Abdominal Massage for Constipation: About 1.6 More Bowel Movements a Week, and No Fewer Laxatives

Does abdominal massage help constipation? Yes, modestly, and as a routine rather than a single session. A 2025 review that pooled 23 studies of 1,431 adults found it added about 1.6 bowel movements a week compared with control groups and eased symptoms, but it did not reduce laxative use. In every trial below that states a schedule, the massage was repeated, from twice a week to daily, for four to eight weeks, and in those that say who gave it, it was the patients themselves, a carer or a trained family member. We are Nghê Prana, a riverside hotel and spa on the Thu Bồn in Hội An, and our menu does not name abdominal massage, so this page sets out what the trials measured, the ILU (I Love You) self-massage from two hospital leaflets, who should not have it, why travel brings on constipation (táo bón, in Vietnamese) and what to try first, and when to see a doctor. Every source, from PubMed, the NHS and NIDDK to Vinmec and VnExpress, was read on 11 November 2026.

Does abdominal massage help constipation? The short answer

What did the abdominal massage trials actually measure?

The trial most leaflets lean on is Swedish. At Umeå University, Lämås and colleagues randomised 60 people with constipation who were already on prescribed laxatives (International Journal of Nursing Studies, 2009). Half carried on with their laxatives and also had 15 minutes of abdominal and hand massage a day, five days a week, for eight weeks, as the lead author's 2011 Nursing Times summary sets out; the other half took their laxatives only. In the massage group, gastrointestinal symptom scores fell, especially for constipation and abdominal pain, and bowel movements increased compared with the laxative-only group. The laxatives did not change: "There was no significant difference in the change of the amount of laxative intake after 8 weeks." The authors' conclusion is the useful one for anyone hoping to stop a laxative: abdominal massage "could be a complement to laxatives rather than a substitute". The abstracts do not say who gave the massage. The team's later cost analysis (Journal of Advanced Nursing, 2010) modelled two versions, patients taught to massage themselves and an enrolled nurse in hospital, and estimated that about 40% of people would get a good effect.

Trials in people with neurological disease are the most careful, and the most sobering. In a Glasgow feasibility trial of 30 people with multiple sclerosis (Multiple Sclerosis, 2011), patients or their carers were taught the massage and asked to do it daily for four weeks, alongside bowel advice; the comparison group got the advice only. Both groups' constipation scores improved, the massage group's significantly more. The full-scale follow-up, AMBER (Health Technology Assessment, 2018), randomised 189 people with MS in 12 UK hospitals to daily massage for six weeks plus advice, or advice alone. On its main measure, a bowel-dysfunction score at 24 weeks, the difference favoured massage "but it was small and not statistically significant". The massage group did open their bowels about 0.62 more times a week than the advice-only group, felt they had emptied completely about 1.08 more times a week, and no adverse events were reported. In a pilot of 32 people with Parkinson's (Age and Ageing, 2016), six weeks of daily massage plus lifestyle advice was compared with advice alone, and both groups improved, "although this was not significantly different between the groups".

Other trials are more positive, in other groups of people. In a Turkish trial of 60 patients with constipation after surgery, the 30 given abdominal massage opened their bowels more often than the 30 who were not (Gastroenterology Nursing, 2016). In a Turkish nursing home, after 15 minutes a day, five days a week for a month, 30 older residents' constipation severity score fell from 40.6 to 16.0, and on a second scale they improved significantly more than 31 residents on routine treatment (Gastroenterology Nursing, 2024). In Rafsanjan, Iran, 105 older women were split three ways for eight weeks (Aging Clinical and Experimental Research, 2025): traditional Thai abdominal massage, 20 minutes twice a week given by a trained family member, eased constipation severity and pain and improved stool consistency more than 50 g of prunes twice a week or routine care did, while the prune group gained most in quality of life. The reviews pool trials like these. Huang and colleagues (International Journal of Nursing Studies, 2025) found the 1.6 extra bowel movements a week, gut transit about 21.5 hours faster in the four studies that timed it, and fewer symptoms, but massage "did not reduce laxative use"; results varied widely between studies, and versions that added acupressure or aromatherapy raised frequency more than plain circular massage, on few studies. A 2025 review of 25 randomised trials (Complementary Medicine Research) agreed, noting that "most included trials did not report adverse events"; a 2026 review of 35 studies (Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology) found adverse events rare, at 6.3%, and mild, and judged a massage device as good as hands, though one of its three authors works for a company that makes one of the devices. That positive picture is recent: in 1999, Ernst's review found four controlled trials, and "None of the four studies is free of methodological flaws." So when a leaflet says abdominal massage "may" reduce the need for long-term laxatives, as Leeds Community Healthcare's does, read it as a hope: where laxative use was measured, it did not fall.

