Dyschezia: Difficulty Pooping in Adults and Infants — Causes, Diagnosis and Treatment

Oct 8

10 min read

Updated: 5 days ago

Medically reviewed by Dr. Baraa Alnahhal, MD · Last reviewed: October 2026

Dyschezia literally means difficulty pooping, and another name for it is disordered defecation [1]. In adults, it describes straining or pain with pooping, with causes such as constipation, anismus, endometriosis, inflammatory bowel disease or anorectal lesions [1]. In infants, it is a different, specific condition called grunting baby syndrome: a temporary muscle-coordination struggle with pooping that lasts a few days to weeks and resolves on its own, usually by 2 to 3 months of age, with no treatment needed [1].

Quick Answer: What is dyschezia, and does it need treatment?

Dyschezia is difficulty pooping, also called disordered defecation. In adults it describes straining, pain or obstructed defecation, and treatment depends on the cause. In infants, known as grunting baby syndrome, it is a coordination problem in which babies strain or cry for 10 to 30 minutes but pass normal poop. Most outgrow it by 2 to 3 months without treatment. [1]

What the research says

Infant dyschezia is relatively common. A meta-analysis of 28 studies of European children found a pooled prevalence of 6.9% (95% CI 3.1% to 11.9%) for infant dyschezia in infants aged 0 to 12 months, based on 9 studies and 5,611 infants (Bloem et al., Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, 2025 [2]).
Biofeedback can retrain the muscles behind adult dyschezia. In a randomized trial of 77 adults with chronic constipation and dyssynergic defecation, biofeedback was more likely than sham feedback or standard therapy (diet, exercise, laxatives) to correct dyssynergia after 3 months (P < .0001), and it increased the number of complete spontaneous bowel movements (Rao et al., Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 2007 [3]).

What Is Dyschezia?

Dyschezia literally means difficulty pooping. Another name for dyschezia is disordered defecation. Healthcare providers use the term differently when talking about infants or adults, which can be confusing [1]:

Dyschezia in adults: a description rather than a condition. You can't poop without difficulty, straining or pain, for many possible reasons.
Infant dyschezia: a specific condition, also called grunting baby syndrome, where babies appear to struggle to poop but have no signs of constipation.

What Is Adult Dyschezia?

Dyschezia in adults is more of a description than a condition. It means that you can't poop without having some type of difficulty, straining or pain. This could be for a lot of reasons. Constipation often relates to dyschezia in adults, either as the cause of your difficulties or as a side effect [1].

What Is Infant Dyschezia?

Infants with dyschezia appear to have difficulty pooping, but they have no signs of constipation. They might strain, grunt or cry for 10 to 30 minutes before they poop, but when the poop comes out, it's normal [1].

Infant dyschezia is a muscle coordination problem. It means your baby is having trouble coordinating the different muscle groups necessary to poop. This is a learned reflex, and some babies struggle a bit more than others to learn it. They usually figure it out within a week or two [1].

It's upsetting for parents to watch their babies struggle, but infants with dyschezia aren't sick or suffering. Pediatricians believe these infants cry to produce the necessary abdominal pressure to poop, not because they're in pain. No treatment is necessary or recommended [1].

Symptoms and Causes

Symptoms of Adult Dyschezia

A healthcare provider might use the term "dyschezia" to describe your condition if you experience [1]:

Obstructed defecation: feeling blocked or unable to pass stool
Straining to poop: excessive effort to push stool out
Pain with pooping: pain during or after a bowel movement

Symptoms of Infant Dyschezia

Infants with dyschezia may show symptoms such as [1]:

Struggling to poop, lasting at least 10 minutes
Grunting, crying or screaming while they try to poop
Turning red in the face
Squirming or kicking their feet
Not succeeding every time they try
Normal poop when it comes out, soft or pasty rather than hard

How Can You Tell Dyschezia From Constipation in a Baby?

Parents of babies with infant dyschezia often mistake it for constipation at first. They see their baby straining to poop and assume the poop is too hard to pass. This is, after all, usually the reason why adults strain to poop. Adults don't remember that they once had to learn how to do it [1].

Straining to poop looks the same whether a baby is straining against hard poop or against their own muscles. But you can tell which kind of struggle it is from the poop that comes out [1]:

Hard or bloody poop is a sign of constipation.
Poop that looks normal (soft or pasty) means the poop itself isn't the problem, so it is likely dyschezia.

How Can You Tell Infant Dyschezia From Colic?

Colic is another condition that causes babies to cry inconsolably for no discernible reason. Babies with colic often appear to be in gastrointestinal distress. They might arch their backs, clench their fists or pull their legs up to their tummies while crying, and sometimes they turn red in the face [1].

