How to treat inflammatory bowel disease?

Inflammatory bowel disease, also known as IBD, is no laughing matter. Or is it? While this chronic condition can cause a variety of unpleasant symptoms such as abdominal pain and diarrhea, that doesn’t mean we have to approach the topic with all seriousness. Let’s bring some humor into the mix and talk about how to treat inflammatory bowel disease in a way that will make you smile.

What Is Inflammatory Bowel Disease?

Before we dive into treatment options, let’s first understand what exactly IBD is. This umbrella term encompasses conditions like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis (both guaranteed party conversation starters). These conditions involve inflammation of the digestive tract and can result in symptoms ranging from mild discomfort to severe pain.

Take Medications

The most common treatments for IBD are medications aimed at reducing inflammation or suppressing the immune system response that triggers it. Popping pills might not be your favorite pastime, but it certainly beats dealing with flare-ups.

Anti-inflammatory Drugs

Anti-inflammatory drugs aim to reduce inflammation in your digestive tract which often causes much of your discomfort – they’re known as 5-ASAs (aminosalicylates), corticosteroids or immunomodulators such as azathioprine (Note: Check out these drug names for some Scrabble-worthy terminology!).

Biologics

If traditional anti-inflammatory medication doesn’t work for you then biologics may be another option available on prescription—to help suppress over-active immune systems causing chronic forms of ulcers within large intestine lining. Available only through an injection administered by qualified medical professionals (Disclaimer: administering injections yourself with knowledge collected from YouTube tutorials isn’t advised).

Adjust Your Diet

Even if you’re already taking medication for IBD, tweaking your diet could potentially lead to fewer flare-ups (and who doesn’t love fewer flare-ups?). That said, the impact of dietary changes varies from person to person. Here are some tips you can try out:

• Limit Dairy Products: For some IBD sufferers, cutting back on dairy products such as milk and cheese may be helpful in reducing symptoms
• Opt for Low-Fiber Foods: Consuming low-fiber foods may reduce bowel irritation and help alleviate abdominal pain.
• Avoid Trigger Foods (Disclaimer: this table is biased by the author)
  | Food | The Author’s Opinion |
  |—————–|————————————–|
  |Pizza 🍕 |A masterpiece |
  |Broccoli🥦 😷😖 |Keep it far away from me |
  |Tacos 🌮 |Pure bliss |

Consider Surgery

In rare cases where medication and lifestyle changes aren’t quite enough to manage a person’s IBD, surgery may be necessary. In severe instances, surgical removal of part of or all of the colon (resection) might do just fine.

A Stoma?

Brace yourselves – there’s a chance that you’ll come out with an ostomy bag. This commonly misunderstood accessory only signifies that your plumbing has been re-routed, allowing excretion though your abdomen into a specially fitted pouch.

Try Complementary Therapy

There are plenty more complementary therapies than shamrocks & horseshoes! Surprisingly enough, treatments like acupuncture, massage therapy, and relaxation techniques have demonstrated effectiveness in helping improve inflammation-related conditions.

Acupuncture

Insertion of slim needles has shown promising results in supporting those healing from gut distress over time (Note: how attractive does insertion of slim needles sound?)

Yoga/Meditation

Yoga sessions offer comfort while enabling chronic medical conditions’ patients to engage their bodies comfortably – mindfulness meditation helps calm bowel rhythms too – there’s nothing like a calm bowel in the morning…or anytime honestly.

Laugh It Off

It’s important not to let IBD hold you captive. Comedy is an excellent way to remind yourself that life isn’t quite over yet [1] and provides an escape from everyday stress related to living with a chronic digestive disorder.

Join Support groups

There are many support groups which bring people with some common serious medical conditions together who still dare to laugh—so get outta bed, put on some clean pants, and make those buddies!

In conclusion, managing inflammatory bowel disease can be overwhelming but trying humor (and medication) as your best weapons doesn’t hurt (author may be biased here)! Remember – appointments with healthcare professionals relioably beat self-diagnosis using Dr.Google — anything else hazardous for your health is potentially fun.