How do you do the ILU (I Love You) massage?

• Set-up: the Children's National Hospital handout (Division of Colorectal and Pelvic Reconstruction) describes a self-massage with "small clockwise circular strokes or line strokes with mild to moderate pressure" and cream on your fingertips. Cambridge University Hospitals' physiotherapy leaflet says it can be done "sitting or lying down".
• Warm-up: 1 to 2 minutes of clockwise circles around the belly button, about 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 cm) away from it.
• I: stroke from under the left side of the rib cage down to the front of the left hipbone, 10 times.
• L: stroke from under the right rib cage, across beneath the ribs to the left, then down to the left hipbone, 10 times.
• U: stroke from the front of the right hipbone up to under the right rib cage, across to the left rib cage and down to the left hipbone, 10 times.
• How often: "Do this massage 1-2 times daily", in the Children's National handout. It comes from a children's hospital, and its pressure guide, "about a 1 inch depth for most children", is written for children; the Cambridge version below is a pelvic health physiotherapy leaflet.

Both hospital versions trace the same route, up the right side of the belly, across under the ribs and down the left, and differ only in where they begin. Children's National builds backwards from the left-hand end of the route. Cambridge University Hospitals' pelvic health physiotherapy leaflet (approved 16 July 2024) builds forwards: each stroke starts "in the bottom right hand corner of your tummy", going up to the ribs (the I), up and along to the left (the L), and up, along and down to the bottom left, which it calls "an 'n' shape". Neither leaflet says why it starts where it does, and we found no trial comparing the two. Vinmec's gastroenterology team (18 November 2024) also starts low on the right, "Đặt cả hai tay lên bên phải bụng dưới" (both hands on the lower right of the belly), pressing gently as you breathe out and stroking up to the ribs 10 times, and suggests doing it around the time you usually open your bowels, "đặc biệt là vào buổi sáng" (especially in the morning). The traditional Vietnamese version, credited in VnExpress (31 October 2003) to Thạc sĩ Hoàng Khánh Toàn, stacks both hands and circles clockwise with moderate pressure "chừng 50 vòng" (about 50 circles), then presses points such as Thiên khu, either side of the navel, once or twice a day. Leeds Community Healthcare's eight-step version takes 10 to 20 minutes, done by yourself or a carer after "the appropriate training".

Who should not have abdominal massage?

• Pregnancy. On the lists of Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust (page updated 16 March 2026) and Vinmec (18 November 2024). A second Vinmec page (22 July 2024) says to talk to a doctor first. The NHS says its diet and lifestyle steps are safe to try in pregnancy; what our pregnancy treatment involves is on the pregnancy massage page.
• Recent abdominal surgery, injury or scarring. "Không massage bụng nếu bạn vừa phẫu thuật vùng bụng" (no abdominal massage if you have just had abdominal surgery), says Vinmec (22 July 2024). Leeds lists "recent scarring".
• Inflammatory bowel disease, a bowel obstruction or a growth. Leeds names "a history of malignant bowel obstruction or an abdominal growth" and "a history of inflammatory disease of the intestine". Vinmec names bệnh viêm ruột, inflammatory bowel disease.
• Irritable bowel syndrome with a spastic colon. Leeds names spastic colon in IBS. Vinmec names both hội chứng ruột kích thích (IBS) and đại tràng co thắt (spastic colon).
• Spinal problems. Leeds: "unstable spinal injury". Vinmec: các vấn đề cột sống, spine problems.
• Skin lesions or a hernia. Leeds lists skin lesions and says "care is to be exercised with any abdominal hernia".
• Symptoms that get worse. Vinmec (22 July 2024) says that if any symptom becomes serious after an abdominal massage, see a doctor straight away; the urgent signs are listed further down.