Parents and doctors alike once assumed digestive issues such as gas, reflux, indigestion or difficulty pooping might relate to colic. But evidence of this is scarce, and parents have observed that colic episodes don't necessarily correspond with feeding cycles. Colic is still a mystery, but some now believe that it may be, like infant dyschezia, a developmental phase that you just have to wait out [1].

Doctors diagnose colic when they can't find any other explanation for your baby's fussiness. Infant dyschezia is one possibility they might try to exclude first [1].

Infant dyschezia: crying happens before pooping in particular, ends when they poop, and is linked to pooping effort (straining, grunting).
Colic: inconsolable crying with no discernible reason that comes and goes unpredictably, with back arching, fist clenching and legs pulled to the tummy, and not necessarily matching feeding cycles.

What Causes Dyschezia in Adults?

Several conditions can cause dyschezia in adults [1]:

Anismus (dyssynergic defecation): adults struggle with their pooping muscles, similar to babies with infant dyschezia. Read more in our guide to anismus.
Endometriosis: it can cause difficulty, pain or rectal bleeding during pooping if it spreads to the lower bowel, near the rectum.
Constipation: hard, impacted poop is difficult and painful to pass, and prolonged constipation can also damage the muscles and nerves that control pooping. See also fecal impaction.
Inflammatory bowel disease: ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease cause chronic inflammation and bleeding in the lower large bowel (rectum and anus).
Anorectal lesions: temporary wounds or growths cause pain or obstruction, including hemorrhoids, anal fissures, anal abscesses, colon polyps and tumors.

What Causes Infant Dyschezia?

Infants and children are constantly developing, and they take their time with different skills. Pooping, believe it or not, is one of those skills. It takes a lot of coordination between the brain, nerves and different muscle groups to synchronize the act of pooping, especially without gravity on their side [1].

Normally, poop entering your rectum triggers your anus muscles to release and let it through. Since infants can't sit up yet, the pressure in their rectum might be weaker, and it may take more abdominal pressure to push it through. They also have to figure out how to push and release at the same time [1].

Infants who are trying to push poop out against a clenched anus will struggle and possibly cry with frustration until they learn to relax it. Infants may also cry because they sense that crying helps them contract their abdominal muscles. It may be part of their process of figuring out how to push poop out [1].

How Dyschezia Is Diagnosed

In Adults

Dyschezia in adults is a symptom, and your symptoms are what you say they are. If you tell a healthcare provider that you have difficulty pooping, they'll write it down and ask you more about it. It may relate to a condition you already know you have, or it may lead you to discover an underlying condition [1].

In Infants

Your pediatrician will ask you about your baby's symptoms and what their poop is like. They may ask for a poop sample. They'll also give your baby a basic physical exam. If their anatomy looks normal, their poop looks normal and their symptoms only involve the act of pooping, they'll diagnose infant dyschezia [1].

Treatment Options

Relieving Dyschezia in Adults

Dyschezia in adults can mean different things, and it can have many different causes. Your healthcare provider will need to isolate the cause in order to recommend the right treatment. Possible treatments for pooping difficulties include [1]:

Medications, depending on the identified cause.
Physical therapy to retrain pelvic and pooping muscles.
Biofeedback to retrain the brain-muscle coordination of pooping.
Surgery for chronic disease or physical lesions causing pain and difficulty. It is usually the last resort.

Helping Your Baby With Dyschezia

There's no treatment for infant dyschezia, and pediatricians don't advise interfering. This is hard to hear for parents who want to relieve their babies' struggles. It may be tempting to try to help by stimulating their rectum. But this delays their own learning process and may make them dependent on stimulation [1].

There's some research to suggest that infant massage can help stimulate your baby's nervous system and their physical development. While not a direct treatment for dyschezia, regular massage may improve the brain-body coordination they need to develop in order to learn how to poop [1].

Do: comfort your baby through the straining phases, let the learned reflex develop naturally, and consider regular infant massage for brain-body coordination.
Don't: stimulate their rectum to "help" them poop, or treat the baby medically for a normal developmental phase.

Outlook / Prognosis

Outlook for Adults

Some pooping problems are relatively easy to treat, and others can be more elusive, especially when they involve your brain and nervous system. In these cases, healthcare providers often take a holistic approach that combines diet and lifestyle changes with various therapies. This approach takes time [1].

If you have a chronic disease or a physical lesion that causes pain and difficulty pooping, surgery might have a place in your treatment plan. Surgery is usually the last resort for people with severe symptoms that don't respond to other treatments or complementary medicine, but it's often successful [1].

