Can constipation cause headaches?

What does constipation mean?

Constipation is a health condition related to the bowel. When the food is digested, the remaining has to leave the body in the form of stool, and the condition where the bowel doesn’t get empty is called constipation. It is related to the digestive system and its inefficiency of working properly. There are many stages of constipation. The worst condition is not emptying the bowel, even once for more than a week.

Everyday passage constipation:

This stage is the beginning stage where stool passes every day, but it creates issues like hard stool. We need to do some activity before the pressure gets created.

Time-taking passage constipation:

In this stage, a person will have to make efforts to pass the stool. The bowels will not empty easily, and a person will sit in the toilets for hours. In this condition, a person has to go to empty bowel multiple times during a day as it doesn’t get empty once.

Pelvic muscles congestion constipation:

Pelvic muscles play a vital role in passing the stool, and if they are congested or stiffened, the stool won’t pass easily. This is an extreme condition of constipation and needs medical attention.

Other than this, your stool says a book about your health, too; the types of stools can also determine which type of constipation a person has. There are stool tests available, and they can be performed at any health center, hospital, or clinic.

What is constipation caused by?

Among the multiple reasons for constipation, let’s discuss the major ones to understand how they will create the environment for constipation. Most of the people have constipation due to these reasons only:

Drinking insufficient water:

The human body requires water to function, from blood circulation to digestion, and insufficient water will create various adverse effects. A person must drink enough water, which might differ from human to human as each body is different. If the digestion system works well, there shouldn’t be any issue of constipation.

Unhealthy diet:

An unhealthy diet means food that your body doesn’t suit; the body requires 40 to 50 natural foods, which means uncooked food and the rest is cooked. All the organs will work with their best efficiency, including your digestive system, and there won’t be any constipation. Decrease the load from the digestive system to be able to process the food. Along with that, eating at the right time is extremely important. Don’t eat before sunrise and after sunset; if anybody follows this rule, there is no chance of constipation.

Medication:

If a person is encountering constipation, what medications is part of the routine that should be checked? It has been proven that many medicines have constipation as one of the side effects. Some medicines will impact the digestion system and weaken it. The person should be aware of and talk with the health provider regarding this issue, and, in the case of constipation, must change the medicines under the guidance of the health provider.

Pregnancy:

In women, pregnancy is one of the reasons why they come across the issue of constipation. During pregnancy, a woman will not be able to move a lot; she needs to eat a lot, and she needs to have certain home remedies and medicines for the health and growth of the fetus. All these activities will end up in constipation, but the pregnant lady can talk with her health provider, who will find a way that she would beat the constipation.

Stress:

Stress has a connection with digestion and a negative one, which will cause constipation. There are studies performed on this subject, and all of them have positive results. Stress will not let food be absorbed into the body, and stressed people will eat more, too, which leads to indigestion and finally to constipation.

Change in living environment:

If someone has to change the city, house, work shift, different office environment, etc., this all falls into a change in the living environment. It will create diet, eating habits, sleep, and overall lifestyle, which ultimately end up with temporary or long-term constipation.

Age:

With age, a person’s digestive system weakens, and food absorption delays, which creates constipation. If that person doesn’t change the diet with age, this condition opts to worsen over time and needs medical attention.

Lifestyle:

In today’s age, our lifestyle is materialistic, need and consumption-driven, which has changed the way we eat, walk, sleep, and work. We have developed multiple habits over the years due to the lifestyle that we have grown with the condition of constipation, and we need to change our lifestyle to get back on track with health again.

Can constipation cause headaches? If yes, then How?

The link between constipation and headache is very clear, and there are many indications that prove it to be a fact.

There is no direct link between constipation and headache, but medical science has proven the indirect ones that Can constipation causes headaches. With constipation, if a person has to strain while having a bowel, the headache may start. The other and more obvious reason is constipation; stool lies for days in the intestine, and it will create gas that travels upwards to the head, which develops headaches. Many people don’t realize that and, for a huge amount of time, have treatment for headaches rather than constipation.

When a person with constipation doesn’t take care of the diet, it creates low blood sugar, and that could lead to headaches.

Conversely, can a headache cause constipation?

After understanding can constipation cause headaches, the reverse question might surprise you and may raise a few more questions related to headaches causing constipation. Some indirect connections prove headache can cause constipation.

Let’s see a few reasons why a headache causes constipation:

Migraine attack:

When it comes to the prevention constipation through controlling headaches, migraine is the biggest of all headaches that need to be controlled. During migraine attacks, the human digestive system gets affected and slows down, which directly ends up in constipation.

Fibromyalgia:

In this condition, pain develops in the body, and a headache is a part of it; when a headache starts, the bowel gets affected, and a person might not be able to empty their bowel, which leads to constipation.

Menstruation:

Menstruation is a woman’s condition that brings headaches and constipation at the same time. Menstrual causes a lot of health conditions for women; sometimes, they need to get medical attention for it.

How to treat severe constipation quickly?

To overcome constipation, you can change your diet and lifestyle and can use home remedies, but here, the question is how to treat severe constipation quickly.

The answer to this question is very straightforward: you need to take medicines. It could be over-the-counter, or the best practice would be to consult a health provider. If you want OTC products for constipation, Dulcoflex 5 mg is a good option. There are other options, like Dulcoflex Suppository, which is in the same family as Dulcoflex. One more option in medicine that is also an OTC product is Movicol, which can treat occasional constipation.

How to treat headaches fast?

Headaches can be treated through home remedies like a hot or cold shower, massage, rest in a dark room, etc., or can be treated with medicines like ibuprofen, paracetamol, and aspirin, among others.

Preventing constipation and headaches

Last but certainly not least, understanding this topic will help prevent constipation and headaches. You should control your diet; it should not be the other way around; take medicines only after knowing that they won’t bring constipation as a side effect, and avoid constipation or headache so the other one will naturally be prevented.

Conclusion

‌Prevention is better than cure; this saying fits when it comes to constipation and headache treatment. They are not life-threatening conditions, but they certainly stop you from everyday work and must be avoided. Some medicines and home remedies can cure it, but the most important is to prevent it by improving diet, sleep, and overall lifestyle.