It can also occur when you aredehydratedor eat fatty or fried foods that promote constipation.

This article looks at eight remedies you’re free to use to relieve constipation at home.

Eat More Fruit

Certain types of fruits contain a lot ofsoluble fiber.

bowl of pineapple slices

Laszlo Selly/Photolibrary/Getty Images

Fruits also contain a lot of water that helps make stools softer.

The best fruits for constipation include:

Prune, apple and pear juice are also helpful.

Eat More Vegetables

Enrique Diaz / 7cero/Moment/Getty Images

Vegetables and legumes are especially high in soluble fiber.

Kale bunch

Enrique Díaz / 7cero/Moment/Getty Images

Magnesium supplements may help increase intestinal contractions while drawing water into the colon, making stools softer.

Taking more can lead to nausea, fatigue, muscle weakness, and irregular heartbeats.

Use a Heating Pad

Can you relieve constipation with a heating pad?

bowl of flaxseed

Zero Creatives/Cultura/Getty Images

However, most of the support for using heating pads is based on personal experience and not research.

Avoid using heating pads for longer than 30 minutes as it could end up causing diarrhea or skin damage.

You should also place a towel between your skin and the heat source to avoid accidental burns.

man shopping for vitamins

Zero Creatives/Cultura/Getty Images

This allows your intestines more time to draw water from your stool.

In time, constipation can become chronic (persistent) and harder to treat.

Try Biofeedback

Biofeedbackcan be effective for treating constipation caused bydyssynergic defecation.

girl with hot water bottle

Ulrike Schmitt-Hartmann/Taxi/Getty Images

Take a Laxative

Laxativesare a last resort when all other home remedies fail.

There are several types of laxatives:

Summary

Constipation is not only frustrating but possibly painful.

It can often be treated at home with diet and other interventions.

man on toilet

Jonathan Kirn/The Image Bank/Getty Images

Laxatives are considered a last resort.

Forootan M, Bagheri N, Darvishi M.Chronic constipation: A review of literature.Medicine.

2018;97(20):e10631.

biofeedback

Frances Twitty/E+/Getty Images

doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000010631

Dietary Guidelines For Americans.Food sources of dietary fiber.

Drulyte D, Orlien V.The effect of processing on digestion of legume proteins.Foods.

2019;8(6):224.

2016;44(1):35-44. doi:10.1111/apt.13647

National Institutes of Health.Magnesium.

National Library of Medicine.Constipation - self care.

British Society ofGastroenterology guidelines for the management of the irritable bowel syndrome.Gut.

2000;47 Suppl 2(Suppl 2):ii1-ii19.

doi:10.1136/gut.47.suppl_2.ii1

Lee YY.What’s new in the toolbox for constipation and fecal incontinence?.Front Med (Lausanne).

Published 2014 Mar 24. doi:10.3389/fmed.2014.00005