Diagnose Irritable Bowel
If you think you have Irritable Bowel Syndrome, visiting your physician is your next step. In order to determine positively that you have irritable bowel syndrome, your doctor will do a thorough medical work up on you and that usually includes interviewing you, the patient, about symptoms in addition to the normal step of giving you an exam.
In order to make his diagnosis, your doctor will ask you about your pain, when it comes onand what makes it improve or worse. Your general practitioner will also likely question you regarding bowels, specifically to learn how frequently you go to the bathroom and what your bowel movements look like.
There is no precise test for IBS, although diagnostic tests may be carried out to eliminate other problems. These tests could consist of stool sample testing, blood testing, and x-rays. Your physician will usually perform a more invasive procedure, such as a colonoscopy, so they may get a picture of your colon.
Your doctor puts an endoscope into your colon via your behind. The endoscopes imaging software transfers pictures of your insides to a screen so your physician can look at them clearly.
A tissue sample may be taken during the procedure. This involves removing a small piece of tissue from the bowel lining for examination in a laboratory. A biopsy will eliminate the presence of other conditions like colon cancer.
If your test results are negative, the doctor may diagnose Irritable Bowel Syndrome based on your symptoms, including how frequently you have had abdominal pain or discomfort during the past year, when the pain starts and stops in relation to bowel function, and how your bowel frequency and stool consistency have changed.
Many doctors refer to a list of specific symptoms that must be present to make a diagnosis of IBS. Symptoms include abdominal pain or discomfort for a minimum of 12 weeks out of the previous 12 months. The weeks of pain may be spread out or sporadic.
Stomach discomfort will have 2 of three of the proceeding indicators:
1.Pain disappears once you vacate your bowels.
2.When it starts, there is a change in how often you have a bowel movement.
3.Consistency or look of bowel movement is altered when pain begins.
Certain symptoms must also be present, such as a change in frequency of bowel movements Bowel movements look different Urgent need to defecate that is not controllable difficulty or inability to pass stool mucus in the stoolabdominal puffiness High temperature, loss of weight, bleeding and ongoing strong discomfort are not indications of IBS but may be signs of other issues such as inflamed bowels or, sometimes, cancer.
If you are less than fifty years old and have the usual symptoms of IBS, you probably do not need additional tests. If you are showing unexplained weight loss or blood in your stools, additional tests may be required. Your doctor may refer you to the hospital for additional tests if you have any family history of bowel problems, are over 50 and have recently developed IBS for the first time, or if you have the diarrhea-only type of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Your doctor would admit you because these symptoms are indicators of serious colon-related conditions such as colon cancer.



