Regular bowel motions are important for health, as constipation over a long period can cause severe health complications.
After facing severe constipation since young, a 23-year-old university student from Taiwan decided to get an x-ray — but the image almost defies imagination.
It turned out that the woman’s large intestine appeared to stretch all the way to her chest area, shocking netizens.
Fearful of the prospect of cutting her colon, she shared the image on social media and decided to seek advice.
On Friday (25 Dec), the university student from Taoyuan posted on Taiwanese community social network Dcard about her woes with constipation since she was 5 to 6 years old.
She said that back in the day, she had to sit for 2 hours to relieve her bowels, and the longest she went without emptying them was 17 days.
Despite trying various means to increase fibre consumption, such as taking probiotics, drinking more water, and taking more vegetables, her condition didn’t improve.
Eventually, she decided to get barium imaging — and the results were startling.
Possibly due to an accumulation of faeces, her large intestine appeared close to her heart, and she feared that she might have to cut it off.
But the doctor appeared calm and didn’t recommend cutting her large intestine, instead asking her to drink more fluids and eat fruits and vegetables.
In an update to the OP on 25 Dec, the woman shared that she has tried many methods to improve her bowel movements.
These included:
During one week, she even ate 7 large papayas and and 2 large dragon fruits, but to no avail.
Hence, she was thinking of cutting her large intestine — her intention of making the post was to get suggestions from others.
Thanks to the post, she found others online who also experienced similar issues.
The post went viral quickly on Taiwanese social media, and although there were some nasty comments, there was also advice.
The OP has personally messaged the makers of a few abusive posts to take down their posts and apologise, or else she’ll make a police report.
One comment noted that although the large intestine looks longer than usual, it’s actually not close to the heart and is in a normal position.
The problem might be that the woman was born with a larger-than-normal large intestine, the comment added.
The woman told Taiwanese media site SET News that she’d get a hospital evaluation in Jan and decide on her course of action then.
She encourages others with similar issues to not fear any check-ups and face them with her.
Although the woman’s circumstances appear to be exceptional, constipation can still be a potentially serious issue.
That said, the woman is still able to joke — she’s even thought about “not letting her large intestine go to waste”, implying she might even consume it.
If you find yourself not relieving your bowels for more than a few days, do seek medical attention and take more fruits, vegetables, and water in the meantime.
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Featured image adapted from DCard and Shutterstock.
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