STRUGGLING to poop for a few days can leave you feeling pretty awful.
Imagine the agony of not being able to go for a number two for months on end.
2
Horrifying scans have revealed what an extreme case of constipation can look like – and it’s not a pretty sight.
A doctor took to Reddit to share scans of one of his patients, who confessed to not having a proper poo for not one, not two, but three months.
The CT scans showed a large, grainy-looking mass at the centre of the patient’s body, which an untrained eye might not make much of.
The mass was in fact stool.
“Had to ask patient after scan when the last time he did a bowel movement was,” the radiologist shared.
“He said last “real s***” was three months ago.”
Redditors reacted in horror to the scans, with one saying: “Oh god, I feel bad missing two days… I can’t imagine three months.”
“Oh lordy! A poo baby!” another wrote.
Duke University neurosurgeon Dr Oren Gottfried took to X – formerly Twitter – to express his disbelief
“If you feel horrible not going #2 every day, imagine the pure agony of not going for months?” he wrote.
Medics commenting on the Reddit thread observed that the patient that the patient was suffering from a condition called faecal impaction.
Also known as chronic constipation, this is when large amounts of dry hard poo lodges itself in the rectum after several weeks of more of not being able to go to the loo.
According to Cancer Research UK (CRUK), the main causes of faecal impaction are similar to those of constipation and include:
- Side effects from painkilling medicines
- Lack of exercise over a long period of time
- A low fibre diet
- Long term use of laxatives
- Depression and anxiety
Commenters were also left wondering how to treat the patient’s condition.
“Serious question. Can this be passed naturally with meds?” one commenter asked.
“Or what exactly happens to a patient that’s this stopped up?”
Another radiologist replied: “I think it’d be very unlikely to pass this naturally.
“I’ve seen calcified faeces on scans before and just wonder how long it’s been since the patient has had a bowel movement.”
According to CRUK, doctors and nurses usually treat impaction by moistening and softening the poo with an enema or suppositories.
If the enema doesn’t move the poo, a trained nurse or doctor might need to physically remove the hard poo from your back passage.
Symptoms of faecal impaction can include:
- Back pain due to the mass of poo pressing on the nerves in your lower back
- A swollen tummy
- A fast heart rate, dizziness and sweating
- A high temperature
- Severe diarrhoea that you have no control over
- Feeling and being sick
- Severe tummy pain
- Dehydration – you may feel dizzy, light-headed, or tired, or have a dry mouth, lips, and eyes, and pass small amounts wee infrequently (less than three or four times a day)
- Swelling around the back passage
- A numb feeling around the anus
- Bleeding around the anus
Paradoxically, one of the main symptoms of the condition is overflow diarrhoea.
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The constipated poo in your bowel is so hard that you can’t push it out, so your bowel begins to leak out watery stools around the poo.
The watery poos will pass around the blockage and out of your rectum and can soil your underwear.
Tips to relive constipation
IF YOU find yourself struggling to poo quite often, some simple diet and lifestyle changes might help ease the struggle.
Tweak your diet
Firstly, drinking plenty of water and fluids will make your poop softer and easier to pass. Alcohol, on the other hand, might only be adding to your woes.
Aside from trying to stick to healthy and balanced diet, eating certain foods might be a helping hand.
Fruit that contain sorbitol such as apples, apricots, grapes, raisins, raspberries and strawberries could make it easier for you to poop.
It’s also worth gradually increasing the amount of fibre you eat.
Foods that contain this constipation-easing nutrient include pulses like beans, lentils or chickpeas, wholemeal bread and pasta, potatoes with the skin on, Weetabix or porridge oats.
Fresh fruit and veg, rye crackers and unsalted nuts or seeds will also give you a fibre kick.
There are also a few changes you can make to your toilet routine that might help ease your constipation.
Improve your toilet routine
It’s helpful to give yourself enough time to complete your task.
And one of the worst things you can do is delay going to the loo when you feel the urge to poo.
To make it easier to poo, try resting your feet on a low stool while going to the toilet. If possible, raise your knees above your hips.
Get moving
Constipation can be caused by low levels of activity, so a daily walk or run can help you poo more regularly.
If none of these tweaks work, speak to a pharmacist about your struggles.