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Digestive issues are common for women. Often, we’re told to take laxatives or stool softeners, prescribed medications with side effects or simply just put up with our issues. But, these are often just a band-aid for larger issues and getting down to the root cause can help get gut health for women under control without long term medications.
Common Gut Health Issues:
Issues like Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Constipation, and Bloating are issues that are common for women.
- IBS
IBS is characterized by bouts of diarrhea or constipation and changes in frequency of bowel movements. Abdominal pain and gas are also common with this.
- Constipation
Constipation is characterized by hard stool, difficulty passing stool, feeling like you did not completely empty your bowels after using the toilet, and less frequent bowel movements.
- Bloating
Bloating is a symptom that many women notice first, but is commonly accompanies irritable bowel syndrome or constipation.
Causes of Gut Health Issues in Women:
- Hormonal changes
Our clients often complain of gut health issues that ebb and flow with their menstrual cycle. Often, hormonal imbalances during the menstrual cycle can cause abnormal changes in bowel movements. Some change in bowels is normal during the course of your menstrual cycle, but pain, struggling to have a bowel movement, or excessive loose stools are not normal and you don’t have to just put up with it or rely on hormonal birth control to manage it.
During pregnancy, rising progesterone and decreased gastric motility can cause constipation. Then, postpartum, changing hormones, coupled with lack of sleep, stress, and decreased activity can cause constipation in some and diarrhea in others.
- Stress
Stress is typically the primary culprit of gut health issues and stress management can play a huge role in improving gut health in women. Stress changes how the nerves function and communicate with our gut, plus changes in breathing patterns and muscle function with stress can alter how we digest and eliminate our food.
Ways to Improve Gut Health in Women:
- Chew your food
Digestion starts in the mouth! Chewing your food into a paste can slow you down and jump start digestion from the get- go.
- Walk
Our small intestines and colon respond well to movement! Walking after a meal can help us digest, but if that’s not feasible, walking any time of the day counts. It does not have to be strenuous. Gentle walking, paying attention to your surroundings and breathing deeply can be hugely helpful for gut health in women.
- Breathe
Incorporating a minute or two of breathing throughout the day can go a long way in improving gut health for women. Focusing on longer exhales than inhales can have a big effect on how you manage stress and can calm digestive issues like constipation, IBS, and bloating.
If you’re still struggling with digestive issues after trying these, schedule with a digestive health specialist near me. Our Physical Therapists have many years of experience helping women with constipation, IBS, diarrhea, abdominal cramping, and gas and bloating. You don’t have to rely on over the counter medications, prescriptions, or guess what supplements to take. We can take the guesswork out of it and help you move past digestive issues.
