During the holidays we often go on trips and, taken by the enthusiasm or the anxiety of forgetting something, often our mood and our habits change dramatically. Whether for fun or for work, traveling is a stressful activity for our organism, which is subjected to environmental, dietary and routine changes. As a result, our body can react by modifying intestinal activity and sometimes leading to what is appropriately called “traveler’s constipation”: in practice we are unable to do the poop and go to bath when we travel. We can prevent it by being careful about diet, to thehydration and to ours physical activitybut fortunately there are also drugs that, if used with caution, can help us when we are in difficulty. Let’s see together what causes this condition and how to manage it.
What is travel constipation?
There constipation It is a rather widespread problem, especially among women and the elderly, but when it happens in conjunction with travel and time zone changes it is called “travel constipation”. Many people become less regular when they go on vacation and travel, and this can ruin some of the best moments of our vacations.
In gastroenterology, constipation is defined as difficult or infrequent emission of stool. Although defecation is a function with extremely variable rhythms from subject to subject, a frequency lower than two, three times a week is considered problematic. In fact, constipation could lead to abdominal swelling, nausea, general malaise and, if prolonged, can also lead to serious complications such as intestinal obstruction.
Travel constipation is nothing more than a specific type of constipationwith similar causes, which can be addressed to resolve the problem: let’s see how.
What Causes Constipation While Traveling
In general, the causes of constipation are divided into organic or functionalOrganic causes are all those conditions that derive from an alteration in the structure of our intestine: in practice nerve lesions, occlusion by polyps, anatomical anomalies.
Instead, as regards traveler’s constipation, what interests us are the functional causes. These are, in fact, alterations in intestinal function that do not require anatomical modifications. Stress, anxiety, dietary changes, are precisely the factors that can generate travel constipation.
In fact, when you travel you tend to have some behaviors harmful to intestinal transitjust think about what we eat. When we are away from home we usually visit local places and taste the local cuisine, introducing into our intestines foods we are not necessarily used to even at times when we don’t usually eat. We drink less and we get dehydrated without realizing it also because we are often anxious to visit new places and we forget by distraction to drink adequately.
The change of routine can “agitate” our nervous system, which is essential for the movement of food through our intestines. Jet lag, the change of time we go to sleep and when we wake up, whole day excursions, can lead us to a tension that we don’t notice but which is counterproductive to our regularity. Furthermore, when we travel we tend, perhaps unconsciously, to hold back, just to enjoy the experiences we have more and not let them stop us.
So the factors that cause traveler’s constipation They are mainly behavioral, dietary and psychological. Fortunately, however, we can take them into account and counteract them.
Remedies for traveler’s constipation
The simplest things to keep track of to stay regular while traveling they are the food ones. In fact, as recommends the National Institute of Healtha solution to avoid the dehydration is to always carry one with you water bottle of adequate size (for at least one liter). Drink it within the middle of the day or at least finish it all twice by the evening (even more if it’s summer!), will ensure that we have taken in enough fluids during the day, as two litres a day are considered an adequate amount to stay hydrated.
Without water, the feces in our intestinal tract risk having an excessively hard consistency. rigid to be pushed, but also fiber deficiency (so mainly fruit And vegetablesbut also cereals And legumes) could create some damage. In fact, these important elements literally “brush” the walls of our intestine, collect and compact the fecal material, They help give it the right structure and avoid leaving residues in the intestine. So another trick to prevent constipation is make sure you always eat foods rich in fiberincluding them in our meal menus or taking them with us as fruit snacks, for example.
In addition to dietary measures, it is important to adopt some behaviors, such as maintain a certain level of physical activity. If your trip involves long distances using means of transport such as trains and planes, it is a good idea take moments when you get up and take a walkBowel movements are closely linked to the activity levels of our body, A sedentary lifestyle actually promotes constipation.
If despite our precautions we find ourselves with the unpleasant effects of constipation, there are some faster-to-implement solutions. Obviously we are talking about laxativesdrugs specifically created to promote evacuation. There are different types, including osmotic and those stimulants.
Be careful, since laxatives are drugshear the opinion of your doctor basic. The ones we are about to give you are just some general information which should absolutely not be taken as medical advice.
THE osmotic laxatives have fewer side effects and act more slowly, taking up to a day to take effect. They promote the absorption of water in the stool, making it more mobile and easier to expel. stimulant laxativesinstead, have a more pronounced effect quickacting even in a few hours, but have more contraindications. They act on the neuromuscular activity of the intestine causing contractions that favor the expulsion, but it is best to use them with caution and as a last resort.
In general, prevention is always better than cure and this principle also applies to constipation. Hydrate, consume fiber, maintain low stress levels and move during our travel days allows us to avoid travel constipation. The use of drugs should be considered only when the above mentioned precautions are not enough, moreover if even the drugs cannot resolve the situation, it is important contact your doctor. Let us remember in fact that constipation it’s a symptom and not a pathologyif it continues over time, it is important investigate the underlying causes.
