Mobility: Regular exercise improves GI motility and muscle tone, whereas inactivity decreases both. Adequate tone in the abdominal muscles, the diaphragm, and the perineal muscles is essential for ease of defecation.
Food and Fluids: Foods high in fiber help keep stool moving through the intestines. Adequate fluid intake keeps stools from becoming dry and hard. Adequate fluid also helps fiber to keep stool soft and bulky and prevents dehydration from being a contributing factor to constipation.
Medications: Some antibiotics and laxatives may cause stool to become loose and more frequent. Diuretics may lead to dry, hard, and less frequent stools. Opioids decrease GI motility, leading to constipation.
Intestinal diversions: Ileostomies normally have liquid, foul-smelling stool. Sigmoid colostomies normally have pasty, formed stool.