I am just not feeling right. How often have you heard those words or uttered them yourself? People usually don’t come right out and say, “I am constipated.” But when you or others are not feeling quite right, many times constipation is the reason. Constipation is just one symptom of hemorrhoids you may experience.

It’s that bloated and full feeling that has you feeling miserable. What causes constipation?

There are a number of reasons for a person to be constipated. Besides the obvious, a poor diet with too many refined foods, there are other reasons.

Sometimes it can be as simple as not getting enough water. Many people walk around dehydrated without even knowing it. Yes, there has been a lot of debate about how much water you need to drink. The experts are still batting that one around. The fact is that water is needed to aid in digestion and to keep things running smoothly. So lack of water could be a cause of constipation.

Another thing that could cause constipation and it is not one that many people associate with the condition, is exercise. Or more precisely, lack of exercise. Moving around also aids in digestion and therefore regular bowel movements.

If you have been sitting around or lying around all day, the body has not had a chance to move all of the muscles necessary to help keep you regular. This could be as simple as a walk around the block, but some movement is necessary.

Prescription drugs are a big cause of constipation. It is listed as a side effect on hundreds and hundreds of medications. It also can be a side effect with over the counter medications as well. Sometimes the doctor will tell you this when prescribing the medication.

But more times than not, you have to discover this on your own. Usually switching or stopping the medication altogether is not an option. So you will need to take steps to help this while you are on the medication.

Some of the things you could do would be eat more fiber either with cereals and breads or fruits and vegetables. Those should all be included in a healthy diet anyway, so the addition of a few would only help. Also if the condition is severe, you might need to try a fiber supplement in addition to the fiber you get from foods.

This, of course, would be for your doctor to advise you about. He might also suggest eating yogurt to add some probiotics to your system. That will also aid in digestion.

If you have to stay in the hospital, you could have the trifecta of no exercise, medication side effects, and not enough water. So if you find yourself in that position, ask your doctor what you can do about it. It is bad enough to have to stay in the hospital at all, let alone add constipation to your suffering.

There have been patients that have had this problem for days in the hospital and then days after they get home. It is much better to be proactive about it in the beginning than have days and days of suffering.

The last word on constipation is a complication of constipation. That is hemmorhoids. To literally add insult to injury, hemmorhoids can come on the heels of constipation because of the straining in the first place.

What a painful condition that can be! If that is not motivation to prevent constipation, I don’t know what would be!