7 Things Constipation Can Tell You About Your Health

Trouble going number two could signal some serious problems

Denise Maher,

AARP

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Published April 21, 2026

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Key takeaways

New or unexplained constipation in your 50s or later can signal serious conditions, including colorectal cancer.
Digestive slowdowns may reflect broader issues such as thyroid disease, nerve damage, pelvic floor dysfunction or Parkinson’s.
Mood disorders like depression can disrupt gut function, and treating the underlying condition may ease constipation.

When you have to go, you have to go.

But when you can't, that's when the real trouble starts.

Say hello to bloating, distention and discomfort.

Constipation means having three or fewer bowel movements per week — or, when you do manage to go, stools are hard, dry, or lumpy and may feel incomplete. It can be caused or worsened by medications, too little fiber or not enough exercise. No matter the cause, constipation is a drag.

Why are you blocked up?

As you age, digestion slows and lifestyles shift subtly, but that doesn’t mean you stop going to the bathroom. A change in your bowel habits deserves investigation, says Dr. Richard C. Wender, medical adviser to the Colorectal Cancer Alliance. If there isn’t an obvious reason, talk to your doctor.

“Constipation doesn’t mean you have colon cancer, but it does mean you need an explanation,” he says. If new constipation isn’t caused by a new medication, a dietary issue or lack of exercise, it could be an early sign of disease.

The most worrisome? Colorectal cancer, a common, serious cancer. While prevention guidelines call for screening to start at age 45, as many as one-third of people over age 50 are not up to date with screening, according to Wender, a professor and chair of family medicine and community health at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. This is especially worrisome because colon cancer is on the rise in younger adults — nearly half of new colorectal cancer cases are diagnosed in adults under age 65.

Your gut is a window into your overall health

“The gut is a sentinel sort of organ. Changes in your bowel habits can reflect changes happening elsewhere in your nervous system,” notes Dr. Trisha Pasricha, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “Your central nervous system connects to your brain, the vagus nerve, the gut, the heart, lungs and almost every other major organ,” she says.

The bottom line: Listen to your gut, don’t be embarrassed to talk to your doctor about your bowels and get screened. Here are eight conditions linked to constipation.

1. Colorectal cancer (colon cancer or rectal cancer)

If bowel patterns change in your 50s, the shift may be a red flag for serious disease. If you become constipated for no obvious reason, you need a cancer screening, says Dr. Waqar Qureshi, a professor of gastroenterology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

Haven’t had a screen but have constipation? You may be able to fast-track an appointment. Call your primary care doctor, who may be able to get you in for a colonoscopy much sooner than if you were seeking a standard screening.

Other symptoms: Typically, symptoms don’t occur until cancer is advanced. If you have blood in your stool or weight loss, contact a doctor ASAP.

The gold standard screen, a colonoscopy, allows doctors to examine your entire large intestine, and it should be done at least every 10 years. More-frequent (less conclusive) options include at-home stool-based tests and flexible sigmoidoscopy, which is similar to a colonoscopy but involves less prep and usually no anesthesia. But Wender encourages people to not shy away from a colonoscopy, noting that in recent years, the prep process has improved and the amount of liquid you must drink before the procedure is a lot less.

What to know: Colonoscopies aren’t that bad. After taking a laxative and a special drink the night before, the painless outpatient procedure takes about 20 minutes. And thanks to the fast-acting sedative, you won’t have any memory of it, Wender says. After you wake up, your doctor will explain that either nothing was found and that you’re due back in 10 years or possibly that polyps were removed and will be sent for biopsy. In that case, you and your primary care doctor should get results within one week.

Colonoscopy is a two-fer, Wender explains: “The benefit comes from checking for cancer but also from removing polyps that may turn cancerous later.”

2. Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid)

This happens when your thyroid gland doesn’t make enough thyroid hormone, resulting in a slowdown of all the systems in your body, including digestion.

“With a low thyroid level, metabolism and everything else works much more slowly than it should,” explains Dr. Dace L. Trence, president of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinology.

Other symptoms: Weight gain, fatigue, dry or brittle hair, hair loss.

What to know: A doctor can diagnose hypothyroidism with a patient history, an exam and blood tests, and treat it with simple medication, says Trence.

3. Pelvic floor dyssynergia (pelvic floor dysfunction)

Who knew pooping demands such complex coordination? Normally, the “defecation reflex” occurs at the end of digestion, when a combination of involuntary reflexes and voluntary muscles move feces from the colon to the rectum and out the anus.

But when the muscles that support the rectum and anal sphincters don’t relax, you can’t go. In other words, if the muscles of the pelvic floor, anus and abdomen do not cooperate, it is difficult to expel excrement.

