Constipation

Excerpt

Constipation has been described in terms of both the character and frequency of stool. Normal bowel frequency ranges between three bowel movements per day to one movement every three days. However, a well-formed and otherwise normal stool that occurs once a week does not require therapy. A constipated stool is scyballous—that is, overdesiccated, hard, dry, and difficult to pass. Many symptoms are incorrectly associated with or attributed to constipation, such as headache, malaise, bad taste in the mouth, and coated tongue. There is no scientific basis that any of these is caused by constipation, but the concept has created a tremendous market for laxatives.

Fecal impaction refers to a hugh accumulation of hard stool, usually in the rectum, that cannot be passed because of its size and consistency.

Megacolon is constipation carried to the extreme, with a hugely dilated and atonic colon, containing massive amounts of stool.