Constipation Relief

How to Relieve Constipation Using Massage

Massage can give you some constipation relief and help it from happening again or at least lessen the severity.
This is a condition that everyone knows and has experienced at some point or another in their lives. For some, this is a major condition that plagues their lives as it becomes chronic.

Some Causes of Constipation

Constipation can be caused by several different factors, including as a side effect from medications and supplements, biologically sluggish intestines, blockage in the intestines, a symptom of other conditions, dehydration and even psychological. When it becomes psychological, it usually happens more so with children then it does with adults, if it isn’t addressed, it can become an issue for them when they become adults. What happens is usually they are constipated and when they can go for the first time, in however long, it is painful, which they view as if they go to have a bowel movement that it will be a very painful experience, forcing themselves to hold it. If a person forces themselves to not go, it makes it even more painful the next time that they have no choice but to have a bowel movement, making this a vicious cycle.

What Helps with Constipation

Massage doesn’t make it so you never get constipated ever again in your life, which would be great if it could. However, what it does do is help you to be able to have a bowel movement with less pain, then help you to become more regulated. Of course, when it is due to the use of medications or supplements (iron often causes this), it isn’t possible to be able to get back to 100% as you were before you were on the medication or supplement.

When having an abdominal massage, it will be unlikely to make you have to go while the therapist is working on you. Even if you do, it will not feel so urgent that you won’t be able to make it to the bathroom. Usually, you will start to notice some movement, or feeling like you need to have a bowel movement about an hour or so later. For some this may take longer than others as we aren’t textbooks, we’re all different. However, what is common during the massage is you may find you can pass gas. This happens because you have the muscles starting to relax as well as fecal matter starting to move, sometimes making small passageways for gas to be able to escape.

Treatment of Constipation

During your treatment the first thing is to have you face-down, this is so the therapist can work on the low back as well as the glute muscles. When these muscles are tense and you try to have a bowel movement, it can make it more uncomfortable, compared to when they are relaxed, which is important for those who try to hold it as long as they can before having to go to the bathroom. Once these muscles are relaxed and any trigger points have been released, you are put in a face-up position. Here the therapist will put a pillow wedge under your knees to help relax the muscles in the stomach. This makes it easier to be able to get to the intestines. If the stomach muscles are still really tight, the therapist will work on those muscles first, getting rid of the tightness or any trigger points present in the muscles, which again makes the abdominal massage more comfortable.

Depending on how comfortable you are, sometimes a cool cloth is gently massaged over the path of the large intestine. This is to help with bringing down any swelling that is in the intestine, and it also helps with decreasing the amount of blood in the area. If there is a lot of blood that pools in the abdomen it can cause you to get cramps. At the same point, not everyone likes having cool/cold on their stomach, and no one can force you to have it done, this has to be a decision that you, as the patient, have to make.

After this, the therapist does several techniques that go along the large intestine, starting near the end of the intestine, on the inside of the left hip, so if there is a blockage, they don’t want to force more fecal matter into the blockage, making it even harder to pass. These techniques include muscle stripping, small and large circles and vibrations over the entire path of the large intestine.

Sometimes, to also help with relaxing and ending the session, the therapist will use a wringing technique, which is where they lift the tissues on both sides at the same time and gently move towards the center, switching their hands to the opposite side that they started on. With this technique, they stay below the transverse portion of the large intestine (the part of the intestine that moves from the right to left, just below the ribs) to make sure that neither hand will move in the incorrect direction of the large intestine, which could cause the opposite effect from the treatment.

The last thing that therapists may do, is different leg movements, such as bringing the knees towards the chest, or bicycle movements, both of which can help with regulating the intestines. Walking and doing self-massage are both great things to do to help prevent constipation, along with keeping hydrated.