Chronic Severe Constipation - Constipation: Digestive Disorders
Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School
Chronic severe constipation
In rare cases, people experience constipation that persists for years or decades, even though they have no physical abnormality of the bowel. This condition — known as chronic severe constipation, functional constipation, or chronic idiopathic constipation — is rare, but is more common in women.
Those with chronic severe constipation don't respond to standard treatments and may not improve despite reasonable efforts to change their diets and adjust toilet habits. Chronic constipation may be related to problems with hormone control or with the muscles and nerves in the colon, rectum, or anus. One such problem is colonic inertia (sluggish colon); this may affect the entire colon or may be limited to the left or lower sigmoid colon. Another is anorectal dysfunction, an inability of the rectal and anal muscles to relax and allow stool to leave.
| Last updated: | August 21, 2007 |
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Medical content reviewed by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School. Harvard Health Publications, Copyright © 2007 by President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Used with permission of StayWell.
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