Constipation is a household name in India. According to the latest survey (Source: ABBOTT ‘GUT HEALTH SURVEY’), almost 22% of India’s adult population suffers from constipation. Constipation is a problem faced by people belonging to all age groups i.e. from children to elders constipation can happen to anyone.
What is Constipation?
Constipation is a digestive disorder caused due to issues with the digestive tract. Chronic constipation is infrequent bowel movements or difficulty in passing stools for a duration of some days, weeks, or even longer.
Constipation can cause stress and affect an individual’s ability to perform even routine daily tasks. Individuals must have easy bowel movements for a healthy life. However, due to constipation bowel movements often become hard, dry, and infrequent as a result of the colon (large intestine) absorbing too much water as the food moves through it during the digestion process.
Causes of Constipation
Causes of constipation may differ from individual to individual. However, here are some of the most common causes of constipation:
- Lack of fiber-rich diet
- Medications
- Reduced physical activity
- Changes in habits, routine, or lifestyle
- Ignoring urges of bowel movements
- Decreased water intake
- Increased use of Laxatives
- Psychological factors
There could be many other causes of constipation in addition to the ones mentioned above like colorectal problems, neurological conditions, electrolytes, renal functions, intestinal blockage, cancer treatment, and many more.
Symptoms of Constipation
Below are the symptoms of constipation:
- Passage of less stool than usual
- Lumpy, dry, or hard stool
- Difficulty in passing stool
- Painful bowel movements
- Bowel movements occurring less than 3 times a week
- Bloating or uncomfortable feeling
- Abdominal pain
- Nausea
- Loss of appetite
- Straining while passing stool
- Feeling of a blockage in the rectum that prevents bowel movements
Symptoms of constipation can also resemble many other pre-existing medical conditions or problems in the body.
An Ayurvedic understanding of Constipation
Ayurveda focuses on preventing the disease and eliminating the root cause of the disease. That is why an ayurvedic approach to treating constipation includes a range of healthy choices and decisions rather than keeping the sole focus on medications, laxatives, and immediate relief.
An ayurvedic approach to treating constipation combines various important elements like diet, exercise, massage, yoga, and natural medication. Ayurveda defines three doshas that regulate body functions which are Vata, Pitta, and Kapha – an imbalance between them results in illness, poor body functioning, or a disease.
According to ayurvedic medicine, constipation is mainly caused by an imbalance of Vata dosha in the colon.
Ayurvedic treatment for constipation
Ayurvedic treatment for constipation is entirely based on herbal medicine. These herbal formulations help in correcting the Vata imbalance in the body, improvise digestion, and enable the colon to function normally.
Some popular ayurvedic laxatives to treat constipation are:
- Triphala
- Eranda Oil
- Dashamula
- Abhayarishta
- Senna
An all-inclusive ayurvedic solution for fast and easy relief from constipation can be Wellness Mantra’s Anand Lax ayurvedic tablets.
Enriched with the goodness of all Aragvadh, Sonamukhi, Nishoth, Triphala, Sunthi, and Yashtimadhu, AnandLax is an ayurvedic solution for constipation that fastens cure of acute and chronic constipation naturally.