Why do you get constipated when you travel?

Because a trip changes the things your bowel runs on. NIDDK, the US National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (pages last reviewed May 2018), names travel outright: "Constipation can happen when your life or daily routine changes", and bowel movements can change "when you travel". The NHS (page last reviewed 26 October 2023) lists the general causes: too little fibre or fluid, "spending long periods sitting or lying down", often ignoring the urge, and "changing your diet or daily routine". Dr Mai Viễn Phương of Vinmec Central Park (updated 22 July 2024) puts "Du lịch hoặc những thay đổi khác trong thói quen" (travel or other changes in routine) on its list of common causes. Cleveland Clinic's gastroenterologist Leyla Maric (19 September 2023) calls a disrupted routine, meal times and sleep included, "one of the most common reasons" and adds dehydration from changes in climate, altitude or activity, long sitting in planes and cars, unfamiliar bathrooms and holding it in, and medicine schedules thrown off by a new time zone. Her reassurance is the part to remember: "In most cases, constipation while traveling will go away on its own within a couple of days or when you settle in or return home." Swollen ankles after a long flight are a separate problem, covered on swollen feet after a flight.

What should you try first for constipation on a trip?

• Drink more, and avoid alcohol. The NHS: "drink plenty of water and other fluids and avoid alcohol". Cambridge University Hospitals' physiotherapists give a figure: "at least 1.5 litres (six to eight cups) of fluid per day", unless your doctor has said otherwise. Tâm Anh General Hospital's ThS.BS Nguyễn Văn Hậu, in VnExpress (8 March 2022), says "uống đủ hai lít nước mỗi ngày" (drink a full two litres a day), fruit juice included.
• Add fibre gradually. The NHS says to "gradually increase the fibre in your diet", adding wheat bran, oats or linseed and fruits that contain sorbitol: apples, apricots, grapes and raisins, raspberries and strawberries. NIDDK's figure is 22 to 34 grams of fibre a day, depending on age and sex. Cambridge adds a caution: too much fibre can bring more bloating, so lean on fruit and vegetables rather than cereals.
• Keep a toilet routine. NIDDK suggests trying 15 to 45 minutes after breakfast, "because eating helps your colon move stool". The NHS says not to delay when you feel the urge, and to rest your feet on a low stool so your knees are above your hips.
• Move every day. "A daily walk or run can help you poo more regularly" (NHS).
• Ask a pharmacist if none of this is working. The NHS says most laxatives work within 3 days and should only be used for a short time. Vinmec's Dr Mai Viễn Phương advises against taking laxatives for more than two weeks without asking a doctor.
• Give it days, not hours. The NHS: "You may notice a difference within a few days. Sometimes it takes a few weeks before your symptoms improve."

Does foot reflexology help constipation?

