Diverticulitis can be a very painful and uncomfortable digestive condition. Pouches form in the gut and start to cause problems. It’s common for most people to have some pouches of hard to digest food form in the gut (diverticular). It may be hard to digest because it’s a food your body struggles with, you’re a bit dehydrated your stressed or maybe your bowel is sluggish.
Whatever the reason your colon makes a pouch. It pushes this food to one side to stop an obstruction occurring in your gut. Usually this will take a couple of weeks to break down, but what can happen is over time the pouches build up as in those 2 weeks there is more food you’ve struggled to digest for some reason.
As the pouches grow, they start to press more on the surrounding digestive system becoming uncomfortable – this is diverticular disease. When these pouches are large and have been there for a while and the colon wall starts to become damaged, irritated and infected. This is diverticulitis. Although it’s understood that diverticulitis can’t be cured, there are still lots of things you can do to drastically reduce your symptoms.
Reduce Inflammation
As some of the issues and pain can be caused by inflammation, reducing this can really help. Natural anti-inflammatories are much better for your digestion and won’t cause issues with your stomach lining. Turmeric is one of the best. Green powders such as spirulina, wheatgrass, barley grass and chlorella are good too. Both are natural, easy to absorb and you can add them to food or take as a daily supplement.
Abdominal Massage
Abdominal massage is a great way to help diverticulitis symptoms. The massage helps replace the movement that the bowels are struggling with, as massage can physically clear and stretch out the pouches. The blockages within are massaged through the gut gradually and then your body is able to deal with them. Once the pouches have reduced in size, the colon wall can heal. The pressure on the gut is relieved so it’s much more comfortable.
The pouches may have been there for long enough to cause some permanent stretching and a little damage to the colon. There might be at least a small pouch remaining. Even with these, massage can keep the pouch area relatively small, keep the food moving and the area clearer so the colon wall can heal and symptoms subside. The massage also increases circulation and reduces inflammation which speeds up the healing. It releases pressure caused by the blockages, tension and pain to allow your digestion to flow better.
You also learn the massage in a session so you can do it regularly at home. This keeps the digestive system flowing and stops the pouches building up. Massage can really reduce symptoms and pain quickly. To book a session click here. For more information about how the massage can help you book a free discovery call here.
Plenty of Water
Dehydration can make your bowels much more sluggish and encourage the pouches to build up. Plenty of water (around 1.5L for women and 2L for men per day) can really help.
Avoid Too Much Fibre
We hear a lot that fibre is good for digestion. This is because we can’t break down fibre. It acts as scrub in our gut keeping things moving and regular. If things are already very blocked though, it’s too much for the fibre to move and the fibre becomes stuck. It festers and irritates the already damaged colon. Imagine harshly scrubbing a cut – very painful. Best to avoid too much fibre and definitely don’t add harsh fibres such as bran or husks hoping they’ll help. It’s a good idea to remove skin from fruit and veg too.
Toilet Stool
Get those feet up! We evolved squatting and our body reflects this. There is a muscle which hooks around your rectum – the puborectalis muscle. This puts a big kink in your rectum which helps to stop any poo escaping when you are running – very handy. When you are in a sitting position this muscle is not fully released so there is still a kink in the colon. This means it’s harder for all the faeces to leave and your body has to work harder to push it out, putting excess pressure on your pelvic floor. Bringing your knees up above your hips by using a stool when you’re on the toilet puts you in a squatting position. In this position the muscle releases and there is a nice straight path that the faeces can easily move through. It’s easier for your body to clear more out this way. With less in your gut you can reduce blockages.
For more tips on reducing blockages check out the how to help constipation blog. Healthy gut biome will help too.
Reducing Inflammation
A lot of pain in the gut can come from inflammation. To learn more about how to reduce it check out this blog. This can really help with pain and improve your body’s ability to heal.
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