Everyone has abdominal pain or bowel problems from time to time.
But what if you suffer from this very often and it has an impact on your quality of life?
Perhaps you have irritable bowel syndrome (PDS).
The Pelvic Floor would like to enlighten you and give you new insights! Do you recognise this story? Are you looking for more information?
"Talk about it and find the appropriate help! Yes ok... But where do you start?
We cannot give a ready-made answer to that. Every woman is unique! And that is why it is so important to keep a broad view and to keep looking for good solutions!
We recommend with pleasure the website of IBS Belgium!
Doctor Kathleen Van Malderen is currently working on a doctoral thesis on irritable bowel syndrome at the University of Antwerp and accompanies many patients with abdominal pain in Antwerp University Hospital. She will be happy to provide additional information:
PDS is one of the most frequent disorders: 1 in 6 is thought to have it.
It is more common in women and usually starts at a young age.
With PDS, a person usually suffers from abdominal pain and changes in their bowel habits. This can be diarrhoea, constipation or a combination of both. In addition, you may also experience other issues such as a swollen belly, increased wind, fatigue or pain during sex. Often people with PDS also have pelvic floor problems, mainly dyschezia. With dyschezia the pelvic floor tightens instead of relaxing. This makes it difficult to pass stools and may cause the person to push hard.
There are no tests yet that can definitively diagnose PDS. Therefore, this is an exclusive diagnosis. This means that we base ourselves on the one hand on the typical symptoms of abdominal pain and stool problems. On the other hand, we use technical examinations to exclude other conditions that may cause similar symptoms.
Once the diagnosis has been made, the search for an appropriate treatment can begin. We cannot treat PDS causally, so unfortunately we cannot cure the disease. Treatment focuses on relieving the symptoms. This can be done through lifestyle adjustments, medication, diet or psychological support.
As gastroenterologists specialising in PDS, we have noticed that there is still a lot of misunderstanding about PDS. There is a lot of information on the internet, but it is not always reliable. Therefore we, Dr Kathleen Van Malderen and Prof Heiko De Schepper, decided to start a new initiative. IBSBelgium is a website providing scientifically based information on irritable bowel syndrome. We are objective and independent, which means that we do not allow ourselves to be influenced by, for example, pharmaceutical companies. New articles are published weekly in which we explain a subject in a short and simple way or discuss new studies. Apart from the website, there is a leaflet available in hospitals and at GP surgeries, and we are active on social media. Through facebook and our newsletter you can always stay up to date with the latest news.
