When you finish drinking strong coffee, you immediately feel the urge to defecate. I feel relieved after finishing my errands. So why does defecation feel so satisfying?
“Despite being one of the most common things humans do, I think we still lack a complete understanding of how defecation works and why it relieves symptoms,” Dr. Hannibal Person, a pediatric gastroenterologist at Seattle Children’s Hospital, told Live Science. There are many physical, behavioral, and psychological factors that can contribute to this feeling.
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“You can tighten your anus, tighten your pelvic floor, flex other muscles like your hamstrings to hold something back,” Parson said. But that uncomfortable pressure prompts us to go to the bathroom.
Empty your bowels by passing stools will relieve this pressure and make you feel better. Dr. Lucinda Harris, a gastroenterologist and exercise expert at Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine in Arizona, said this is implied by functional MRI studies of the brain.
“When you reduce distention, areas such as the anterior cingulate and insular cortex respond to reward,” she says. These areas of the brain respond to pain and play a role in pain relief.
The gut communicates with the brain through one of the major cranial nerves, the vagus nerve. Evacuation stimulates the vagus nerve. This lowers blood pressure and heart rate, creating a feeling of relaxation, Parson said. Reducing pressure or discomfort can positively reinforce the behavior.
Although less understood than its effect on the vagus nerve, defecation can also stimulate the pudendal nerve, officials said. This major nerve in the pelvis helps control tension in the pelvic floor.
When you hold in your poop, your pelvic floor muscles become tense. “When people hold on or tighten, it creates more pain and tension in the area,” Harris says. “Teaching people how to relax their muscles is very important.”
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