A normal regular bowel movement in the morning after getting up makes the whole day smooth. On the contrary, if the bowel movement is blocked, people will feel uncomfortable throughout their whole body.
This is generally diagnosed from two aspects: defecation frequency and quality of stool. Normally, people have one or two bowel movements a day; some may have one only once every other day. If there is no discomfort, these are considered to be in the normal range. However, 3 or more days in a row without passing stool will be regarded as constipation. As to the quality of stool, it should be formed but soft and easy to pass. If the stool is too dry and hard, sticky, difficult to pass, or incompletely emptied from the rectum, this is still considered “constipation” in Chinese medicine even if the stool is passed every day.
Some think that constipation is not a significant health issue. But in fact, this is a great misunderstanding. Many patients with constipation have poor appetite, flatulence, bad breath, insomnia, irritability and other symptoms that may be related to bowel obstruction. Long-term, severe constipation will damage the intestinal tract and the internal environment of the digestive tract, resulting in metabolic and endocrine disorders.
Constipation is closely related to how people live and work in modern times; for example, working at a desk or on the computer and driving to work every day, many people are relatively sedentary. Since they have to sit for a long time and lack exercise, especially exercise that moves the waist and abdomen, peristalsis in the gastrointestinal tract slows down, and the water from food is absorbed excessively, making the stool hard and dry and difficult to pass.
Irregular life. Modern people, especially the young, often overeat or eat irregularly, and stay up late, forcing the stomach and intestines to work and rest at the “wrong times”, or times that are not in accord with the natural cycles of the sun. As time goes by, their functions are disrupted, and constipation thus occurs.
Overeating of spicy food with hot properties is also a factor. Hot pepper, white wine, meat and other spicy and greasy food will consume too much water in the body and digestive juices necessary for the digestion process will be reduced, resulting in dryness in the intestines and thus affecting the stools.
In addition, negative emotions such as anger and dysphoria, or long-term excessive use of the brain, thinking too much, also affect the autonomic nervous system, causing an adverse impact on the secretion of digestive juice and movement in the digestive tract. All of these factors lead to constipation.
Using massage for acute conditions
In Chinese internal medicine, constipation is divided into different types based on syndrome differentiation, which is a diagnosis of the pattern of imbalance involved. The following are the most common: qi deficiency, blood deficiency, excess heat, and yin deficiency. In addition to herbal medicines that are orally adminstered, massage can be used for acute conditions because it can directly promote gastrointestinal movement by applying different manipulations based on the principle of "one must first apply symptomatic treatment in acute conditions before resolving the root causes". In clinical practice, in addition to the massage manipulations for relaxing the bowels, other manipulations at acupoints are often added that are tailored to treat different syndrome types related to conditions of qi and blood, deficiency and excess, as well as differences in time, place and individuals.
The manipulations are as follows:
1. Kneading the abdomen. Place the palms on both sides of the umbilicus, just like holding a ball. Knead the abdomen clockwise and counter clockwise for 12 times each.
2. Pushing-kneading the left lower abdomen. Place the pad of the four fingers of both hands on the place corresponding to the descending colon in the left lower abdomen. A relatively large intestinal tube can be palpated here in patients with constipation. This is where the pushing, pressing, kneading and squeezing methods are applied.
3. Tapping the sacrum. Tap the lumbosacral region with an “empty fist” (hand cupped with space in the center) or palms for 30 to 50 times.
4. When passing stool is difficult, one can self-press Zhigou (TE 6) on both sides (on the back side of the arm, 3 cun above the wrist line) alternatively, for half a minute each. This point is good for removing obstructions.
Patients with constipation should also pay attention to diet, daily life, emotions and exercise. The above manipulations are only appropriate for those with functional or primary constipation and should be performed under the guidance of a doctor. For those with organic lesions (other diseases) leading to constipation, or secondary constipation caused by serious metabolic or endocrine diseases, a professional doctor should be consulted in a timely manner.
