Constipation? I Have Two Questions

“There’s Nothing Like a good Bowel Movement” made the point that chronic constipation is all too common and distressing among seniors. In the past, doctors defined constipation as having fewer than 3 bowel movements a week. Anything else was considered “normal”…hmmm…really?? Obviously, the patient was much more uncomfortable than the physician. We now evaluate constipation more broadly, starting with the patient’s perspective. Here are two important questions: Question 1: What bothers the patient the most? Different answers mean different problems. A. It’s very painful to have a bowel movement. Sometimes only small pieces of stool […]