Not that anyone has shown convincingly, and the better-controlled trials split. A 2020 review of seven small randomised trials (Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice) called foot reflexology "an effective complementary therapy" for functional constipation, then said the evidence was "insufficient" on recurrence and symptoms because the studies were few and small. Two of the trials we found compared reflexology with a plain foot massage, which separates the reflexology from the touch, and they split. In 34 people with irritable bowel syndrome (British Journal of General Practice, 2002), there was no significant difference on abdominal pain, constipation or diarrhoea, or a swollen abdomen. In 60 nursing-home residents in Ankara (Yonago Acta Medica, 2020), reflexology for 30 minutes three times a week for a month improved constipation against a foot massage without pressure. The general evidence on reflexology is on our foot massage benefits page, and the Vietnamese reading of foot point-pressing, constipation included, on foot massage in Hội An. Our special reflexology for foot (bấm huyệt bàn chân) is 520,000₫, about US$20, for 60 minutes; "pressure points on the soles mapped to the body's rest systems" is the menu's description, not a finding.

When does constipation need a doctor?

• See a doctor right away if you are constipated and have bleeding from your rectum or blood in your stool, constant pain in your abdomen, cannot pass gas, are vomiting, or have a fever, lower back pain or weight loss you were not trying for (NIDDK). See one, too, if self-care does not work or colon or rectal cancer runs in your family.
• Get emergency care for constipation with "Đau bụng dữ dội /hoặc liên tục" (severe or continuous abdominal pain), vomiting, a bloated belly or blood in the stool, says Vinmec's Dr Mai Viễn Phương. Tâm Anh's Dr Nguyễn Văn Hậu says to go to hospital at once with constipation plus cramping and severe abdominal pain.
• See a GP if constipation is not getting better with treatment, keeps coming back, comes with regular bloating, blood in your poo, weight loss, constant tiredness or tummy pain, is caused by a medicine such as an opioid painkiller, or your bowel habits change suddenly (NHS).
• If it simply lasts: Cleveland Clinic says to make an appointment if travel constipation "lasts more than a few days and up to a couple of weeks". Tâm Anh's doctor says to go to hospital if it has lasted two weeks despite home remedies. Vinmec's Dr Mai Viễn Phương says to see a doctor after more than three weeks.
• Do not stop a prescribed medicine on your own. "Speak to the GP before you stop taking any prescribed medicine" (NHS).

Can you get an abdominal massage at our spa in Hội An?

Planning a trip around this? See dates at our quiet riverside hotel on the Thu Bồn. Check availability →

Not by name. Our live spa menu, read on 11 November 2026, does not list an abdominal massage, and it does not say whether the full-body massages include the abdomen, so ask when you book. If you would rather your abdomen was left alone, write it on the consultation form, which asks what to avoid and lets you choose Gentle, Medium, Strong or Very strong pressure; first massage: what to expect walks through the rest of a first visit. Two things to weigh first. The trials repeated abdominal massage for four to eight weeks, and in some of them people did it themselves or a family member did, so one session at a spa is not what was tested, and the ILU routine above costs nothing. And nothing on our menu is a medical treatment: there is no doctor or physiotherapist on the premises. What the menu does sell, per person, VAT included, with no service charge:

What nobody has measured

• A single session. Every trial here that states a schedule repeated the massage for four to eight weeks; we found no trial of one spa-length session.
• Travellers. The trials studied people with long-term constipation, after surgery, in nursing homes, or with MS or Parkinson's; none studied the short spell of constipation a trip brings.
• Which way round to start. Children's National begins the ILU strokes on the left, Cambridge on the bottom right; no trial compared them.
• Spa therapists. None of the trials we read used massage therapists in a spa; where they say who gave the massage, it was patients, carers or family members.
• Reflexology beyond foot massage. Of the two trials with a plain foot-massage comparison, one found a difference and one did not.
• Our guests. We have not measured anything on our own guests, so we claim nothing for our treatments on constipation.

Questions people ask before booking

Does stomach massage really help constipation?

Modestly, as a routine. A 2025 review pooling 23 studies of 1,431 adults found about 1.6 more bowel movements a week than in control groups and fewer symptoms, but no fall in laxative use. The trials repeated the massage, from twice a week to daily, for four to eight weeks. In the largest single trial, 189 people with multiple sclerosis, the main bowel score at 24 weeks did not differ significantly.

