A new study published in Neurogastroenterology and Motility aimed to examine comparative effectiveness of nonpharmacological conservative treatments - interventions without involvement of medication or surgery, in treating functional chronic constipation (CFC). This study entailed a search of randomized controlled trials comparing nonpharmacological conservative treatments with placebo, sham interventions, or conventional treatments, from MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane library, CINAHL, AMED, ISI web of knowledge, and conference proceedings. Overall, 33 trials comprising 4,324 participants and 8 nonpharmacological treatments, were selected. The findings showed that when compared to placebo, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), probiotic, and acupuncture had considerably larger effect on stool frequency; acupuncture had notably higher responder rate; and moxibustion had a marked larger effect on the Bristol score. On the other hand, relative to laxative, acupuncture had significantly larger effect on the stool frequency and lower rate of adverse events. Thus, in comparison, TENS and acupuncture ranked the best in managing CFC.