1, what is constipation Constipation is a common problem that we all may encounter in our lives, it needs to be relieved by adjusting the diet, oral medication to help defecation, or even go to the hospital to ask a specialist to help us solve the problem. Let’s find out for ourselves what “constipation” is so that we can “know” what it is before we go to the doctor. See how many of the following questions you can answer? (1) How do you know if you are “constipated”? If we find that we or our family members have recently experienced symptoms such as difficulty in passing stools, less frequent bowel movements, dry stools, and reduced stool volume, then we are constipated. (2) What are the common symptoms of “constipation”? Of course, the symptoms associated with constipation are much more than these, such as chronic lack of bowel movement, bloating and abdominal pain, belching, bitterness in the mouth, recurrent facial acne, recurrent mouth ulcers, insomnia, depression and so on, all of which are caused by “constipation”! In general, constipation is a disease, but also a symptom, mainly manifested as each defecation requires effort to struggle, the feeling of incomplete defecation is obvious, less than 3 times a week defecation, or the need for enemas, cesarean assisted defecation, or laxatives to help defecate for more than six months, you have constipation. (3) When should I see a doctor? If your bowel habits change, such as an increase or decrease in the number of bowel movements, a decrease in the volume of bowel movements, or an increase in the degree of difficulty in defecating, etc., and these symptoms persist for more than 3 weeks, you should seek medical advice. 2. True story A few years ago, an extremely rare patient with constipation came to Nanjing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. She didn’t have a bad appetite or a big appetite, but in 30 years, she almost never ate enough. “I don’t dare to eat. When I think of feces as hard as rocks, I want to die.” “Doctor, I don’t want to live as long as I think of feces, I told you not to believe me, my feces is so hard that it can block the toilet.” The young lady, thin and slender, with a sad face, told the doctor that she had been constipated since she was a child, and as she grew older, the constipation became more and more serious. She could count the number of grains of rice she ate at each meal for fear that she would not be able to eat the stool. Two years ago, she was found to have an extra curved knot at her rectum than others, but it was not treated at that time. In order to be able to have a bowel movement, she started taking laxatives and began to develop a severe dependence, and now she does not have a bowel movement for a week or even half a month as long as she does not take laxatives. She said, “I am now afraid to even eat, and my personality has slowly changed, I used to be lively and cheerful, but now I have a bit of low self-esteem.” From the condition described by this young lady, it may not be caused by what she thinks is a redundant curvature of the rectum, and after long-term constipation, her gastrointestinal motility is very poor. The first thing she needs to do is psychological stress reduction, followed by medication and diet. The intestine itself has a functional excitability, eat too little, but not conducive to stimulate intestinal peristalsis and excitement, after the vicious cycle, intestinal function is naturally affected. 3, constipation is not so terrible Some people once constipation, like the above-mentioned lady, worry, anxiety, afraid to eat, and even some people will also seriously affect sleep. In fact, constipation is not so terrible. Instead, not eating affects the formation of feces, and the small amount of discharge will be more difficult; worry and anxiety will also make people’s overall functional state decline; if sleep is not good again, the body does not get the proper repair, brain – intestinal axis function is affected, which will further affect the function of the intestine. For constipation, we need to have a correct understanding. Chinese medicine believes that constipation is mostly caused by dietary preferences, internal injuries due to fatigue, post-partum or elderly people with deficiency of qi and blood, vegetative Yang, heat accumulation in the stomach and intestines, emotional and mental disorders, and poor defecation habits, etc. It is a local manifestation of the imbalance of yin and yang, internal organs, qi and blood, and emotional and mental disorders. Western medicine believes that the causes of this disease are multifaceted and can generally be divided into primary and secondary causes, where primary factors include: insufficient stimulation of the intestines, insufficient power, long-term neglect of bowel movements, etc.; secondary factors include: long-term laxative abuse, organic lesions (colorectal tumors or strictures), endocrine disorders (diabetes, hypothyroidism), spinal cord injury, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, and the effects of certain drugs. Parkinson’s disease and the influence of certain drugs, etc.