One of the commonest gastro-intestinal complaints, constipation affects almost 2% of the population on a chronic basis globally. A large number of people wrongly believe themselves to be suffering from constipation if they do not get a bowel movement everyday. The medical understanding of the disorder 'constipation' is, however, slightly different from this. Having less than three bowel movements a week is termed as constipation. In addition, having hard stools or requiring to strain at stools for a long time also constitutes constipation.

An outcome of errant eating habits and sedentary lifestyle in most cases, constipation is a very common complaint and tends to be under-diagnosed since most patients usually prefer to try a lot of home remedies rather than reporting for treatment. The belief that constipation leads to accumulation of toxins in blood also results in significant abuse of laxatives and purgatives by patients.