Zee Media Bureau
New York: A new research shows that people who are suffering from constipation can be relieved with the help of a simple technique called self-acupressure.
The technique involves application of external pressure to the perineum, that is the area between the anus and genitals.
Ryan Abbott, the study's principal investigator and visiting assistant professor of medicine at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) says, “Patients can perform this simple intervention themselves to treat their own constipation and improve their quality of life. It can also help to limit health care costs and excessive medication use”.
For the study around 100 patients who met the established criteria for constipation were recruited by the team from UCLA's Center for East-West Medicine.
“All primary care and general internal physicians should consider this technique as a first line intervention together with conventional treatment,” Abbott added.
Patients were encouraged to perform the exercises on their own for four weeks when they felt the urge to defecate.
Nearly 72 percent of participants said that perineal self-acupressure helped them have a bowel movement.
Nearly 54 percent claimed, it helped avoid hemorrhoids or lessen the severity of existing hemorrhoids.
The research was published online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
(With Agency inputs)
