Is it useful to drink millet soup for babies with constipation? How to treat constipation in children?

Babies are in the early stages of development, and their body functions are not yet fully developed, so they often suffer from diseases for various reasons. Constipation is a disease with a relatively high prevalence among children. Constipation in children can be divided into five types: constipation due to food accumulation, constipation due to dryness and heat, constipation due to qi stagnation, constipation due to qi deficiency, and constipation due to blood deficiency. Different types of constipation require different treatment methods.

1. Food stagnation and constipation

(1) Main symptoms: constipation, abdominal distension, loss of appetite, or nausea and vomiting, hot hands and feet, short yellow urine, yellow and greasy tongue coating, and a slippery, rapid and strong pulse.

(2) Treatment principles: Eliminate stagnation, remove heat and resolve dampness. Prescription: Daozhi Pills with modifications.

(3) Commonly used drugs: Citrus aurantium, Shenqu, Crataegus pinnatifida, Coptis chinensis, Scutellaria baicalensis, Poria cocos, Rhubarb (added later), Alisma orientalis, Atractylodes macrocephala, etc. If the patient is harmed by eating pasta: add radish seeds; if the patient is harmed by eating grains: use more Shenqu; if the patient is harmed by eating dairy products: add malt. Nausea and vomiting: add Pinellia ternata and ginger; food accumulation turning into heat: add Forsythia suspensa and Coptis chinensis; abdominal distension: add Costus root and Chicken gizzard lining.

2. Dryness and heat constipation

(1) Main symptoms: dry and hard stools, difficulty in defecation, or even constipation, flushed face and hot body, dry mouth and bad breath, abdominal distension or pain, short and dark urine, or sores in the mouth and tongue, red tongue, dry yellow tongue coating, and slippery and rapid pulse.

(2) Treatment principles: clearing away heat, moistening the intestines and promoting bowel movements. Prescription: Ma Zi Ren Wan with modifications.

(3) Commonly used drugs: Rhubarb (added later), hemp seed, immature bitter orange, Magnolia officinalis, apricot kernel, white peony root, honey (taken with water). For those with dry mouth and tongue, and loss of body fluid: add raw rehmannia, adenophora or ophiopogon; for those with dry and hard stools: add sodium sulfate; for those with lung heat and dryness moving down to the large intestine: add scutellaria baicalensis, anemarrhena asphodeloides, and trichosanthes seed; for those with abdominal distension and pain, add costus root, areca catechu, and white peony root.

3. Qi stagnation and constipation

(1) Main symptoms: constipation, inability to defecate, frequent belching, distending pain in the flank and abdomen, red tongue, thin white fur, and stringy pulse.

(2) Treatment principle: Soothe the liver and regulate qi, remove stagnation and relieve constipation. Prescription: Liumo Decoction with modifications.

(3) Commonly used drugs: costus root, lindera strychnifolia, aquilaria sinensis (added later), rhubarb (added later), areca catechu, and immature bitter orange. For severe chest and flank distension and pain: add Cyperus rotundus and Toosendan fruit; for abdominal distension and pain: add White Peony Root and Corydalis yanhusuo; for persistent belching: add Inula odoratus and Magnolia officinalis; for nausea and vomiting: remove Areca nut and add Pinellia ternata, ginger and dried orange peel; for prolonged stagnation of Qi turning into fire: bitter taste in the mouth and dry throat: add Gardenia jasminoides, Gentiana scabra, etc.; for worm accumulation blocking the Qi flow: use more Areca nut and add Thunder Pills and Quisqualis chinensis, etc.

4. Constipation due to Qi deficiency

(1) Main symptoms: Although there is an urge to defecate, the stool is not dry and hard, but the struggle is weak. It is difficult to expel, and when struggling, one sweats and becomes short of breath. After defecation, one feels tired, pale, listless, and lazy. The tongue is pale, the coating on the tongue is thin, and the pulse is weak.

(2) Treatment principle: Strengthen the spleen and replenish qi, moisten the intestines and promote bowel movements. Prescription: Modified Huangqi decoction.

(3) Commonly used drugs: Astragalus, Atractylodes macrocephala, Codonopsis pilosula, Hemp seed, Tangerine peel, Honey (for drinking). For those with long-term cough, lung deficiency and shortness of breath: add Shengmai San, Aster and Radix Phellodendri; for those with qi deficiency and rectal prolapse: use more Astragalus, add Cimicifuga and Bupleurum. Dry and hard stool: add jujube seeds and winter melon seeds.

5. Constipation due to blood deficiency

(1) Main symptoms: dry and hard stools, difficulty in defecation, pale complexion, pale lips and nails, dizziness and palpitations, pale tongue, thin white fur, and weak pulse.

(2) Treatment principles: nourishing blood, moistening intestines, and promoting bowel movements. Prescription: Modified Runchang Pills.

(3) Commonly used medicines: Chinese angelica, raw rehmannia, hemp seed, peach kernel, fructus aurantii, and polygonum multiflorum. For those with blood deficiency and heat, which damage the yin: add Polygonatum odoratum, Radix Rehmanniae, and Rhizoma Anemarrhenae; for those with Qi deficiency and fatigue, shortness of breath, and spontaneous sweating: add Codonopsis pilosula and Radix Astragali; for palpitations: add Semen Ziziphi Spinosae and Paeonia lactiflora; for pale lips and nails: add donkey-hide gelatin (melted).