If you have constipation and back pain and want to know the reason, you must know the composition of your internal organs. Your body features a descending colon and rectum, uterus and ovaries (in the case of women), urinary bladder, and urethra. So, these all lie in your pelvis braced by your pelvic floor muscles. As your colon is in the middle of the body, so when you have constipation, you might suffer from pain that gives off into your abdomen. However, this pain can also travel down in your lower backbone.
If you suffer from lower back pain constipation, you should dismiss this before considering a more invasive diagnosis. Clinically, you are declared constipated when you have less than three excretions in a week. Yet, standard excretion can be as less than three times a week and as frequent as three times in 24 hours. Customarily, even if you expect daily excretion but have three excretions in a week, you will not be categorized as clinically constipated. However, this is not normal, as you might suffer from pain due to overdue excretion or dilating.
As constipation causes back pain, it can cause an issue for you. The reduced bowel frequency can majorly contribute to your lower back pain and abdomen.
What is Constipation?
Constipation is infrequent excretion or problems passing out the bowel movements. Standard bowel movements usually occur once or twice within 24 hours. And if you have three or fewer bowel movements in a week, you are categorized as constipated.
Constipation is quite common, and sometimes when constipation and dorsalgia occur together, you should know the reason behind, and how you can find relief. Chronic constipation, also referred to as fecal impaction, occurs when you get regularly constipated for an extended period.
What are the Symptoms?
- Hard or Clumpy Fecal matter
- Experience Pain While Passing Fecal matter
- A feeling of fullness
- Draining when passing stool
Usually, constipation inflames the intestines as they hold back the fecal matter. It can cause constipation back pain and trigger discomfort in the abdomen. So, this type of backbone pain indicates an acute condition.
What are the Causes?
Below you will find the causes of constipation and back pain. In a few cases, you cannot determine the primary cause of constipation. However, the possible causes of constipation may include:
- Dehydrated Body
- Pregnancy or Hormonal Fluctuations
- Spinal or Brain Injuries
- A diet that has inadequate fiber content
- Lack of Physical Activity
- Medications
- Bowel Obstructions
- Colon or Rectal Cancer
So, several factors can trigger constipation. It encompasses your diet, physical activity, and stress levels. However, slight constipation is usually due to an imbalanced diet or water intake.
Constipation Due to Back Pain
There are sometimes when an infection or tumor that presses on your spinal cord can cause vertebral pain. So, constipation can be a significant side effect of this disorder.
Spinal Pain Caused Due to Fecal Impaction
Fecal impaction can trigger lower backbone pain. It happens when a piece of dry stool gets trapped in your colon or rectum. So, you may feel pressure in your rectum or colon that can cause pain that radiates to the backbone or abdomen.
Lower Back Pain
If you suffer from a dull pain in your lower vertebrae and suffer from constipation, it is a possibility that your lower back pain and constipation are interrelated. The accumulation of stool in your colon or rectum can trigger discomfort in your backbone.
Lower vertebral pain is challenging to diagnose as it can have several possible reasons. As our major skeletal structures, muscles and nerves lie in the lower backbone. It would be good if you immediately got your vertebral pain diagnosed and treated, regardless of how minor or critical the cause is.
But can constipation lead to lower spinal pain? Yes. However, there are several other similar reasons also. So, if constipation is the reason for your spinal pain, it may indicate a more critical issue with your digestive tract. So, you must visit a treatment consultant.
Besides, if your vertebral pain is more serious, it can be due to other reasons (apart from constipation) like:
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
- Spinal Canal Injury
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Pinched Backbone Nerve
- Backbone Tumor
- Fecal Impaction
If you are suffering from intense backbone pain, you should immediately consult a doctor.
What is the Treatment?
If you are constipated and can’t urinate, you should immediately seek medical treatment. However, for normal constipation, first-line treatment is what you consume. You should try to include fiber-rich foods and increase your water intake as it will help unstiffen the faecal matter and allow easy discharge.
However, if you experience constipation after starting a new diet or medication, you must visit a doctor. They will recommend your diet, medicines, or remedies that will help ease the condition.
Some conventional treatments for constipation encompass:
- Exercising regularly or enhanced physical activity to encourage proper blood circulation and keep your bowels healthy.
- Increase water intake.
- Include more fiber-rich foods in your diet
- Start a regular excretion schedule
And if these remedies do not work, you can try over-the-counter (OTC) stool softeners, suppositories, and laxatives that can temporarily help relieve the condition. Besides, natural stool softeners and laxatives are also available in the market. However, in chronic constipation, please discuss with your doctor to help treat the fundamental cause.
If treating your constipation does not improve your spinal pain condition, there are chances that these are unrelated. So, you must visit a pain center to get professional advice.
When to Visit A Doctor?
If your symptoms are critical and do not vanish after conventional remedies, you should visit a doctor. Sometimes, you may experience the following symptoms:
- Constipation followed by diarrhea and frequent urination
- Blood in stool
- Shooting Spinal Pain
- Intense pain in Abdomen
- Fever
- Vomiting
You should never forget that constipation is the root of other significant diseases. So, visit a specialist for immediate treatment.
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