For how long is it normal to not poop? Here’s what you need to know about chronic constipation

While there is no ideal number of times you should poop, a gastroenterologist explains when constipation requires medical attention.

By: Anuradha Varanasi | | Updated: June 17, 2016 4:15 pm

For most people, their day begins with pooping before they go about with their day-to-day routine. Then there are others who have to evacuate their bowels at least twice a day and also another set of people who poop only once or twice a week. So the main question when it comes to pooping is, what is the ideal frequency — every week or even on a daily basis? The answer is, there is no such thing as the right frequency of pooping says Dr Tariq Patel, gastroenterologist at Mumbai’s Wockhardt Hospital. These are the doubts about pooping you were too embarrassed to ask.

Pooping habits vary from person to person

You need not start panicking if you didn’t have a single bowel movement the entire day and nor is there anything unusual about pooping twice or even thrice a day. ‘Majority of Indians poop at least once a day and for some, they have to go to the toilet three times a day. A small number of people poop every alternate day or even as less as once a week. You can’t put a limit or a specific number for this bodily function,’ says Dr Patel.

The gastroenterologist has observed that those who poop only once or twice a week normally live away from home either in a hostel or other such accommodations. ‘However, if you wait for more than a week to poop, you need to know that the longer your faecal matter stays in the colon, the more dehydrated it becomes which means the poop becomes harder, which makes it more difficult to pass stools,’ adds Dr Patel.

Colonic obstruction and what causes it

This could cause colonic obstruction as the colon tends to constantly dehydrate stools and if you go for longer than one week to poop, it could become a medical complication. Dr Patel says in cases where patients haven’t passed a single bowel movement for too long, it has to be manually removed or a water jet will have to be used by your doctor to break the hard stools and ease the colonic obstruction.

As gross as this sounds, it is fairly common for gastroenterologists to deal with patients suffering from colonic obstruction because of hardened stools or very chronic constipation. ‘This is more common among bed ridden patients. Since they are always lying down, the anal canal and rectum are not aligned which makes it difficult to pass stools,’ he says. These are the causes of constipation you didn’t know about.

Your bowel movements don’t only depend on your diet but also the position in which you sit in while pooping. Gastroenterologists say that the ideal position is squatting or while using an Indian toilet as the muscles are at an easy angle and relaxed enough for the anal canal and rectum to become a straight line. This makes it easy for you to pass stools. Try these home remedies for constipation that actually work.

Chronic constipation can be confused for diarrhea or what is known as ‘factitious diarrhea’

Another extremely interesting fact about going without a single bowel movement for several days or even weeks on end is that the symptoms could present as diarrhea. ‘The irony is that most constipated patients come complaining to the doctor saying they have diarrhea. However, they are actually just chronically constipated. This is because when the hardened stools cause at obstruction in the colon, there is some amount of liquid stools that pass through them,’ explains Dr Patel.

This can be mistaken as diarrhea and if the patient’s chronic constipation isn’t diagnosed, they end up taking medicines for diarrhea which only aggravates their condition. ‘This condition is called factitious diarrhea and is fairly common even among young people,’ adds Dr Patel. So the next time you haven’t had a normal bowel movement for more than one week or 10 days, consult a gastroenterologist to relieve yourself the right way!

Image Source: Shutterstock

Published : June 17, 2016 4:13 pm | Updated:June 17, 2016 4:15 pm

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