Knowing how to cure Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), an intestinal disorder that impacts approximately 15 percent of the population, requires a reframing of how IBS is understood. That said: here is a “How to” guide.
1) Reframe one’s understanding of treatment and cure. If IBS is treated so that the symptoms appear never or rarely, then that person is functionally cured. With IBS, if you feel fine, then you are fine. This type of reframing is essential, because a lead cause of Irritable Bowel Syndrome flare-ups is stress. Remember that IBS is not a disorder that is understood through technical analysis of intestines — instead, it is a collection of various discomfiting gastrointestinal symptoms that have no explicit cause.
Thus, step one is not stressing about it. That’s the reason why most guides to “treating” IBS suggest that a person consider anti-depressants; there is an implicit understanding by the medical community that IBS is cured most often by a state-of-mind fix.
2) Keep a food diary, which would make it easier to target “trigger foods” and finally cure yourself of IBS. For many, removing trigger foods will virtually eliminate IBS symptoms (e.g. lactose [dairy]; gluten [wheat]; greasy foods). Eventually, the process of deciding what shoes can and can’t be eaten becomes second nature, and the diary becomes obsolete, meaning that you begin to resume a normal life and are “cured” for all essential purposes.
3) Sleep well, but don’t stress over sleep loss. Far too often, people suffering from IBS will not attain the hours their bodies request for sleep, and then will stress over the sleep that is lost, creating a cycle of sleep loss and stress, both of which contribute to IBS flare-ups. A stress and a lack of sleep both irritate the intestinal tract. Of course, some stress is ok — like the stress from exercise (see step 4)
4) Exercise regularly and for significant durations. Exercise is known to offset IBS symptoms for many people, functionally curing them. Sure, sometimes the symptoms flare up anyway, but a person with rare flare-ups basically has an intestinal tract that is working as “normally” as anyone else’s.
Overall, it’s important that people with IBS keep their disorder in perspective. Infrequent numbers of flare-ups ought to be thought of as a sign that “IBS” is cured, not temporarily treated. People with IBS are typically anxious over their forthcoming symptoms, leaving them scared to leave their homes, go on vacations, or maximize their own productivity in accordance with the goals they find the most important; yet, these types of reactions to the disorder only maximize the problems associated with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Thus, the real way to make IBS disappear is to ignore it to the best extent that one can, while being relatively careful to avoid particular triggers that cause symptoms to appear.
Thus, curing IBS requires applying conventional treatment, but also accepting internally that having a relatively “normal” stomach is in itself a sign that a person is cured. Everyone occasionally gets an upset stomach — if IBS symptoms only pop-up occasionally, then a person is essentially “cured.” “Treating” IBS is for people that let Irritable Bowel Syndrome control their lives–“Curing” IBS is for the people that want and get their lives back, regardless of whether the overall sum of their life experience includes a few more or less bathroom trips than the average person. I hope this brief guide will help people suffering from IBS to reframe their understanding of the disorder, thus teaching them how to cure Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
