Diverticulitis – Natural Ways to Combat It
Diverticulitis is a condition where pockets within the colon become trapped behind food material or stool and start an infection which can lead to bleeding or rupture of the diverticulum (pocket) and a serious disease. While there are medical ways to treat diverticulitis, natural ways to manage the disease are possible, especially when the disease is caught early and the patient hasn’t already developed severe bleeding and rupture of the diverticulum.
Conventional ways to treat diverticulitis include antispasmodic drugs to treat the abdominal cramping. These include medications such as Bentyl (dicyclomine), Librax (chlordiazepoxide), Donnatol and Levsin (hyoscyamine). These take down the spasms of the colon and control the pain of the disease.
Along with antispasmodics, doctors often use antibiotics to clear up the infection of diverticulitis. Natural antibiotics are probably not strong enough in severe cases of diverticulitis. Commonly prescribed antibiotics include Cipro (ciprofloxacin), Flagyl (metronidazole), Keflex (cephalexin) and Vibramycin (doxycycline). They kill the bacteria behind the blockage of the diverticulum and prevent the diverticulum from rupturing if caught early enough.
When it comes to diverticulitis, natural cures are often not enough. If, however, you catch the disease in the earliest stages, you can begin a diet of clear liquids such as clear sodas (7-Up and Sprite), tea without milk, coffee without milk, popsicles, juice without pulp, juice pops, water, crushed ice and clear broth (chicken, vegetable or beef).This allows the bowel to rest and can possibly reverse the condition before it becomes severe.
When the diverticulitis is partially treated you can treat the diverticulitis with natural ways involving the food you eat. You can eat low residue foods that do not stress the colon out very much. Some of these foods involve white rice, cereals like Special K, Rice Krispies, Cream of wheat or Cream of Rice, mashed potatoes, well cooked vegetables without skins, well cooked fruit without skins and well cooked meats in small quantities. If you feel worse, you need to go back to a clear liquid diet until the diverticulosis settles down.
Besides diverticulitis, natural cures for diverticulosis abound. You need to avoid nuts, corn and seeds as much as possible as these can block the diverticuli. High fiber foods can prevent diverticulitis by allowing the food to pass quickly through the colon. Such high fiber foods include brown rice, high fiber cereals like Grape Nuts, whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, oatmeal, brown rice, fresh fruits and fresh vegetables. All of these allow for regular bowel movements and less of a reason to have stool or food particles become trapped in the colon diverticuli.
While, when it comes to diverticulitis, natural cures often do not work but there can be more serious ways to manage the disease, particularly when the diverticulum has ruptured. This is a serious complication. If there is excessive bleeding, blood transfusions might become necessary. If the rupture has resulted in an abdominal abscess (collection of pus in the abdomen), surgery might be recommended to clear out the abscess and allow the antibiotics to work better. Surgery carries its own risks, especially when you are already very sick.
Diverticulitis natural cures do not really exist except for a clear liquid diet, which can be used along with antispasmodic drugs, pain killers and antibiotics. The combination cures almost all cases of diverticulitis so that there may be no reason to resort to surgery or blood transfusions.
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