20/04/2023
IBS – Irritable bowel syndrome
Shocking statistics are that 1 in 5 people in the UK have IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). The good news is that hypnotherapy can have a significant impact on the sometimes-chronic symptoms.
The digestive system starts from the throat and ends at the a**s – it is the whole processing of food through the small and large intestines – clients with IBS can experience feelings of bloating – significant bloating – whilst processing foods clients can flip between constipation and diarrhoea.
When visiting the GP it can take a while to exclude super nasties like bowel cancer and other IBD (irritable bowel diseases such as Crohn’s, and ulcerative colitis). Typically, when you visit GP in UK you will go through series of exclusion tests to make sure you don’t’ have other things going on and then diagnosis of IBS – It is frustrating as it is quite a complicated experience. IBS can come and go, it can be incredibly painful when you get it – aggravated by stress, tiredness, food stuff.
Most common symptoms stomach pains or cramps usually after eating. Usually after going to the toilet the cramping calms down. It doesn’t take long to associate stomach pain with eating and relieving of pain with going to the toilet. The person experiences physiological experience of eating, but also psychological stress of eating and then being relieved by going to the toilet. Bloating can be so significant clients may not even be able to wear trousers.
BS can impact on the bladder too – it can irritate it – making clients need to p*e more often, sudden urges to p*e. The bladder feels inflamed. You can get a loss of warning of the need to p*e. Client’s can get mixed feelings - they think they are full when only half full or don’t realise they are full and may have already started to p*e – as the bladder is receiving mixed signals.
Other symptoms – tiredness, bloating, sharp stabbing pains, lack of energy lack of muscle. Body out of sync.
Anxiety and depression increase the risk of IBS. With gastrointestinal infection and anxiety your risk of developing IBS 2.74 x (3 times the risk!)
Studies report (on multiple studies on 1000s of papers on studies) Hypnotherapy rebalances the client’s way of thinking, being and doing. It helps with the biological impact of IBS, strategies around social impact, and physiological impact. Hypnotherapy is a useful and safe option for IBS. In 2017 Professor Peter Whorwell – conducted a large survey on the protocol and rational for using hypnotherapy to treat IBS. It deduced that gut focussed hypnotherapy is highly effective when conventional treatments fail. It modulates the brain gut pathways and sensory motor function. It helps reduce the pain, reducing the anxiety and calm the gut as a direct result. Hypnotherapy significantly improves symptoms.
Scans show that brain functioning after hypnosis turns back to results of normal functioning adults with no IBS. For 999 people out of a thousand there is a direct result of your hypnotherapy intervention! It significantly results in severity, pain, bloating, bowel habit and life interference. Is hypnotherapy better than other types of therapy?
Supportive therapy shows about 20% improvement short term and long term but Gut directed hypnotherapy 80% improvements short term and 90% of symptom in long term! (2 year follow up) After 12 sessions of hypnotherapy –patients had reduced medication, reduced anxiety, and massive improvement in general wellbeing.
For more information on how I can help please contact me angela@angelabrownhypnotherapy.com.
