OK, at a gathering of teenagers/concert over the weekend (I was there as a chaperone), the comedian (opening act) got to talking about constipation. At the time, I wondered if the material was flying over the heads of the audience. I mean, I’m sure all the teens knew the definition of the word constipation, and could imagine the consequences, but I figured this would really only be something experienced by the Metamucil set (that is, the chaperones in the room).
Looking back over my teen years and into my childhood, I don’t seem to recall ever reaching for the Ex-lax. Mrs. Rastahomie says the same. She also says that she didn’t remember any of her friends ever mentioning it (apparently girls are more at ease talking about this sort of thing to each other than guys are).
So, parents (and teens) in the crowd: what’s the straight poop on this sensitive subject? Is constipation something that only adults go through?
Constipation can and does happen in teens, children, and even babies. However, they’re not NEARLY as likely as adults to experience chronic constipation. They don’t know (or most of them don’t) the agony of deciding to just go ahead and take that Metamucil EVERY DAY, because you know you’ll need the darn stuff.
absolutely. However, they (the kids) are highly unlikely to identify it as such, and will say stuff like “my tummy hurts”. I had a friend who took her 6 -10 year old in to the doctor on a regular basis thinking there was appendisitus. Nope. constipation.
Yup. Our friends’ young son inherited his dad’s bad plumbing, and potty training was a nightmare – he would refuse to go to the bathroom, knowing it would hurt. He was on Metamucil and a high-fiber diet for several years. He’s nearly eight now and I haven’t heard his mother mention it for a while, so I think things must be better.
When I was in junior high (12-13 yrs. old) my best friend suffered from chronic constipation. She also talked about it a lot, which I didn’t understand until I experienced constipation myself.
She said that it was from being nervous and anxious (I assume that was what her doctor told her). I can’t imagine why a young girl going through puberty would be anxious and nervous.
Well, after watching my kid (22 months) crouch behind a chair grunting and groaning and changing her diaper to find a rock solid BM the size of a golf ball, I would have to say yes.
According to the Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, constipation sometimes occurs in children once they start school or daycare and become hesitant to ask permission to go to the bathroom.
I was really damn constipated at some point in early toddlerhood (not that I can recall it). And yup, AWB, my mom had to dose me up with lots of castor oil. Yecch.
Ready for a scary concept? Encopresis. That’s when a kid (it usually happens to a kid) keeps getting “skid marks” or worse in his underpants. Usually the child doesn’t know what’s happening. It’s not because of loose bowels; it’s because the kid has been chronically constipated for so long that he doesn’t feel the urge to move his bowels any more. So either the big hard mass rubs against the underpants and makes marks (but won’t come out), or something softer leaks around. Disgusting, but unfortunately not terribly uncommon.
Usually the problem is that the child isn’t getting enough fiber. Most “kid friendly” foods (PBJs, bananas, pizza, cheese, white bread…) either don’t have much fiber or don’t have the right kind. So passing stools hurts, the kid starts holding back, and the problem compounds itself.
Okay, so how many of you have decided that you’re never having children now?
I had periods in my life where I experienced severe constipation. One incident, when I was a teenager, resulted in an ER visit. I was so unaware of my body at that point that I didn’t even occur to me that my severe abdominal cramps were from constipation. That was a very expensive laxative. I’ve never let it get out of hand since that highly embarrasing day.
I used to have that (constipation) happen a lot when my family went on vacations and stuff. I guess it was the whole “sitting around in a car for 10+ hours” thing, but they always told me it was the water.
Still have that stuff occur periodically, especially when I don’t exercise or don’t get enough fiber. Since I’m a teenager still, that’s a “yes” to the OP.
Since I didn’t know what constipation was, I didn’t realize I had it constantly as a teen until I was an adult and found out what normal was when I actually started eating a more normal diet with sufficient vegetables and fiber.
My daughter has problems with both diarrhea and constipation–from babyhood on–she has Gilbert’s disease, supposedly a benign condition according to doctors but one which seems to be associated with digestive problems according to some sufferers.
Constipation is not always a matter of not letting yourself go to the bathroom as some have posted–not drinking enough water, not eating enough fiber, and simply differences in liver and other organ functions can affect this normal body function.
on this sensitive subject? Is constipation something that only adults go through?