Irritable Bowel Syndrome or IBS is the most common chronic disorder of the gastrointestinal tract. Did you know that being a syndrome means that IBS is not a disease but a collection of symptoms. This is great news for suffers of IBS because it is considerably easier treating and correcting an imbalance or a symptom than it is treating a chronic, maybe genetic, disease.
The main symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome include:
Bloating, abdominal pain, fatigue, brain fog, increased flatulence, diarrhoea and / or constipation.
I have seen IBS symptoms range from minor bloating and discomfort to hospitalization. Often sufferers of IBS become weary of going out socially in fear of an attack or fear that they may need a toilet urgently. This is no way to live a full and fun life.
The great news is that naturopathically we get great results treating IBS and other digestive disorders including Crohn’s Disease, Diverticulitis, Ulcerative colitis etc…
How I treat the symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome
We’ve already discussed that IBS is a collection of symptoms and not a disease. This means that if we identify the trigger to each symptom then we can treat and clear each symptom and therefore effectively get rid of IBS.
In other words, if you are symptom free then the syndrome doesn’t exist as it’s really only a collection of symptoms.
Here’s my Highly Successful approach for ‘Breaking the Shackles of IBS’
- Firstly we need to identify the Food Intolerances that are irritating your digestive tract, creating pain and inflammation and creating most of the symptoms associated with IBS. We have an in-house food intolerance test which tests the 59 main foods that people are intolerant too and that are the most common drivers of IBS symptoms. For more information on our food intolerance test click here.
- Identify is Stress and Anxiety is a main driver of your digestive issues. We often hold our worry in a gut and therefore it’s common form people with high levels of stress or anxiety to develop digestive disorders. Should stress of anxiety prove to be a high driver in your condition there are many naturopathic approaches to calming the nervous system, nourishing your adrenals and reducing stress, anxiety and depression.
- There are many natural substances that have a long standing history of repairing the digestive tract. One of the main strengths of naturopathic medicine is treating and repairing the digestive system. We have many supplements at our disposal from antimicrobial / antiparasitics, probiotics that reduce pain and bloating, populating probiotics, substances that repair leaky gut and reduce an inflamed GIT. The effect of using these substances is to reduce the irritation and inflammation associated with food intolerances and IBS and to repair the lining of the GIT so that your symptoms disappear and stay away.
I have used this approach for many years and it is very effective way of Treating IBS and all other digestive disorders.
If you have any questions about treating IBS or any digestive disorder please feel free to call on 3823 3103 and I’d be happy to chat to you. For more information of the food intolerance test click here
Written by Award Winning Naturopath Tony Daniel of Capalaba Natural Health.