Yule Log Jams

Preventing Christmas Constipation

Okay let’s be real, we’ve all been there…

You attend your family Christmas party (or in most cases, three or four different Christmas parties) and you eat tons of rich, fat-filled, sugary, low fiber foods and then end up feeling like trash for the next week. Combine that with people getting off track with their exercise routines, sitting more, and then just the general stress that comes with holiday prep and you have the perfect storm for what I like to call….the “Christmas constipation”

I’m here to give you some simple tips and tricks to get rid of that pain-in-the-butt (literally) constipation this Christmas season…

Tip 1: Include some fiber in with all the sugar and carbs

Dietary fiber works to keep the digestive system happy and healthy by regulating bowel movements and stool consistency. There are lots of different foods high in fiber. I’ve attached a link with a list of different options you can include in your holiday menu: 

https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/resources/2020-2025-dietary-guidelines-online-materials/food-sources-select-nutrients/food-

If you want more information on nutrition or how to make sustainable changes to your eating habits, I highly recommend reaching out to the following professionals here in Lexington: 

• Lauren Colston, Dietician and Fitness Instructor  

  • Check out her post on how to get more fiber in your day-to-day foods at https://www.instagram.com/p/CpYSy3jAfLT/

• Dr. Sarah Schuetz, MD at My Lifestyle Doc

  • Check out her website at

    https://www.mylifestyledoc.com

Step 2: Stay hydrated

Guys, I know the eggnog tastes great BUT it’s no substitute for water! Make sure you keep your water intake high to balance out those salty foods that we all like to consume around the holidays. I like to tell my patients to consume half their body weight in ounces to stay properly hydrated and maintain good bowel function. 

Step 3: Move your body

Our digestive system loves movement. Even if it’s just going for a 10 minute walk after Christmas dinner, try to find some way to move every day. When we move our bodies it helps regulate stress and helps food travel along our digestive system vs just sitting in our colon and making us feel bloated and disgusting. 

If pain is limiting you in being able to walk, exercise, or even just go through day to day functions, give us a call and let us help you get back to healthy, pain-free movement!

Step 4: Connect with your pelvic floor

Learn to relax your pelvic floor both throughout the day and especially during bowel movements. I go much more in depth into this concept in my post titled “Just Breathe!” so go check it out if you need a refresher. 

Try these easy tools next time you sit down to have a bowel movement…

• Sit fully on the toilet. Stop hovering, if the toilet seat is dirty lay down some toilet paper or wipe it off. Hovering prevents you from fully relaxing your pelvic floor and can lead to incomplete emptying of both your bowels and bladder. 

• Get yourself a squatty potty or use a stool. Elevating our feet helps to improve the angle of our rectum allowing stool to exit easier.

• Breathe. Instead of holding your breath and pushing with everything in you, try taking some slow deep breaths first to get stuff moving. 

• Relax your glutes and pelvic floor. Notice how you hold your pelvic floor muscle when you sit on the toilet, do you tighten and squeeze the muscles around your anus or are you nice and relaxed? How you hold your pelvic floor throughout the day can also impact bowel function, so learning to avoid butt and pelvic floor clenching can be super helpful. 

Step 5: When in doubt, massage it out 

Colon massage that is…

Y’all know that awful feeling of abdominal bloating that can happen after we load ourselves with all the wonderful Christmas carbs. But did you know that we can help stimulate movement of the digestive system by massaging our abdomen? There are several different ways to massage the abdomen to help promote motility but I’ll share my favorite, which is the “I→L→U” or “I Love You” method…

I: Start on the upper left side of the abdomen under the ribs→ using gentle circular movements massage down the left side of the abdominal wall → continue down inside the left pelvis (what some people call the hip bone) all the way to just above the pubic bone (in the center of the abdomen)

L: Then move over to the right side of the abdomen under the ribs → using gentle circular movements massage across the rib line from right to left→ continue down the left side of the abdomen using the “I” approach listed above

U: Start just inside the right pelvis (aka hip bone) and move up the right abdominal wall using gentle circular movements → then continue moving across the rib line and down the left side of the abdominal wall using the “L” approach listed above (see image) 

Run through this sequence 4-5 times slowly or for about 10 minutes. This works best if you do it after eating a meal or first thing in the morning. 

Let this be the year that you kick that Christmas constipation to the curb and try out some of these tips. If they aren’t working for you and you are struggling to figure out how to get your bowels back on track, give us a call at 859-215-8870 to learn more about how pelvic floor PT can help you! 

Written by: Kelsey Karnes PT, DPT