constipation remedies

1. Hydrate: If your tissues are not hydrated, they can’t work correctly. Also, dehydrated poop does not flow well. Drink two large glasses of lukewarm to warm water before you plan to poop. Warm water has a dilating effect, which increases blood flow in the digestive tract. 

2. Diaphragmatic Breathing. This allows the abdominal organs to spread out so they can have more room to work effectively. Lying on the left side allows gravity to aid in digestive flow. a. Lying on your left side, place one hand on your belly and allow your belly to fully expand as you inhale. b. Exhale normally. c. Repeat ten times. 

3. Stretch: Give your organs space to do their job. Before you poop, stretch your arms high up into the air. This simple act allows your bowels to shift and prepare for elimination. 

4. Support and Turn Right: While seated on the toilet, gently press down on a secure surface with your arms. This will cause your torso to lengthen slightly. Slightly rotate your torso to the right (think 2 o’clock), which relieves tension on the rectum. 

5. Routine: Establish a regular time to poop each day. This will help to improve your gut wellness because the body will fall into a routine of eliminating at that particular time each day. 

I am often asked, “Squatty Potty, Yay or Nay?”

The idea of the Squatty Potty is great, but if you don’t have a huge bathroom, it takes up a lot of real estate! 

For those who don’t know what the Squatty Potty is, The Squatty Potty is a 7” stool that surrounds the toilet. The idea of the Squatty Potty is to allow your lower back and hips to flex. This puts you into more of a squat-like position. Anatomically, the squat position makes your rectum more vertical (better for gravity) and loosens the pull of the puborectalis muscle on the rectum. This is beneficial for women who suffer from constipation.

Your puborectalis muscle is a pelvic floor muscle shaped like a loop. It starts inside your pubic bone and goes toward your coccyx bone. It loops behind the rectum and heads back to the inside of the pubic bone. When we are standing, the puborectalis kinks the rectum. The more we progress toward squatting, the less tension the puborectalis exerts on the rectum. 

My three space-saving alternatives to the Squatty Potty are 

1. Have a pair of platform shoes to wear when you poop. (They cost about the same as buying a Squatty Potty, AND you can travel with them!)
2. Go onto your tiptoes. Going on your tiptoes while sitting on the toilet will create more of a squat position than if you are flat-footed. 
3. If you have a choice of toilets, go for the lowest one. 

Most of us hit the ground running. If we don’t poop in the morning, chances are, there won’t be time later, and we will feel uncomfortable for the rest of the day. 

Here are the seven tips I give clients to help them establish a regular morning routine.

1. While lying in bed, gently massage the left lower quadrant of your abdomen. This is where the descending colon is. It is where poop is on its way out. Gentle massage in this area can help to stimulate motility in the descending colon. 

2. Lie on your left side and do ten belly breaths. The key here is that you are lying on your left side, allowing your abdomen to relax and expand. This lets gravity help shift the contents of your large intestines toward that descending colon that will send the poop out. It also gives the intestines room to move and release any areas that may have been squeezed or blocked. If you start to hear a gurgle or gut sounds, you will be pooping in the hour. Those sounds mean that your intestines are moving its contents!

3.  Drink a large glass of water. This helps hydrate the body's tissues because our intestines need to be hydrated to digest and move waste (think dry play-doh vs. moist play-doh being pushed through a tube). It also helps with the gravity aspect. Because a volume of fluid is coming in, naturally, that will create pressure on the output of the system (aka – pushing out poop).

4. Stand up and stretch. Stretching the body opens up the torso and gives your intestines room to move so you can poop. Standing and stretching also allow gravity to help with intestinal motility. Are you sensing a pattern here? Gravity and space to work are super-key with pooping!

5.  Not all of us have room for a Squatty Potty.  I recommend putting on your highest platform shoes for a bit of a lift. The science here is that by raising your feet and positioning yourself in more of a squatted position, you un-kink the rectum, allowing the poop to exit more easily. This can also be accomplished by going up on tiptoes.

6.  Lightly Support yourself if you can. This lessens the upper body's weight on the torso and pelvis to give the descending colon more room. 

7.  Last, quarter turn to the right. Yup, we are giving the descending colon more room to move. By slightly turning to the right, you provide that descending colon with more space to let its contents go.

If you aren’t going, come back and try again later. Sitting on the toilet for extended periods is bad for the pelvic floor. And NEVER push.