- Infrequent bowel movements – Not everyone has the same schedule when it comes to pooping. Some people use the restroom multiple times a day, while others once in a few days. But if you haven’t had at least three bowel movements in a week, that’s when you should take into consideration that you’re suffering from constipation. According to Elana Maser, MD, assistant professor of gastroenterologist at the Feinstein IBD Center at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, the ideal healthy “target” is to poop at least once a day.
- Straining – If you’re having a hard time in the restroom, and you’re finding yourself bearing down, rocking back and forth, and pushing, there’s a good chance you’re constipated.
- Bloating – I don’t think there’s anyone in this world that doesn’t hate to feel bloated. Bloating appears when the stool ends up blocking air in your digestion, as Dr Maser explained. “If you don’t have a complete evacuation of stool, you’re going to get air buildup in front of that stool.” On the bright side, once you succeed to have a full bowel movement, you shouldn’t feel bloated anymore, since the air will be able to move through your system.
- Hard, lumpy stools – When the digested food moves through your colon, the colon absorbs the water from your food. So if you’re having hard, lumpy stools, that’s because your digestion is moving slowly, and the colon absorbs too much water.
- Feeling like you haven’t finished – If you’re sitting on the toilet and you feel like you haven’t finished, it means you’re constipated. This can also happen to people with regular bowel movements or who are dealing with diarrhea: you feel that your bowel movement is incomplete. The term for this is “tenesmus”, and experts haven’t yet succeeded to understand what causes this sensation.
- Flatulence – As Dr Maser mentions, if you notice you’re passing gas more often than usual, it might have something to do with constipation.
- Needing help to have a bowel movement – If you need to press down on your stomach or shift positions in order to help yourself poop, that’s definitely a sign of constipation.
