Saturday, March 17, 2007

Do Home Remedies for Constipation

Do Home Remedies for Constipation Actually Work?
Constipation is not one of those health issues that you want to advertise. For some reason, any problems even remotely associated with rear-end anatomy are considered private and strictly off-limits. Only when there is serious risk of death or something even worse will people think about seeing a doctor when the rear-end is involved. This aversion to doctors leads many people to consider home remedies for constipation problems. But the key question is whether or not these home remedies for constipation actually work. Or, whether these supposed “remedies” are merely old wives tales that need put to rest before they cause even more people to avoid medical treatment.
Home remedies for constipation and many other ailments may not have scientific evidence backing up their effectiveness but that seems to have little effect upon their popularity and widespread use. Home remedies have strong roots in rural communities and are passed along from generation to generation (its what worked before there were doctors). Still, many home remedies for constipation are known to contain natural stool softeners and other agents proven to stimulate bowel movements.
One of the home remedies for constipation that has indeed proven effective is to chew on some licorice throughout the day. Modern science has since learned that licorice is indeed a “natural” laxative in that it stimulates Peristaltic action in much the same manner as the laxatives you might buy in a grocery store or pharmacy.
Other home remedies for constipation have considerably less merit than the one for licorice. An example of one such home remedy is that starting the day out with a drink made with warm water and a teaspoon of honey and lemon will help ease constipation by night. There is nothing scientific to support this home remedy for constipation and yet it continues to be passed on generation after generation with few ever stopping to question its merit or effectiveness.
However, when thinking about home remedies and constipation, one must try to remember that there are a large number of potential causes for the condition. Even licorice, which is known to be a natural laxative, may not help with every case of constipation as the causes of each ease may vary greatly. However, aspirin do not always help take away a headache but that does not mean that they do not help with most headaches. Similarly, many home remedies for constipation may very well prove effective in some circumstances but completely useless in others.
Home remedies for constipation may not be prescribed by your doctor any time soon. However, for many, that is precisely the point of home remedies for constipation—to stay at home and deal with the problem without the aid of a doctor or audience. Of course, there are other potential home treatments for constipation such as colonic cleansers that help clear away blockages and have been developed by scientists. Those cleansers made with all-natural ingredients are preferred to those using chemicals or other synthetic products as the natural works in alignment with nature (your bodies system is synonymous with nature) as most chemicals do not.