Fixing Stomach & Digestive Issues
Why To See A Gastroenterologist
The most common reasons include chronic diarrhea or constipation, heartburn, abdominal pain, persistent blood in your stool and/or sudden changes to your bowel habits. Any combination of these symptoms can indicate there is trouble, especially if the symptoms are constant.
What is Gastroenterology?
Gastroenterology deals with disorders and conditions of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, commonly referred to as the digestive tract. Most people go to their family doctor at the onset of symptoms. But if problems won’t go away or don’t get better after the initial treatment, you will need to see a gastroenterologist.
With their extensive knowledge of the stomach and gastrointestinal tract, a gastroenterologist can offer advanced treatment and diagnose any digestive disease or disorder. Your gastroenterologist will most likely perform a colonoscopy, a visual examination of your colon, to rule out colon cancer, check for colon polyps and evaluate the overall health of your colon.
What A Gastroenterologist Treats
- Colon Cancer
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome- IBS
- Liver Cancer
- Pancreatic Cancer
- Stomach Cancer
Some of these conditions are quite common. For example, studies estimate roughly 10-15% of people suffer from irritable bowel syndrome in the United States. Even though there is no cure, there are things that can lessen IBS symptoms including changes to your diet, medications, probiotics and even therapy for mental health issues.
Digestive disorders should be taken very seriously
In extreme gastrointestinal conditions like necrotizing enterocolitis, nerve problems, severe injuries, or colorectal cancer you may require colostomy surgery. If the damage is severe you may require a long-term colostomy bag to reroute waste because your body cannot perform this function on its own. If your gastroenterologist determines your intestines need more time to heal after bowel surgery a temporary colostomy bag may be required short-term. If you suffer from constant digestive discomfort, gas, bloating, irregular bowel movements, or heartburn, these could be indicators of a potential problem with your GI tract.
You shouldn’t have to suffer everyday. To help you find the root cause of your digestive issues and find relief from bothersome symptoms and the complexity of your digestive tract, it is important you choose an experienced Top10MD gastroenterologist.