Irritable Bowel Syndrome is a widespread issue. In the UK, between 10 to 20% of people live with this chronic health condition, which causes frequent digestive discomfort and causes symptoms like stomach cramps, bloating, diarrhoea and constipation. These symptoms, while they tend to come and go, may last for days, weeks or months, and appear in periods of particular intensity known as “flare ups”. Yoga Therapy for IBS can be a light for those diagnosed.
The impact of IBS on sufferer’s daily lives can be considerable, and between 30% to 50% of IBS patients seek complementary therapies in order to reduce their symptoms. Yoga therapy for IBS can help people to live fully and happily despite their condition, and ease the accompanying stress and anxiety which can both result from and worsen chronic health issues.
What causes IBS and how is it treated?
Unfortunately, the medical community is yet to identify either a cure or a cause for IBS. It is theorised the experience of IBS could be linked to oversensitivity in the gut, food passing too slowly or too quickly through the digestive system, or hormonal changes – with people who menstruate often reporting a worsening of symptoms around their period. There is also a strong suggestion that IBS is exacerbated by stress and anxiety, and symptoms may be related to disturbances in the gut-brain axis.
For many people living with the condition, avoiding certain foods can help ease their discomfort (although this varies from person to person, making it difficult to give blanket advice), while other lifestyle changes such as regular exercise are usually recommended. For those who find that lifestyle and dietary changes make little difference to their symptoms, or whose experience of IBS is particularly severe, GP’s may recommend a talking therapy such as CBT. This serves both to reduce stress as a trigger and to help people cope with the condition.
The link between stress and Irritable Bowel Syndrome
We can all relate to the idea that stress can play out within our digestive system – whether it’s butterflies in the stomach or an urgent need to pop to the toilet before speaking publicly – and this connection is not only anecdotal. There is a bulk of evidence to support a link between the experience of stress and poor digestive health.
It is estimated that in 40 to 60 percent of cases, IBS co-occurs with psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety, suggesting a strong psychological link to this syndrome. It has also been observed that stressful life events like losing a loved one, breaking up with a partner or moving house can all aggravate the symptoms of IBS.
It is theorised that one possible contributing factor to digestive distress is the stress-induced release of hormones such as corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), which may prompt a misplaced immune response to otherwise harmless foods.
It has also been posited in the World Journal of Gastroenterology that stress-induced dysbiosis (an imbalance in intestinal bacteria) may play a key role in the development of IBS, while stress has also been associated with a variety of gut issues. These include, but aren’t limited to:
- Increasing the amount of acid in a person’s stomach, resulting in indigestion.
- Causing feelings of nausea or an urgent need to empty the bowels.
- Causing painful spasms in the stomach.
A person’s nervous system and digestive system are in constant communication via an enormous number of neurons, leading many researchers to become interested in how the so-called “second brain” of the gut may affect overall mood and wellbeing. While the research on gut health, the microbiome and gut-brain axis is still ongoing, there is a clear link between stress and digestive problems.
What role can yoga therapy play in reducing the impact of IBS?
While stress isn’t the only factor at play in IBS, taking up stress-relieving activities is highly recommended for those who live with the condition, as it appears to be a major trigger for symptoms. Unlike other forms of exercise, yoga is gentle enough to not jostle the intestines or cause issues such as runner’s diarrhea, while research suggests its stress-relieving qualities are actually greater than that of other forms of exercise.
Our bodies seek a state of homeostasis, where fluctuating hormones return to normal levels after stress has passed and the body relaxes from “flight or fight” mode and into “rest and repair”. However, those who experience chronic stress and anxiety experience life in a continued state of hyperarousal, which can create a negative cycle for IBS sufferers – with symptoms triggering stress and stress triggering symptoms in a worsening feedback loop.
Research suggests that yoga can help train people’s autonomic nervous system (which governs the stress response) to become more adaptive, and return more quickly to a state of calm after a period of stress. Yoga has also been observed to reduce anxiety, with a 2016 meta-analysis showing that Hatha yoga was beneficial to those with high levels of anxiety at the start of the studies.
This may explain why certain studies have seen success in using yoga as a treatment for IBS. One, which was published in 2015, assessed the effects of four weeks of yoga on GI-related symptoms in adolescents with IBS. The 25 participants took part in a one-hour class and were then provided with a video for daily home practice. Those placed in the yoga group experienced less anxiety, avoidance behavior, and disability than those in the waitlist control group, and this was observed again when the waitlist control group was subsequently provided with the same treatment.
Another small but promising study focused on diarrhea-predominant IBS in a group of men. The control group were treated with the traditional medication loperamide, while the rest were placed in a yoga group and were instructed to practice breathing exercises and a series of 12 poses twice a day. At the end of two months, the yoga group demonstrated a significant decrease in GI activity and greater activation of the part of the nervous system that is involved with calming the body, with researchers concluding that yoga could have the potential to be more beneficial for patients with IBS than current conventional loperamide treatment.
Living with a health condition that has no comprehensive cure can make people feel anxious, isolated and depressed, and yoga can offer a coping mechanism for those dealing with the psychological impact of life with a chronic condition. When symptoms (or people’s emotional response to those symptoms) feel more manageable, life becomes less overwhelming and easier to enjoy, helping people to feel happier and healthier despite their IBS.
