The Healthy Bowel Movement: When all the internal organs are properly functioning and balanced along with a good diet and lifestyle a healthy stool will have the following traits, a few inches long, light brown in color, with a cylinder shape and occurs once, maybe twice a day.
There are so many factors that can lead to constipation, diet being the most important factor. Water and fiber intake are the easiest issues to spot and take care of. If you suffer from dehydration you could be suffering far war worse then constipation. Other symptoms could include abdominal pains, vomiting, nausea, anxiety and possibly kidney issues from not drinking enough water. The average person should drink roughly half their body weight in ounces of water per day. As for fiber intake, men should get 30-40 grams a fiber a day and women 20-25 grams of fiber a day, which typically comes from vegetables, fruits and nuts.
However, eating irregularly, or in a rush can cause you to be backed up too. The human body likes to function like clock work so eating around the same time everyday can help keep you regular. Also, chewing your food well and eating at a comfortable time when you can relax and enjoy the meal helps your body breakdown and digest the food well enough where it can easily move on when its time to go to the bathroom.
Other contributing factors to constipation are high emotional stress, poor exercise habits, over work, childbirth, and high fevers that can dry out body fluids. Each one of these factors can have an impact on the network of internal organs that help bowel movements occur. Any of those factors can cause an imbalance in the organs causing some sort of deficiency or excess. According to chinese medicine there are a few organs that affect bowel movements directly.
Organs and associated stools when out of balance:
- Stomach- Constipated with dry stools
- Large Intestine- Constipated with wet stools
- Spleen-Constipated with long and thin stools
- Liver- Constipated with small and round stools
The kidneys and lungs can also be involved, but are usually associated with other chronic issues or with the elderly. It is through proper diagnosing and investigation through diet and lifestyle that an acupuncturist can determine the underlying organ or organs that are out balance. The questioning that occurs when seeing an acupuncturist helps them determine what the best acu points are to use.
Even though there are many points that can be used there are 3 different points on the abdominal area that when stimulated with needles, acupressure or massage can help alleviate constipation. These 3 points affect the stomach, the intestines, the spleen, liver and kidneys, which make for an affective point prescription.
The points are:
- Conception Vessel 12 - Improves digestion, by stimulating the Stomach, which affects the Spleen and Liver
- Conception Vessel 6 - Improves energy, helps regulate intestines and stimulates the kidneys
- Stomach 25- Stimulates and regulates intestines
Self massaging these points upon waking and before going to bed can help these organs balance out. For self massage it is best to use the palm of your hand and make circles around your navel going from right to left. Going from right to left is the direction the large intestine goes in order to have a bowel movement. Doing this massage daily upon waking or before sleeping is a great way to help yourself become more regular. I recommend doing at least 50 circles around the navel, this will not only help bowels, but also increase digestion.
I hope this has been an informative article, please leave any comments or questions below and thank you for visiting Acuthink!
Acupuncture treatments are usually very effective in relieving constipation. However, long term persistent constipation must be examined by your physician to ensure that there is no underlying disease or disorder that is the cause.
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One of sydney's best acupuncturist give an advice to the patients who take acupuncture treatment but confused the result to get rid from the chronic or back pain should hold their patience. Because it may take some time more than three weeks to to relief.
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