Long journeys are fun, exciting, and tiring at the same time, be it by air, rail, or road. There is one more factor though that is associated with long journeys that lasts more than a day or take the whole day – the issue of pooping and the development of constipation. This is the one thing that bothers most of us when we have to travel for a long duration.
Using public restrooms for the purpose of pooping is the last thing that we all want to do. We would rather avoid pooping as a whole while traveling. This later results in constipation, an annoying situation indeed!
Many may wonder, does traveling cause constipation in real? The answer is, yes, traveling for a long duration naturally causes constipation later for some.
Possible Reasons for Constipation and How to Avoid Constipation During Traveling
Constipation upsets your body and you as well because it makes your stomach bloat. An irritating moment for all of us! So, in this article, you will get to know how to avoid constipation during traveling and why it occurs?
The type of food intake
While traveling, we hardly keep track of our diet, and it is the truth. While traveling, we mostly carry snacks, sodas, alcohol, and barely something healthy.
Constipation During Traveling Avoid food that can possibly cause constipation, and try to eat food that helps keep your bowel system running smoothly. I know, saying it is easy, but carrying it out is difficult. But if you want to avoid constipation, and don’t want to see yourself straining your bowel movements later, try to keep your diet healthy, and rich in fibers, while traveling.
Change of routine
When we have to travel to someplace, we often have to make adjustments to our daily routine of waking up, going to the loo, and so on. If this continues for a few days at a stretch, it can affect our internal body clock.
When we tamper with our internal body clock, our bodies get confused when to sleep, when to excrete, etc. In short, this is how a hectic schedule while traveling for a long duration can ultimately lead to constipation.
Less water intake leading to dehydration
When we are outside, be it at work or out for traveling, the thought of drinking water sufficiently rarely comes to our minds, which can lead to dehydration and further cause constipation.
This mostly occurs when you travel by fully air-conditioned transportation. So, how can you stop constipation when you travel? The answer is staying hydrated as much as possible. To make traveling a bit enjoyable, you can switch to flavored water as well.
Constipation During Traveling Withholding the urge to poop
Some of us also have learned how to control poop while traveling which is great for the time being. But eventually, in doing so, we may find ourselves later struggling to poop due to constipation. When we force our poop to stay inside our rectum for a long time, the intestinal lining further absorbs water from the poop, making it more dry and hard. This is one of the most common reasons for the occurrence of constipation when we travel.
Constipation During Traveling Sitting in one position continuously for a long duration
When you sit in the same position for an extended period, it may slow down your digestion. So, along with this, all the above factors can lead to constipation. Another interesting fact about constipation is, when you travel across different time zones, it is most likely to affect your internal body clock, which in turn can make your digestive system irregular.
So, to avoid constipation while traveling across time zones, after reaching your destination, try exercising a bit to help your body regain normalcy. However, stay away from excessive exercise for a few days.
Some More Tips for Constipation Relief for the Next time You Travel
Try to stay stress-free during travel and relax. It is understandable that it is impossible to avoid stress in such situations, but all you can do is try, to avoid constipation. Stress is known to send signals to the body to slow down the digestive system, so avoid stressing out as much as possible.
If you are traveling for vacation, my advice would be to carry stool softeners, increase your intake of fiber, drink plenty of water to hydrate your body, and relax. You don’t want an issue of constipation to ruin your holiday, do you? Carry probiotics to keep your digestive system healthy and a wise way to avoid constipation while traveling. Avoid caffeine and alcohol, especially the night before your travel.
Drink lukewarm water in the morning if you feel constipated.
Complication of Constipation
Complications related to constipation occur only in severe conditions. After traveling, if you are unable to pass your poop even after three days, it will become more difficult for you to have bowel movements. Possibly, your stool may get stuck in your rectum due to this. Under such circumstances, trying to poop, puts a severe strain on the veins around the anus which causes hemorrhoid's or anal fissure, which takes quite some time to heal.
Constipation During TravelingBottom line
It is true that maintaining our daily routine when we have an ongoing travel schedule seems impossible. Also, for some of us, as mentioned earlier, using public restrooms seems unhygienic, and we do our best to avoid it, if possible. Holding in the urge to poop doesn’t really cause severe damage, but you will be gassy afterward. But it is up to you, whether you want a bloating tummy on your vacation, that will ruin the look of your outfits that you chose carefully.
Pooping or in scientific terms, excretion is a natural process of our body to dispose of the waste material, and when our digestive system gets disrupted, it can also lead to skin breakouts. So, these are few facts and information that hopefully will help you avoid constipation while traveling and even save you from having pimples.
Most importantly, if you are prone to constipation from time to time under normal circumstances as well, it is more important that you take proper care of your diet while traveling.
Take care♥
Also read; Tips For Outdoor Peeing You Should Know
