IBS AND HOMEOPATHY

Treating IBS with Homeopathy   Dr. Vikas Sharma

If you have frequent bloating of abdomen, recurrent pain in your belly, and if you get loose stools or get constipated very often; then there are good enough chances that you could be suffering from IBS. Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a functional disorder of the intestines; this means that it does not cause physical changes in your gut, but only affects the functioning of the intestines. Though it is a functional disorder, but it can seriously affect ones quality of life. Homeopathy offers a very effective solution to deal with ibs and can completely eradicate it from the body.

So what exactly is IBS and what causes it? IBS is referred to a condition when one or more of these symptoms are present in an individual. The main symptoms are abdominal pain or cramping, a bloated feeling, Gas (flatulence), Diarrhea or constipation (sometimes alternating with each other) and mucus in the stool .The symptoms in IBS can vary a great deal from an individual to an individual. Mostly IBS affects individual in a mild to moderate way, but in some patients, severity of symptoms can completely jeopardize their day to day life. For most of the people, IBS (when untreated) is a chronic condition although it may vary in intensity from time to time.

Although the cause of IBS is not very clear but it is widely believed that IBS is caused by disturbances in the nerve ending in the wall of the intestines, which control the muscles of the intestinal wall. Under normal circumstances these muscles in the walls of the intestines contract and relax alternatively to push the digested food forwards towards the rectum (terminal part of the intestinal canal). These muscles work in a rhythmic and a coordinated way. But for those who have IBS these muscles start working in an erratic fashion. The muscles may suddenly start contracting in a very strong manner casing the digested food to move out in a very speedily manner leading to diarrhea and cramps. On the other hand if the contractions become slow the bowel movements become constipated. Bloating is thought to be caused by the heightened sensitivity of the intestinal wall. Even small amounts of gas can give a feeling of distension (‘full of gas’ feeling in abdomen) due to the heightened sensitivity when intestinal walls are stretched even slightly by gas.

People suffering from IBS can have their symptoms triggered by external as well as internal factors. External factors are food substances like milk, alcohol eggs carbonated drinks etc. Stress is a major internal factor for triggering and affecting the symptoms of IBS. Trigger factors can hugely vary from an individual to individual.

Homeopathic medicines are very effective in managing and curing IBS. They work by using body’s own restorative abilities to counter the disease thus giving a gentle and a permanent cure .The treatment is best handled by a professional homeopath as choosing the right homeopathic medicine for IBS can be a very challenging job. This is because; homeopathic prescribing in such disorders is dependent upon the physical symptoms as well as the psychological aspect of the patient. Homeopathic medicines that have been found to be most effective in treating IBS are Asafoetida ,Colocynth, Argentum Nitricum ,Nux Vomica , Lycopodium and Carbo Vegetablis .