When Do Babies Grow Out of Infant Dyschezia?

The good news is that infant dyschezia is usually a brief problem, lasting a few days to weeks. Even this can feel like forever when you witness your baby's daily struggles. But you can rest assured that they'll overcome it. Most have outgrown dyschezia by the time they're 2 to 3 months old [1].

Bottom Line

Dyschezia wears two very different hats depending on who has it. For adults, it's a symptom description, straining or pain with pooping, that points toward an underlying cause: constipation, anismus, endometriosis, inflammatory bowel disease or an anorectal lesion. Finding that cause is the whole treatment plan, because the right fix can range from medication to biofeedback to surgery [1].

For babies, it's something else entirely. Grunting baby syndrome looks alarming, with red-faced straining, grunting and crying for up to 30 minutes, but it's a normal coordination skill being learned, not illness or constipation. The poop comes out soft and pasty, and the baby isn't in pain [1].

The number to remember for parents: most babies outgrow it by 2 to 3 months, and the worst thing you can do is interfere with rectal stimulation that delays the learning process [1].

Your next step: if you're an adult struggling to poop, don't delay. See a qualified healthcare provider to isolate the cause. If you're a parent watching your baby strain, check the poop when it comes out: normal, soft stool means this is likely the passing phase described above, while hard or bloody poop points to constipation, so talk with your pediatrician.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does dyschezia mean?

Dyschezia literally means difficulty pooping. Another name is disordered defecation. Providers use it differently for infants and adults: in adults it describes straining or pain with pooping, and in infants it's a specific coordination condition called grunting baby syndrome.

What is infant dyschezia (grunting baby syndrome)?

Infant dyschezia is a muscle coordination problem: babies appear to struggle to poop but have no signs of constipation. They may strain, grunt or cry for 10 to 30 minutes before pooping, but the poop that comes out is normal, soft or pasty.

Is my baby in pain when they strain to poop?

Probably not. Pediatricians believe infants with dyschezia cry to produce the necessary abdominal pressure to poop, not because they're in pain. They aren't sick or suffering. They're learning a coordination skill.

How long does infant dyschezia last?

It's usually a brief problem, lasting a few days to weeks. Most babies have outgrown dyschezia by the time they're 2 to 3 months old.

Is infant dyschezia the same as constipation?

No. Babies with dyschezia have no signs of constipation. The key difference is the poop: if it's hard or bloody, that's constipation. If it looks normal, soft or pasty, the poop itself isn't the problem.

Should I help my baby poop by stimulating their rectum?

No. There's no treatment for infant dyschezia and pediatricians don't advise interfering. Rectal stimulation delays their own learning process and may make them dependent on stimulation.

What causes dyschezia in adults?

Anismus (dyssynergic defecation), endometriosis spreading to the lower bowel, constipation with hard or impacted poop, inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease) and anorectal lesions such as hemorrhoids, anal fissures, anal abscesses, colon polyps and tumors.

How is adult dyschezia diagnosed?

It's a symptom, and your symptoms are what you say they are. If you tell your provider you have difficulty pooping, they'll write it down, ask more about it, and look for an underlying cause, either one you already know about or a new finding.

How is infant dyschezia diagnosed?

A pediatrician asks about symptoms and what the poop is like, may request a poop sample, and does a basic physical exam. If anatomy and poop look normal and symptoms only involve the act of pooping, infant dyschezia is diagnosed.

How is dyschezia treated in adults?

The provider isolates the cause first. Possible treatments include medications, physical therapy, biofeedback and sometimes surgery, which is usually the last resort for severe symptoms but is often successful.

How is dyschezia different from colic in babies?

Colic causes inconsolable crying for no discernible reason (back arching, clenched fists, legs pulled to the tummy), while dyschezia fussiness happens before pooping in particular and ends when the baby poops.

References

Cleveland Clinic. Dyschezia. Cleveland Clinic. August 25, 2022. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/24109-dyschezia
Bloem MN, et al. Prevalence of functional defecation disorders in European children: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition. 2025;80(4):580-597. PMID 39775925. https://doi.org/10.1002/jpn3.12437
Rao SSC, et al. Randomized controlled trial of biofeedback, sham feedback, and standard therapy for dyssynergic defecation. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. 2007;5(3):331-338. PMID 17368232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cgh.2006.12.023

Medical disclaimer

This article is based on clinical reference sources current as of August 25, 2022. Medical information changes over time — this content is for general education and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult a licensed clinician for diagnosis and treatment.