A regular daily movement of the bowels is necessary to health. Much of the illness in the world might have been avoided if the victims had taken better care of the excretory organs. One of the first questions a physician asks a patient is, "How are your bowels, do they move regularly every day?" In some cases that is the first time the patient has thought of them, and he has to think some time before he can remember just when and how often his bowels did move. Then perhaps he is not sure. In a great many cases it is a routine practice with physicians to give a "good cleaning out," that is, to give a thorough laxative. Many times this is all the treatment required and in other cases it only is combined with a little intestinal antiseptic to further carry out the cleaning process. The most common cause of constipation is irregularity in going to the toilet. When the desire for defecation comes, we are too busy and postpone it until some more convenient time, which time may be too late. Nature is the best judge as to when the bowels are ready to be emptied. If we do not obey her call, we must take the consequences. When the waste material is ready to be voided, it is in a semi-fluid state, but, if it remains in the intestines too long the water is absorbed and the waste material is left in a hard mass which is expelled with difficulty. Not only that, but the desire to expel it soon passes. Nature, finding we do not respond to her call, ceases to notify us. If the waste material is allowed to remain in the bowels, not only the water is absorbed but with it some of the poisons from the waste material, which are taken up by the blood and carried to all parts of the system, causing a great deal of trouble and pain. This absorption of toxins (poisons) causes headache, loss of appetite, a sense of depression and a lack of energy. The pressure of the hard material on the tender tissues of the rectum causes hemorrhoids or piles, by irritating the tissues and causing a congestion. Hemorrhoids are enlarged veins which have been so irritated and filled with extra blood that they have lost their power to contract. These enlarged veins may remain inside the rectum and then are known as internal piles. Sometimes they protrude externally and then are known as external piles. Frequently they become tender and cause a great deal of pain. In some cases one of the little veins becomes so engorged with blood that it bursts and allows the contained blood to escape. This is known as bleeding piles. For mild cases of hemorrhoids (piles) the treatment is to correct the accompanying constipation, then take an enema or injection of warm water morning and evening, using the water as hot as can be borne and allowing it to run in and out the rectum for some time. Following this, an astringent and soothing lotion should be applied.