Dear Dr. Roach: I’m an 84-year-old male who has recently found relief from lifelong strain in bowel movements by using stool softeners. I would like to know if they’re habit-forming if taken once a ...

Dear Doctors: I’m a 77-year-old man and was having trouble with hard stools. My doctor suggested a stool softener. It worked for about a week, but then I developed diarrhea. Over-the-counter diarrhea ...

Patients often arrive in pain, miserable, and desperate for relief from constipation. Defined as fewer than three bowel movements per week lasting more than 4 weeks, chronic constipation affects about ...

Disimpaction provides rapid relief from severe constipation by removing trapped stool in the rectum. The most common method of disimpaction involves manually breaking up and removing stool with a ...