ?” one should consider various cases and circumstances.

First of all: what causes constipation and what do you do to not only alleviate your constipation but also to eliminate the causes of constipation? Constipation can be caused by various factors, such as stress, an incorrect diet, a lack of quality exercise, too little water and more.

Looking at stress, you will see that stress is the single most reported cause of constipation. Stress already causes your muscles to go into spasm, even if you do not develop constipation as a result of the stress. But in more or less 80% of all cases of constipation, stress will be one of the causes of your constipation because it also affects the abdominal muscles such as the intestinal smooth muscles that are responsible for peristaltic movement (that is the movements that the intestine make in order to move the stool along towards elimination.

How long does constipation last if caused by stress? The answer to that would depend on how long the stress lasts. The best method to get rid of stress related constipation, seeing that in most cases it is hard to totally eliminate stress, is to effectively manage the stress.

You can manage your stress by means of balancing everything in your life, from time to diet to exercise. It is important to make sure, for instance, that you have enough “me-time” available to yourself. You can also relax your muscles by means of frequent rest and frequent exercise. Also, make sure that you go to the toilet frequently to eliminate. Stress will seem a lot easier when these aspects of your life are properly regulated, meaning that constipation will be an issue that can be handled with less stress and that it will then not last very long.

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An incorrect diet is the second most reported cause of constipation. It is important to drink enough water and eat enough fiber-containing foods in order to keep your stools manageable. Also, eating too much gluten containing foods will definitely cause constipation at some stage or another.

Fibre-containing foods are fruit and veggies, whole grain slices of bread, etc. Gluten-containing foods are white bread, cakes, etc. Eating correctly and drinking enough water has the fight against constipation already half won. How long does constipation last if caused by an incorrect diet? As with stress, that depends on how long you are planning on eating incorrectly, and how soon you are planning on beginning to eat a correctly balanced diet.

Foods to eat in order to eliminate constipation:

• Fruit and veggies, raw as well as cooked;
• Whole grain slices of bread and other fiber-rich foods;
• Dried fruits;
• Dairy products;
• Probiotic-containing foods;
• Foods containing quality fats and oils;
• Nut and seeds;
• Probiotics;
• Always buy yogurt that has the LAC (Live Active Cultures) logo displayed;
• And drink a lot of water.

Foods NOT to eat if you want to get rid of your constipation:

• Foods containing gluten such as cakes, white slices of bread, refined pasta, etc;
• Foods containing a lot of sugar, such as candy, chocolates, and anything else that is sweetened with sugar;
• Food containing starch, such as potatoes, unripe bananas, etc;
• Artificial sweeteners;
• Potato crisps;
• Do not eat yogurt that does not have the LAC (Live ActiveCultures) logo displayed;
• Do not drink any fizzy soft drinks.

Exercise and Relaxation always remain important in order to avoid constipation. Both exercise and relaxation will combat stress, making sure that your stress level will be low enough to combat constipation as well as any other conditions caused by stress and an unhealthy gut.

Methods of exercise include running (jogging), playing sports, training your dog, dancing, etc. The method of relaxation exercise, reading, playing board games with your family, etc. And once again I cannot stress enough the importance of WATER.

No matter what else you do, if you drink enough water, the answer to the question of “How long does constipation last?” will always be “fairly short” or “not too long”. And in some case, you may even hear the reply “I don’t get constipated”.

And no matter what else you do, if you do not drink enough water, or you do not drink water at all, the answer to the question of “How long does constipation last?” will always be in the region of “too long” or “when does it ever end…!”

The reason why water is so important in order to avoid constipation is the fact that water acts as a softening agent for the waste that is in your intestinal tract. Even if the waste is already extremely hard, water can soften it to the extent that your stool will become easier.

During pregnancy, water is particularly important because of the fact that the abdominal capacity of a pregnant woman is greatly reduced because of the growing fetus within her. Enough water ensures that the waste within the gastrointestinal tract moves along faster. Water still remains the single most important nutrient within any person’s diet. Water will soften the stool in order to make elimination easier.

How long does constipation last? The best answer will be that it depends on the risk factors regarding constipation. If you do enough quality exercise, eat correctly, manage your stress efficiently and drink enough water, then an occasional bout of constipation after the Christmas season or a binge on a party is basically all that you need to be concerned about.

However, if you are a couch potato the takes all your meal in front of the tv, eats nothing but junk food, drinks nothing but fizzy sodas or alcoholic beverages and does not know the first thing about stress management, then constipation is quite likely to become your No 1 enemy. How long does constipation last? It all depends on how you manage yourself.

References

• How Long Does Constipation Pain Last by Health Search Online Expert – health search online
• Constipation Pain, For Starters: What Would Happen If You Didn’t Poop For Weeks? By Susan Scutti – medical daily