Unani Medicine : Constipation

When waste matter is not discharged from the intestines, usually due to lack of exercise or due to the consumption of foods, which are difficult to digest . These undigested foods, leads to putrefaction and formation of flatulence and sometimes the whole abdomen is bloated causing acute discomfort.

Suggested Treatment:

The best way to deal with constipation is to change food habits. Milk, boiled vegetables, fruits and their juices should be taken in large quantities together with foods containing lot of rough and fibrous matter.

Ten grams of senna (Cassia angustifolia) and five grams of aniseed should be boiled in a cup of water with jaggery (gur), an extract of Saccharum officinarum, then strained and drunk before retiring for the night.

Half a litre of milk mixed with 50 gm of brown sugar (khand) taken at night will give relief.

Another remedy is to eat 4 gm of Gulkand (Rosa damascena), a confection of rose petals, with milk everyday.

If these remedies fail to give relief, a preparation of six grams of the rind of harad (Terminalia chebula) should be finely ground with a little salt, then mixed with a glass of lukewarm water and then drink.