Do you have problems with back pain? Do you notice that your back pain tends to come when you are constipated? There may be a definite connection between the two and not just a coincidence. How are they even connected?

Why You Are Constipated

When you experience difficulty in having bowel movements or experience infrequent bowel movements, this is considered constipation. So instead of the normal bowel movements of one to two times daily, you may only have three bowel movements, or less, per week when you’re constipated.

Constipation and Back Pain

When retaining fecal matter, due to constipation, your intestines may swell, which then causes an ache or discomfort in your back and abdomen.

The strain that comes with trying to pass fecal matter can be too excessive and put pressure on your back or the discs on your spine. If you happen to already have a slipped or herniated disc, which is when the discs are loose, the pressure on your back is even worse.

Fecal impaction, which occurs when a piece of dry stool is left behind in the colon or rectum, can cause lower back pain as well. The pain can worsen the longer the fecal impaction continues.

Also consider certain conditions that may be the cause of the back pain you have, which then leads to constipation as a side effect.

An infection or tumor that presses against the spinal cord can be the reason for back pain, for example. A spinal cord injury or even a pinched nerve in your back may also be culprits for more severe lower back pain.