Has a weekend full of leftovers left you filled to the brim?
Dr. Wendi, a California-based board-certified gastroenterologist — or as she says, a legitimate poop doctor — is on hand and bowel with her recommendations for constipation treatments, offering up a how-to guide to get things moving if you haven’t been able to use the toilet since Thanksgiving.
Constipation is a problem with passing poo. According to the Mayo Clinic, people range in frequency of defecation from three times a week up to once or twice daily— and being “regular” means something different to everyone.
Few conditions are as uncomfortable as constipation, and perhaps owing to the holiday spirit and the impetus to indulge to the point of discomfort, December is Constipation Awareness Month.
Presumably, the more you know, the more you go.
Occasional constipation is relatively common, and it can be caused by any number of factors, including:
- Dehydration
- Lack of dietary fiber
- Certain medications, such as opioid painkillers, antacids, antihistamines or antidepressants
- Lack of exercise
- Overeating
Combining the dehydrating qualities of booze, heavy foods and a few days spent in flannel pajamas and indolent glory, moving only enough to serve yourself more pie, you have the recipe for a blocked belly.
Tackling the problem on TikTok, Wendi said that constipation treatments fall into two major categories, with the charming titles “mush” and “push.”
She explained that mush treatments work “by drawing water into the intestines, making the contents of it soft, making your poop soft, lubricating things and helping them move along the digestive tract.”
Simply put, mush treatments make your poop mushy.
According to Wendi, mush treatments can include meds like Docusate, Miralax, Metamucil, Lactulose and magnesium, as well as fiber-rich, mood-boosting foods like kiwi fruit.
Mush treatments can be used as long-term, regular (pun intended) and even daily options. However, mush options can take a few days to take effect.
If your constipation needs to be resolved sooner than the 24 to 48 hours that mush treatments require, folks, it’s time to push.
Push treatments, as you might have guessed, are medications that stimulate the gut to expel its contents.
“These medications work by pushing things along your intestines and causing contractions, primarily of the colon,” Wendi said.
Push solutions include Senna, Dulcolax and coffee.
While push solutions are more immediately effective than mush treatments, Wendi cautions against using them as a continual crutch, referring to them as “break the glass in case of emergency options.”
“They work quickly, but they also work by stimulating contractions in the colon, so they can be painful when used,” she explained.
