Last week I came across a research review that might interest you.

The review examined what effective methods exist for treating irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and was published in the medical journal World Journal of Gastroenterology.

The treatment methods tested were probiotics, biofeedback, CBT, acupuncture, and a combination of acupuncture + moxibustion (a mixture of herbs that are placed on acupuncture points and heated).

The treatment methods were tested against drug treatment or placebo.

After filtering out many studies that were not of sufficient quality, 40 studies that included 4196 people remained in the review.

The review examined several things. The first was clinical effectiveness, and it was shown that all the methods tested were found to be more effective than placebo.

Acupuncture has been proven to be the most effective method, followed by biofeedback and then a combination of drug therapy with probiotics.

Another thing that was tested was which of the methods tested reduced the IBS score - SSS, a questionnaire that tests the severity of sensitive bowel/irritable bowel syndrome.

The most effective methods for lowering IBS-SSS scores were CBT, medication, and acupuncture.

The effect of the treatments on anxiety and depression was also examined.

The CBT method has shown the greatest effectiveness among the treatment methods for depression and anxiety.

Other methods that have shown effectiveness are acupuncture, drug treatment, and biofeedback.

It is important to say that the side effects of the various methods were also examined, and acupuncture was proven to be the safest method in terms of side effects.

I'm publishing this study because I hear from many patients the frustration, especially after they've been told in the past that there's nothing they can do about their condition and they'll have to learn to live with the bloating, discomfort, pain, irregular bowel movements, and gas.

There are many treatment methods that can help and I truly believe that the situation can be greatly alleviated.

I am attaching the link to the study for those who want to delve deeper into it.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7656202/