How do you do the ILU (I Love You) massage?

With cream on your fingertips, do a minute or two of clockwise circles around the belly button, then 10 strokes from under the left ribs down to the left hip (I), 10 from under the right ribs across and down the left side (L), and 10 from the right hip up, across and down the left side (U), once or twice a day, per a Children's National Hospital handout. Skip it if you are pregnant, have had recent abdominal surgery or have inflammatory bowel disease.

Why do I get constipated when I travel?

A trip changes your meals, fluids, sleep, activity and toilet routine. NIDDK names travel as a cause, and the NHS lists changing your diet or daily routine. Cleveland Clinic's gastroenterologist says it usually goes away within a couple of days or once you settle in. Drink more, add fibre gradually, walk every day and do not hold it in; ask a pharmacist if that does not work.

Can I get an abdominal massage at Nghê Prana in Hội An?

Our menu does not name one, and it does not say whether the full-body massages include the abdomen, so ask when you book. If you want your abdomen left out, write it on the consultation form, which asks what to avoid. Nothing on our menu is a medical treatment and there is no doctor on the premises; with blood in your stool, constant abdominal pain, vomiting or a fever, see a doctor.

How to book

Nghê Prana Riverside Hotel & Spa, Hẻm 384 Nguyễn Tri Phương, Cẩm Nam, Hội An, on the Thu Bồn, 3.2 km from the Old Town. The spa is open from 9:00 to 21:00 every day and takes visitors as well as hotel guests. Book on the online form, which leads straight to the consultation, or message WhatsApp or Zalo on +84 896 687 961 at least an hour ahead, and ask then about the abdomen. Prices are per person and final: VAT is included and there is no service charge; at the 26,000₫ rate we use across the site, a 60-minute relaxing oil massage at 450,000₫ is about US$17 and 60 minutes of foot reflexology at 520,000₫ about US$20. Hotel guests get 15% off spa treatments; visitors get a fresh drink after the treatment. We pick anyone up for free from anywhere in Hội An: send a map pin to the same number and we reply within 15 minutes during spa hours. The ride is one way, to the spa. Booking as two? Two 60-minute oil massages side by side are 900,000₫; the couple spa page shows the private room for two.

How we checked: on 11 November 2026 we read the PubMed abstracts of Huang 2025 and Lämås 2009 (International Journal of Nursing Studies), Lämås 2011 (Nursing Times), Lämås 2010 (Journal of Advanced Nursing), McClurg 2011 (Multiple Sclerosis), McClurg 2018 (Health Technology Assessment, AMBER), McClurg 2016 (Age and Ageing), Turan and Aşt 2016 and Çetinkaya and Ovayolu 2024 (Gastroenterology Nursing), Assadollahzadeh 2025 (Aging Clinical and Experimental Research, with its full text on PubMed Central), Lin 2025 (Complementary Medicine Research), Delgado 2026 (Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology), Ernst 1999 (Forschende Komplementärmedizin), Yaqi 2020 (Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice), Tovey 2002 (British Journal of General Practice) and Inkaya and Tuzer 2020 (Yonago Acta Medica); the NHS page on constipation (last reviewed 26 October 2023); NIDDK on the symptoms, causes and treatment of constipation (last reviewed May 2018); Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust on abdominal massage (updated 16 March 2026); Cambridge University Hospitals on bowel management (approved 16 July 2024); the Children's National Hospital ILU handout (PDF dated April 2026); Cleveland Clinic on travel constipation (19 September 2023); Vinmec on abdominal massage (18 November 2024 and 22 July 2024) and on urgent constipation (22 July 2024); and VnExpress, Táo bón (8 March 2022) and Tự xoa bóp chống táo bón (31 October 2003). The same day we searched PubMed for trials and reviews of abdominal massage and of foot reflexology for constipation, and read our live spa menu. We are a hotel spa, not a clinic; nothing here is medical advice.