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Do you often experience digestive troubles associated with belly pain ? cramps ? that comes together with diarrhoea or/and constipation ? Do you look bloated and can’t stand your belt any longer after 4pm?

Irritable bowel or IBS as it is commonly abbreviated is a combination of constipation, diarrhoea with abdominal like discomfort.? Symptoms may alternate or come at the same time and the cause cannot be determined.

Antibiotics and other medications may ease temporarily but not resolve symptoms. In fact, there is some suggestion of antibiotics causing IBS due to the generalised action on the microbes in our gut rather than targeting the “bad” bacteria alone. Microbes are what we call germs and can congregate in our bowels if we do not have healthy motility of the gastrointestinal system (GIT). When we travel, are exposed to foreign foods or impure drinking water these microbes enter our GIT. They sit in the slower channels of the GIT and colonise. Ironically this occurs in the large colons where our digestion is coming to an end and there is less water available to keep the food moving.

One natural way to improve IBS is to improve nutrition and drink a lot of water to keep the bowel movements as smooth as possible to avoid harder and drier stools. Eating fibre rich foods such as fresh fruit, vegetables and nuts or seeds can provide the “roughage” to prevent the food from becoming too loose due to the excess water. Heavy red meat, dairy and white carbohydrates can supply the microbes with nutrients and increase their colonisation. This is why we get bloated after a dense, sugary meal because the microbes respire more as they are growing and trapped wind stretches or distends our bowel. The distension is the cause of IBS pain. In the long term improving our nutrition is a wonderful way to a healthier GIT but if you are suffering now it may be good to get the “backed up” congestion or inflammation moving.

Visceral osteopathy is a branch of osteopathic medicine which works on the organs using specialist abdominal massage. When we remember that the GIT is a continuous muscular tube it makes sense that stimulating the release of these muscles, just as we would with a back muscle spasm, can ease IBS symptoms. As we mentioned, symptoms can alternate between loose and hard stools, so the osteopath will feel your abdomen to locate where the trapped areas of tension are. Once detected, the warmth from the practitioners hand will soften the blockage and gentle massage will relax the muscle walls. For the irritated and inflamed walls we can gently release the nerve from the spine to allow improved circulation to the segment of the GIT. This system of treatment is very safe and can have instantaneous results. It is very gentle and can be used to help children and pregnant women too.

The Osteopathic Centre Pte Ltd

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