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Initial diagnosis will involve a medical history and physical exam. We’ll talk about things like family history of celiac disease, thyroid disorders, other problems that can cause constipation. But the vast majority of the time, constipation is what we call functional, which is where you’re just someone who has a tendency towards constipation, or you had that one hard stool as a toddler, and you decided that you were going to start to hold it. And so what that means is that your body is normal and you don’t have a disease, but you’ve just basically sprained something. And so you have to do physical therapy to kind of help you get there. There are some things that are red flags here. So if you’re having constipation that starts before six months of age, if you see joint pains, rashes, ulcerations in the mouth or on the backside, blood in stool, and you can see that sometimes with constipation, but if you’re seeing it it’s definitely a reason to go see a doctor. These are all reasons to think about things like celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, or anatomic problems that can contribute to constipation. And they are good reason to see a doctor.