“Dyssynergia means the anal sphincters are paradoxically contracting when they’re supposed to be relaxing and opening up,” Pasricha says, calling it “a likely maladaptive response to some other cause of constipation.”

For example, if a person ate a very low-fiber diet early in life, their muscles may have retrained, and now, when encountering healthy food, the muscles fight each other. If your pelvic floor muscles are confused, “the issue can come back to haunt you in your 50s or 60s,” says Pasricha, author of the new book You’ve Been Pooping All Wrong.

Other symptoms: Excessive straining and abdominal pain; constipation persists despite increased fiber and use of laxatives.

What to know: Root causes for pelvic floor issues aren’t well understood, but the fix is known: pelvic physical therapy. If your doctor suspects dyssynergia but cannot refer you to a local therapist, use a locator from the American Physical Therapy Association or a directory such as pelvicrehab.com to connect with someone who can sync your muscles.

4. Diabetes or high blood sugar

Poor blood glucose control can damage nerves throughout the body, including nerves in the gastrointestinal tract, according to Dr. Deena Adimoolam, an endocrinologist in Clifton, New Jersey, and a member of the advisory committee of the Endocrine Society. “The GI tract is made up of muscles that need nerve signals to contract and move food along, but if those nerves are damaged, gut movement is slowed, which may lead to constipation,” she explains.

Trence tells patients to think of the colon as a tube. “Imagine the tube is surrounded by chicken wire. The wire represents a complex of nerves which regulates everything. When the nerves aren’t working, food just sits in the bowel,” she says.

Other symptoms: Diabetic neuropathy may damage nerves in the legs and feet; symptoms may include pain and numbness in the legs, feet and hands.

What to know: Tighter blood sugar management may help prevent further nerve damage while dietary adjustments, such as adding fiber, may stimulate more frequent bowel movements. Your doctor may suggest over-the-counter fiber supplements, laxatives or stool softeners.

5. Irritable bowel syndrome

This common condition affects the stomach and intestines, and it tends to emerge early in life. But sometimes it starts later, after a gastrointestinal infection such as food poisoning or traveler’s diarrhea. Known as post-infectious IBS (PI-IBS), it can continue to occur months or years after an infection.

Other symptoms: Cramping, belly pain, bloating, and gas. PI-IBS may cause diarrhea, constipation or both (mixed IBS).

What to know: Gut inflammation may result from a disruption of communication between your gut microbiome and your immune system. Your doctor can help you resolve the condition with short-term use of probiotics or a FODMAP diet, an eating plan that reduces the carbohydrates that can be hard to digest. (For more on IBS, read The Diet for Irritable Bowel Syndrome.)

6. Parkinson’s disease

For many people, Parkinson’s begins outside the brain.

“Constipation is one of the most important symptoms that can develop years, if not decades, before tremors and other motor symptoms begin,” Pasricha notes.

Her research explores the so-called “gut-first” origins of Parkinson’s: a hypothesis that the disease is triggered by early microbiome changes in the GI tract.

“One theory: The misfolded protein that builds up in the brain starts to misfold in the gut. The protein could play some role in damaging the nerves, contributing to constipation, and then, over time, it travels up the vagus nerve and eventually hits the brain,” says Pasricha.

Other symptoms: Loss of smell, gait problems, trouble sleeping (For more, read “8 Early Warning Signs of Parkinson’s Disease.”)

What to know: “Constipation is incredibly common, and everybody who has it doesn’t go on to develop Parkinson’s,” Pasricha says. But if you are at increased risk, your doctor might monitor you, help reduce other risks and encourage activities known to delay or stop Parkinson’s development. Studies show vigorous exercise may have a neuroprotective effect that keeps the brain healthy.

7. Depression

Sometimes called the “second brain,” the gut is full of nerve endings in continual communication with the brain. Experts don’t know why or how, but constipation tends to occur with this mood disorder.

“New research talks about the gut system and bacterial flora contributing to mental illness,” says Dr. Badr Ratnakaran, chair of the American Psychiatric Association’s Council on Geriatric Psychiatry. “A potential biology of mental illness could also contribute to gastrointestinal system disruption, which could contribute to constipation,” he says.

Other symptoms: Fatigue; changes in appetite or sleep.

What to know: Treatment of depression may help resolve constipation.

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The key takeaways were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.

Denise Maher is a reporter, writer and editor who covers integrative medicine, reproductive health, chronic pain, autoimmune disease and other consumer health topics. Her work has been published in Everyday Health, HealthCentral, Reader’s Digest, Men’s Health, Self and more.