Let’s talk about guts! There’s been an influx of calls to the clinic inquiring about osteopathic treatment and its effects on Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) so it’s high time we wrote about it.
What is IBS?
IBS tends to be a catch all phrase for a long list of symptoms including but not limited to stomach cramps, bloating, gas, diarrhea, constipation, urgency to find a bathroom, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), food intolerances, pain, mucus, alternating between constipation and diarrhea, weight loss and mood symptoms. IBS can affect everyone differently which makes it hard for the medical community to create one treatment avenue that works for everyone as people’s symptoms can vary drastically and they are not necessarily consistent from day to day. The medical field considers IBS to be a biopsychosocial disorder due to the many factors that can contribute to the symptoms listed above.
Your guts, literally
You have both a small and large intestine. Your small intestine is separated into three parts, the duodenum, jejunum and the ileum, while your large intestine is separated into ascending, transverse, descending, and sigmoid colons. Food passes from your mouth, to your esophagus into the stomach, to the small intestine, and then through the large intestine before being excreted from the body. Food absorption and digestion happens mainly in the small intestine while the large intestine focuses its absorption around water and vitamins.
Now that we understand what the guts do, think about where they are located anatomically. They are situated in front of your lumbar spine, so hypothetically, if your pelvis is out of alignment, this affects your lumbar spine and the muscles surrounding it, could it not also have a biomechanical impact on your digestive organs? The answer is yes! Your intestines have numerous links including but not limited to the connective tissue (fascia), the peritoneum, the circulatory system, the muscular system in addition to the nervous system and the endocrine system. Part of what your osteopathic practitioner will work to understand is if your symptoms are due to a structural reason, a biomechanical reason, a biochemical reason, an emotional reason or a combination of any or all the above. This is a beneficial approach due to the biopsychosocial nature of irritable bowel.
Gut-Brain
Your gut has its own nervous system! This nervous system, called the enteric nervous system, can work independently or in conjunction with the central nervous system (CNS) which provides an easy connection to why your IBS type symptoms can be linked to your mental health. We’ve blogged in the past about the vagus nerve, but it is so important to our digestive health. This nervous system is worthy of its own blog, but we will save that for later, it will suffice at this point for you to be aware that it does exist☺
Given the numerous links between the gut and the brain, we can begin to understand how stress can have an impact on the gastrointestinal (GI) tract by affecting the motility of the gut, the contractions of the gut and also being linked to an increase in inflammation in the gut. The gut houses many microbes, including bacteria, yeast, parasites, viruses and protozoa. Some scientists describe these gut microbes to be so plentiful in nature that they weigh 1-2kg (in total!) The same weight as the brain oddly enough…
The research around the gut-brain interaction is increasing as more and more connections are being discovered. There are studies that show exposure to stress, both early in life and during adulthood, can influence or change the makeup of the microbes in your gut. Studies are being completed in regards to emotion and diet, in addition to one study finding a link between a high fat diet and ‘leaky’ gut. Studies are also being conducted in regards to treatment and one demonstrated results where patients who participated in psychological based treatment approaches in addition to medical treatment demonstrated greater improvements in their IBS symptoms.
Osteopathic treatment and your gut
Once you’ve noticed that you’re having digestive concerns, and you consult with your primary care provider, their primary aim is to rule out any underlying pathologies. This can range from cancer to Celiac disease, to Crohn’s or Colitis, anemia, malabsorption, parasites or a mental health condition depending on the symptoms you are describing. If investigations come back normal (great) but what treatment options are available to you to assist you in managing your ongoing symptoms.
People may benefit from a myriad of treatments including naturopathic physicians, acupuncturists, massage therapy, dietary restrictions, counseling, stress management, sleep hygiene, and exercise or lifestyle modifications. Osteopathic intervention is also an option! How is this possible? Osteopathy deals with bones right? Right but also wrong! Osteo is Greek for ‘structure’ and guess what, your guts are considered structure☺ The osteopathic techniques work to improve overall motility, mobility and circulation of the digestive system, while appreciating the osteopathic philosophy that the body has a natural ability to self-regulate and heal itself. This is why it is so great for IBS as it fits with the biopsychosocial model and also works to regulate the brain-gut axis. As always, there is no set technique that will cure your symptoms, we are all unique and the cause of the IBS symptoms differs from person to person, but your osteopathic practitioner will help you to work towards the root cause of where those symptoms come from, whether it’s biomechanical, biochemical, emotional or all three.
Get in touch if you have questions!