Irritable Bowel (IBS) Herbal Remedies & Complementary Therapies

 

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is the scourge of the modern lifestyle. It is the most common, yet least understood gastrointestinal disorder. It can be a difficult disorder to comprehend, diagnose and treat. One reason for this is that often the diagnosis is only conclusively reached via the exclusion of other disorders.

 

There are three types of IBS:

Functional diarrhoea (often without pain)

Chronic abdominal pain and constipation (spastic colitis)

Abdominal pain

 

Irritable bowel, lifestyle and diet

 

Our lifestyle pages provide useful general advice on diet and exercise including foods to avoid and foods to enjoy. One specific dietary issue with IBS patients may be the need to avoid garlic and spicy foods such as curries. A detoxification diet that excludes most food types and gradually introduces food items may also be useful to identify if specific foods are causing the IBS.

Herbal treatments for irritable bowel syndrome

Herbalists treat the different types of IBS with differing treatments:

Spasmolytic herbs including chamomile, cramp bark and peppermint

Sedative and nervine tonics including valerian and skullcap

Restorative herbs such as milk thistle to improve liver function

Constipation can be treated with gentle herbs such as dandelion, yellow dock and butternut. Also slippery elm can help line the intestinal walls.

Other naturopathic treatments and IBS

This section will cover the use of acupuncture and homeopathy to treat IBS.

Because naturopathic treatments look at the whole person and treat holistically, often individual aspects of the treatment do not stand up to conventional clinical trial using double blind sampling techniques.

Naturopath's treat the whole person not just the disease or condition. That's why you cannot use this site for diagnosis or treatment. The information we provide should not be treated as a substitute for medical advice or treatment. We recommend that you visit a qualified naturopath or find a GP who is sympathetic to a naturopathic approach. Click here for our full disclaimer.

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