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Constipation - has anyone had this?

7 replies

CocktailQueen · 09/04/2011 19:46

DD age 7 (have posted about this recently...) is constipated atm and has been to the loo about 10 times today for small soft poos - but sore to push out - I checked her bottom tonight and it was all hard and felt very 'full' in between her vagina and anus - is this just all poo??? She has had this before too when she was constipated. Can't think what else it could be, but wanted to check..... Confused

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Clarnico · 09/04/2011 19:49

She could have hard-packed poo in there and the soft poos are 'leaking' around the side of it. This is reasonably common, but needs a bit of medical attention to shift it.

I expect the hard area is poo, yes.

Poor girl.

CocktailQueen · 09/04/2011 20:06

It happened the other day then she had a huge poo and the area was back to normal again. How long does it take to build up??

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nightcat · 09/04/2011 20:51

This will sound daft, but do you have any polo mints around? Or mint tea or mint in the garden? I find if I am constipated, a polo mint helps me to get things moving.

I also take a polo mint when I feel a headache coming, and then I often find it clears the headache and helps me go to the loo.

CocktailQueen · 09/04/2011 21:52

Wow Nightcat, will try that... apple juice isn't working.

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starfishmummy · 09/04/2011 22:05

I find a hot drink helps.
If it is hurting her you could try to get some sort of gel with lignocaine in it and smear it around to numb the anal area - this was recommended to me by DS's community nurse. The sort of thing that has lignocaine in it are the gels for mouth ulcers (Anbesol) and can be bought over the counter.

moosemama · 09/04/2011 23:03

Stew up some apples with a bit of brown sugar and get her to eat that - this really helps ds.

Another option is to stew up lots of dried apricots until they turn into a sort of fruit spread. We tend to mix this with his porridge in the morning, but if she is gf (I think you said she was at the moment on the other thread) you would need to buy some gluten free/pure oats to do that.

Both have a high sugar and water content, which is what you need to get her going.

Dark chocolate (decent 75% cocoa stuff) is also a good natural laxative.

That said, if its an impaction none of the above will be enough. She will most likley need stool softeners and some movicol, especially if its really painful.

What happens is that over time, with repeated episodes of constipation the bowel gets stretched and becomes less efficient at pushing out the waste. It then builds up and up in the bowel and fresh waste from further up the gut can leak around it, hence the soft stools. This can also present as watery diarrhoea. The problem is that the large amount of impacted waste in the bowel becomes very hard and extremely difficult and painful to pass, which can then lead to children avoiding going - viscious circle.

How long it takes to build up varies from child to child, but with my ds, it tends to be roughly five days inbetween.

CocktailQueen · 10/04/2011 11:29

Moosemama, thank you. Thing is, she had sweetcorn the other day and it easily came out the other end after 24 hours, a nice big poo - surely there couldn't be an impacted poo further up if that can happen? Or could there? Thanks for the apricot/apple tip. She loves both so will try that.

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