When your colon (large intestine) absorbs too much water, your stool becomes hard and dry.

In most cases, as food moves through your colon, the colon absorbs water while it forms stool. The movement (contraction) of the muscles pushes the stool towards your rectum. When stool passes into the rectum, most of the water is soaked up. The stool is now solid.

If you’re constipated, the muscles in your colon move too slowly. It moves stool through your colon very slowly. The colon absorbs a lot of water. The stool becomes very hard and dry.

Some of the most common dietary and lifestyle causes of constipation are:

• not getting enough exercise
• not drinking enough fluids
• not eating enough fiber
• don’t move your bowels when you feel the urge
• Changes in your lifestyle, such as travel, pregnancy, and aging

Other causes of constipation include:

• medicines
• how your stomach and bowels work (such as irritable bowel syndrome)
• your bowels don’t work well
• taking too many medicines that help to loosen your bowels (laxatives)
• metabolic problems such as thyroid disease
• intestinal obstruction

What are the symptoms of constipation?
Symptoms may vary from person to person. Symptoms of constipation may include:

• hard and painful bowel movements
• fewer than 3 bowel movements a week
• feeling bloated
• not having much energy
• stomach (abdominal) pain
• straining ineffectively to move your bowels

If you have any other health problem that makes you prone to constipation, consult our expert to treat that problem.