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Intestinal spasms can be caused by emotional factors, exercise, diet, medication, and conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome and intestinal pseudo-obstruction. Symptoms include abdominal pain, bloating, and changes in bowel movements. Treatment includes lifestyle changes and medication to prevent spasms. Severe cases may require surgery.
Intestinal spasms occur when the muscle in the intestine contracts in an uncoordinated way. Since the movement, or motility, of the intestine is regulated by muscles and nerves, emotional factors such as anxiety and stress can affect its function and can lead to intestinal spasms. Exercise, diet, and some medications can also cause changes in bowel movement. A common cause of spasms is the condition known as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), in which abdominal pain and bloating can be associated with diarrhea or constipation. Problems in which the intestines are blocked, such as severe constipation or the disorder known as intestinal pseudo-obstruction, can also lead to spasms.
Normally, food is moved along the intestines by regular waves of contractions that occur in the muscles that make up the intestinal wall. When a problem causes contractions to become excessive or abnormal, symptoms such as pain, bloating, and intestinal spasms can occur. Depending on the specific cause, diarrhea or constipation may also occur. Medications such as laxatives and some antidepressants can disturb normal bowel movement, and thyroid disorders can also affect bowel motility. Stress can also have an effect, causing food to move through your intestines more quickly.
IBS is a common cause of intestinal motility, and when people are emotionally upset or stressed, symptoms are more likely to occur. The disorder is not dangerous and is not associated with any damage to the intestines, but its cause remains unknown. Intestinal spasms are associated with symptoms of abdominal cramps, wind and an urgent need to open the intestines. Episodes of diarrhea, constipation, or both can occur, and IBS tends to come in phases that last a few days. While there is no single effective treatment, lifestyle changes and medications that relax muscles and prevent spasms can help.
Intestinal pseudo-obstruction is a rare disease associated with intestinal spasms. The intestines fail to contract effectively so that food is not moved normally, even if there is no actual blockage. Abdominal pain and bloating, nausea and tiredness may be experienced along with diarrhea or constipation.
Image scans show that the bowel leading up to the immobile section is swollen, as it would be in the case of a true obstruction. The pain may be due to stretching of the intestine or it could result from an intestinal spasm. Treatment may involve medications, procedures that remove gas from the intestines, and, in severe cases, surgery.
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