Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) affects people of all walks of life, causing distressing symptoms that disrupt daily life. While traditional medicine often focuses on symptom management, a comprehensive strategy that targets the entire digestive system will ensure that you actually get better.
If you don’t treat the entire system, but rather just one aspect or one symptom, you’re setting up another part of the system to fail down the line.
At SmartLife Wellness, our approach is different. Let’s go over why this whole-system approach is so important and how our plans can help you.
IBS and its Effects on the Digestive System
Irritable bowel syndrome is pretty easily described by its own name, something is irritating your digestive system. IBS isn’t just present in the stomach, or intestines, it’s something that can start all the way in the mouth and affect every aspect of your digestive tract.
The effects of IBS can be debilitating, often including, but not limited to, pains, irregular bowel movements, cramping, and more. What’s worse, irritable bowel syndrome can often result in loss of appetite and may require you to limit your options for food, and that has a serious impact on your quality of life.
Stress and Other IBS Triggers
IBS symptoms vary widely and sometimes are tied to common triggers like certain foods, stress, hormonal changes, and gut dysbiosis.
A key point here is the effect of stress on your IBS symptoms. Stress is universal. Everyone feels stress, and some people live in a constant state of stress, especially if they suffer from other chronic illnesses or disorders. This can make your struggle with your IBS symptoms even more unbearable.
You shouldn’t have to change your diet to avoid your favorite foods or take tons of probiotics to feel relief from your IBS pain.
The “Whole System” Approach to Treating IBS
Simply put, because digestion is a system, any one part that isn’t working properly will affect the rest. Doctors may focus entirely on your colon when the problem may exist as far back in the process as your esophagus.
This is why our gastric mapping system is so important. Gastric mapping is where we map out the function of the entire digestive system, top to bottom. Most of the time, what this reveals is that there’s not one big problem but a pile of smaller ones that come together to be debilitating.
By targeting each individual issue, we make you better piece by piece until your digestive system has returned to normal. There’s no magic bullet for a complicated problem like IBS, but our approach certainly makes solving IBS easier.
For example, if you’re wearing open-toed shoes while on a hike, and you keep getting rocks stuck under your feet that stab and hurt you, why would you just continue to stop and remove the rocks, rather than just changing to a more appropriate pair of shoes? This is the idea behind the whole-system methodology of treating IBS.
We utilize our gastric mapping system with treatments that remove the source of your irritation, rebalance your gut microbiome, and return your digestive system to a state of true wellness.
In conclusion, treating IBS from a whole digestive system perspective offers a comprehensive and effective solution to the complex problem that is irritable bowel syndrome. SmartLife Wellness is proud to bring a new, unique service to treat the increasing rates of irritable bowel syndrome in Arkansas without our patients ever having to leave the home.
Our customized, in-home treatment plans will help you improve your health, manage your symptoms, and reclaim your quality of life. Book a call with us to find out more.