Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine is a Toronto naturopathic clinic dedicated to providing safe and effective treatment of a wide variety of health conditions using natural therapies and the principles of naturopathic medicine.
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is well treated using naturopathic medicine. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common condition characterized by constipation, diarrhea, gas and bloating and abdominal cramping.
The cause of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is unknown. Nervous or hormonal dysfunction is believed to cause alterations in digestive tract muscle contractions, either stronger and longer resulting in diarrhea, or less commonly, weaker and shorter resulting in constipation. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) can cause malnourishment, aggravate hemorrhoids and impair your quality of life.
Professional healthcare should be sought out if you have persistent irritable bowel syndrome-like symptoms, as these may also be caused by more serious health conditions (e.g., colon cancer, ulcerative colitis).
Symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Possible symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) include:
• Abdominal cramping
• Bloating and gas (flatulence)
• Diarrhea and/or constipation (sometimes alternating)
• Mucous in stool
Treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) at Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine
At Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine, the goals of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) treatment are to identify and address triggers of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), reduce discomfort and frequency of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) episodes, manage associated health conditions and side effects of conventional treatments and eliminate recurrence.
Conventional treatment for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may include a variety of medications, including fiber supplements, and anti-diarrheal (e.g., Imodium®), anticholinergic and antidepressant medications, which may have short- or long-term side effects. For this reason, you may choose to try natural treatment to possibly avoid use of conventional medications, or together with conventional medications in order to decrease dosages of conventional medications required to manage your irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms.
Naturopathic treatment of any chronic health concern must be recognized as a process that involves identifying specific treatment goals, a thorough understanding by your naturopathic doctor of all factors affecting your health, including physical, psychological, emotional and lifestyle factors, development of a comprehensive treatment plan and execution of that plan through periodic monitoring and adjustment.
At Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine a typical approach to treating irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may be to first identify and address underlying factors in your lifestyle (e.g., poor stress management, alcohol intake, smoking) that may be contributing to your irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) symptoms, identify and remove specific food triggers causing your irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) using a supervised elimination and challenge protocol and normalize bowel function using botanical (herbal) medicines and “good” bacteria.
Where appropriate, a number of therapeutic options are available, to be used alone, or more often in a complementary fashion, including:
• Diet therapy
• Lifestyle counseling
• Botanical (herbal) medicines
• Nutritional supplements
• Relaxation techniques
• Homeopathic medicines
• Homotoxicological medicines
• Acupuncture
• Cleansing protocols
• Exercise prescription
References
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. IBS [Online]. [cited 2010 Jan 23]; Available from: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/irritable-bowel-syndrome/DS00106.