Before diving into treating constipation, it’s important to first figure out what type of constipation you have.
Through my research, consultations with clients, feedback from readers, and my own battle with constipation, I have identified two different types of constipation.
Since I didn’t find any terms for it in the medical literature (or perhaps I just didn’t read extensively enough), I came up with my own terms to differentiate between these two different types of constipation. I call them peristaltic constipation and stenotic constipation.
While most people seem to suffer from one or the other, there are of course people who suffer from a combination of both.
1. Peristaltic constipation
This type of constipation can consist of many different symptoms or factors, but the crucial elements are as follows:
- You just don’t feel the urge to have a bowel movement often (or rarely, ever). It may happen that stool builds up in the colon for days, but there is no urge or urge to defecate.
- If you have been suffering from constipation for a long time, this accumulation of stool may no longer even be uncomfortable.
- When you have a bowel movement, your stool is large and quite wide. Even if they are hard balls, the diameter is larger than half an inch.
A colon massage can really help get your intestines moving and support your body’s peristaltic mechanism.
2. Stenosis constipation
I came up with the name for it based on the medical term for anal stenosis (narrowing, tightness, or stricture of the anal canal). Stenosis constipation means you are experiencing one or more of the following scenarios:
- You often feel the urge to defecate. In some cases, the urge may be frequent or persistent. You may even feel the stool pressing against your anus, but when you try to poop, bowel movements are very difficult and sometimes or often nothing comes out. When you manage to poop, your stool can be of any width, length, and consistency.
- If you have had this type of constipation for a long time, your urge to defecate may have decreased significantly, if not completely disappeared (remember that the bowel can be easily trained). However, bowel movements are still extremely difficult and your anus/rectum may spasm and be very narrow or tight.
- When you have a bowel movement, the stool may be very thin, sometimes only as wide as a flat pencil. You have to strain and push hard, and it may feel like you are passing a huge stool, but when you look into the toilet you only see a very narrow or small amount of stool. The chair can be soft, hard, spherical or cylindrical, but rarely has a diameter of more than 1/4 inch – 1/3 inch and the maximum diameter is usually no more than 1/2 inch.
Listen to my podcast for even more insights and an easy fix:
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Two different types of constipation
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Jini Patel Thompson is an internationally recognized expert in natural healing for digestive diseases. She healed herself from widespread Crohn’s disease and has been medication and surgery free for over 25 years. Jini has appeared on numerous podcasts, TV and radio shows in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, giving people hope and vision on how to heal their colitis, Crohn’s disease, diverticulitis and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) using all-natural methods. Her books on natural healing of digestive diseases have been sold in over 80 countries worldwide. Jini is married and has three children, nine sheep, 11 horses, a cat and three dogs.
