Constipation: ‘It’s intertwined with stigma and shame. It is a hard thing to talk about – but there is help’

Author and gut health expert Lorraine Cooney is determined to spread awareness of how to combat constipation and reduce the stigma of the condition

Many people may not realise that the discomfort they experience when passing stools is constipation. Photo: Getty

Saoirse Hanley

Constipation is more common than you think. The difficulty is that many people may not even know that’s what they have been experiencing. In her new book, Why You Can’t Go, gut health expert Lorraine Cooney is on a mission to assist and empower those with “the bowel in the slow lane, the stubborn, annoying bowel that doesn’t like to get going”.

Cooney has over two decades of experience in nutrition and dietetics, and set up the Gut Health Clinic at the Blackrock Clinic in Dublin. It was witnessing the impact specific diet modifications can have on patients that drew her to the field. These days, she sees people suffering from a range of gastrointestinal complaints.