How can we avoid need for surgery?

We need to cut of a part of our gut when it narrows because of inflamation scars in the gut. But is it possible to avoid this shrinking by eating foods and herbes which prevent inflamation?

If we keep the number of flare-ups down to a minimum by eating special diet, will we then be safe, or will the shrinking of the gut occur regardless of how many times we have these flare-ups?

I don't know for sure. It probably helps some by knowing what your trigger foods are and sticking to them. I don't think that is a safe guarantee though.

I think diet is only a part of the overall issue. It really doesn't hurt to eat healthy, as long as you can tolerate the foods well. I believe the doctor should still check you regularly though. Best of luck with everything.

cmack said:

I think diet is only a part of the overall issue. It really doesn't hurt to eat healthy, as long as you can tolerate the foods well. I believe the doctor should still check you regularly though. Best of luck with everything.

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Agree

In theory, if you are always quick to treat flares, then the time that you have inflammation in the bowel is kept to a minimum, reducing the likelihood of scarring and the need for surgery. However, this requires being especially proactive with monitoring - not just symptoms but also with scopes, considering that a lot of people with IBD can be asymptomatic and yet still have active disease. I'd say that there's no really reliable way to prevent the inflammation from occurring - if there were, we wouldn't all be here! - but recognising when treatment escalation is necessary is a key part of keeping the gut intact for as long as possible.

Of course, surgery is not inherently a bad thing in itself. Sure, we only have so much small intestine, and it's wise to want to conserve as much as possible, but surgery is not always a last resort. Sometimes it is more worth it to lose a foot or two of horribly diseased intestine and 'start fresh', keeping the rest of the bowel in as good a quality as possible to try and avoid recurrence.

Crohnical said:

We need to cut of a part of our gut when it narrows because of inflamation scars in the gut. But is it possible to avoid this shrinking by eating foods and herbes which prevent inflamation?

If we keep the number of flare-ups down to a minimum by eating special diet, will we then be safe, or will the shrinking of the gut occur regardless of how many times we have these flare-ups?

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Eating healthful foods and avoiding trigger foods is certainly an attractive approach to managing CD. And it can certainly help patients feel better. Curing or at least managing CD with diet alone is everyone's dream, especially for us patients, since diet is the one aspect of this disease that is under the direct control of the patient. But unfortunately studies have shown that dietary measures alone are seldom enough to control the underlying disease. It often still progresses despite the help from a careful anti-inflammatory diet.

So I suggest that to reduce the risk of surgery we need to do both - eat the careful diet and beneficial herbs AND follow the disease closely with regular medical exams and appropriate real medication.