Here at The Physiotherapy Clinic in Cammeray Bondi Junction and the shire (Woolooware), we care a lot about making sure that your bladder and bowels are working as best they can. Having constipation can very much affect your bladder function, as well as making you feel pretty uncomfortable. Here are a few easy hints and ideas on how to make sure that you are able to poo as well as possible.

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The 5 F’s:

 

1. Fibre:

Getting enough fibre in your diet is essential. They guidelines for adults is 30 g/day. You will find fibre in vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, seeds and legumes.

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2. Fluid:

The guidelines for fluid intake state that adults should consume 25-30ml/kg. So a 60 kg person would consume approximately 1800ml/day. In saying that, it really depends on your activity level. If you are exercising in the heat, your intake will need to be greater than someone sitting in an air-conditioned office. At The Physiotherapy Clinic, we like to use urinary output as a guideline. If you are passing 1200-1300ml/day, this means that you are adequately hydrated. You might need to measure a wee in a jug and multiply it by number of voids/day to get an idea.

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3. Feet:

This refers to where your feet are when you do a poo. It is easiest to empty your bowels when your feet are slightly higher than your knees, like on a stool. This opens up the rectum as much as possible and reduces the need to strain.

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4. Fitness:

Don’t worry - this doesn’t mean you have to be in top physical shape to poo well, it just means that a bit of movement will help trigger movement in the bowel

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5. Force:

What about the push? Are you using too much push? Can you generate enough pushing force? Are the muscles around your anus relaxing when you push? Its something that a surprising number of people don’t do well, and it’s easy to fix when you’re shown how. Our women's health physios in Cammeray, Bondi Junction and the shire (Woolooware) can show you how to push perfectly.

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One more thing you should know …

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Your bowel works using a series of muscular contractions to push digested food along through the intestines. Usually there are none of these muscular waves while you sleep, but when you wake there are 3 times more than at any other time of the day. This increase in bowel activity only lasts for about an hour.

Eating will also cause an increase in the bowel contractions, as will movement. You may have noticed that caffeine also gets things moving.

 

 

 

 

So …… Timing is Everything!

 

Waking up in the morning + Having a bite to eat, maybe a coffee + moving around the house = more contractions in your bowel that at any other time

 

 

 

This is the perfect time to poo.

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It’s really important that you don’t ignore these signals, and delay the urge. This will mean that you won’t get another perfect window until tomorrow morning. Delaying can cause chronic constipation.