Constipation, Arlington Texas
Constipation: A Straight Answer To A Common Question
The short answer
Constipation is a medical problem before it is a mechanical one, and it is not something chiropractic treats. This page exists because the question gets asked often enough to deserve a plain answer rather than a vague one. What can be looked at is the mechanical part around it: the mid and low back, the ribs, and how the pelvis and abdomen move, because stiffness and posture affect comfort and how easily somebody moves at all. Anything past that belongs with your physician, and you will be told so rather than sold a course of care.
Being Straight With You
This Is Not Something Chiropractic Treats
There is a version of this page on a lot of chiropractic websites that implies otherwise. This is not that page. Constipation is a digestive problem with medical causes, and it is managed by a physician with diet, fluid, activity, a review of your medications and, where it is needed, prescribed treatment. Adjusting a spine does not address any of that.
The honest answer to whether an adjustment fixes constipation is no, and you should be wary of any clinic that tells you differently.
What is worth saying is why the question comes up at all. People who are in enough back pain to stop moving normally often notice their bowels slow down at the same time, and some of the medication prescribed for pain, particularly the opioid class, causes constipation directly. Those are real connections. Neither of them makes this a chiropractic condition.
What The Research Says
Common Enough That Somebody Should Say This Plainly
A systematic review and meta-analysis published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology in 2011 pooled 45 reports across 41 separate study populations, containing 261,040 people, to estimate how common chronic idiopathic constipation is in the general community.
The pooled prevalence was 14 percent, with a confidence interval of 12 to 17 percent, and it was of similar magnitude across most parts of the world.
- It is more than twice as common in women, an odds ratio of 2.22
- It becomes more common with age and with lower socioeconomic status
- It is strongly associated with irritable bowel syndrome, an odds ratio of 7.98
At roughly one adult in seven, a fair number of the people who walk into any clinic have it. That is precisely why the answer given here needs to be the accurate one rather than the one that fills an appointment book.
What Can Be Looked At
The Mechanical Part Around It, And Nothing More
If you are here with back pain and constipation is also going on, the back pain is the part that gets examined and treated. That is a genuine service and it is described accurately rather than dressed up as digestive care.
- The mid and low back, and how the segments there are moving
- The ribs, and the way the trunk rotates and bends
- How the pelvis and the abdominal wall move, because pain changes how people brace
- Whether pain is limiting activity, since being able to move again helps everything
What none of that is, is a treatment for constipation. If the bowel symptom is the reason you were thinking of booking, the appointment you want is with your physician, and saying so costs this clinic a booking and saves you a wasted visit.
Read This First
Bowel Symptoms That Need A Doctor Today
If You Notice Any of These Warning Signs, Please Seek Emergency Room Care Right Away.
- Blood in the stool, or black tarry stools
- Unexplained weight loss
- A sudden change in bowel habit that has not gone back to normal
- No bowel movement alongside vomiting and a swollen, painful abdomen
- Severe abdominal pain that is getting worse
- Fever with abdominal pain
- New constipation alongside numbness in the saddle area, weakness in both legs or any change in bladder control, which together can indicate cauda equina syndrome
The last one is the reason this section is on a chiropractic page at all. A change in bowel control with saddle numbness and leg weakness is a spinal emergency measured in hours. Go to an emergency room. Everything above it belongs with a physician the same day, not with an appointment here.
Common Questions
Constipation, Asked And Answered
Can a chiropractic adjustment relieve constipation?
No. Constipation is a medical problem before it is a mechanical one and it is not something chiropractic treats. That is the answer you will get here, and it is worth being wary of a clinic that gives you a different one.
Then why is there a page about it?
Because it gets asked about often enough to deserve a plain answer rather than a vague one. About one adult in seven has chronic constipation, so a lot of people walking into any clinic are wondering.
My back pain and my constipation started together. Is that connected?
Often, and usually the other way around from what people expect. Pain that stops you moving normally slows the bowel, and some pain medication, particularly the opioid class, causes constipation directly. Treating the back pain is reasonable. Treating the constipation belongs with your physician.
Is constipation ever an emergency?
Yes. New constipation together with numbness in the saddle area, weakness in both legs or any change in bladder control can indicate cauda equina syndrome and needs an emergency room the same day. Blood in the stool, unexplained weight loss or a sudden lasting change in bowel habit needs a physician promptly.
Who should I see instead?
Your primary care physician first. They will look at diet, fluid, activity and your current medications, and refer on to a gastroenterologist if that is warranted. If you are already a patient here and you ask, you will be told exactly that.
Do you take insurance?
Insurance and paying directly both work for the musculoskeletal care this clinic does provide. Call 817-800-7136 and ask before you book. Appointments only, so a visit has to be booked.
Sources
Where The Numbers On This Page Come From
- Prevalence of, and risk factors for, chronic idiopathic constipation in the community: systematic review and meta-analysis. Suares NC, Ford AC. American Journal of Gastroenterology 2011;106(9):1582 to 1591. Forty-five reports across 41 study populations, 261,040 subjects. Source of every figure quoted: pooled prevalence 14 percent with a 95 percent confidence interval of 12 to 17 percent, odds ratio 2.22 for women, increasing with age and lower socioeconomic status, odds ratio 7.98 for co-existing irritable bowel syndrome.
If The Back Pain Is The Part You Want Looked At
Call and describe what is going on, and you will be told honestly whether this is the right building for it.
3825 W Green Oaks Blvd, Suite 710, Arlington, TX 76016. Appointments only.