Do you regularly experience irregular bowel movements, cramps, or a severely bloated stomach after eating? You are certainly not alone. Figures from the Dutch Digestive Foundation show that 5 to 20 percent of the Dutch population deals with this to some extent. But where do these symptoms come from? And more importantly: how can acupuncture help to calm an irritable bowel?
What is Irritable Bowel Syndrome?
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS, formerly known as a spastic colon) is a common condition where your intestines are highly sensitive. Together with your general practitioner, you can rule out other causes and confirm an IBS diagnosis.
The frustrating thing about IBS is that the symptoms are so unpredictable. The pain can shift in location and intensity. Sometimes your stomach is round and bloated or you experience excess gas, while other times there might be mucus in your stool. The triggers also vary greatly from person to person. Symptoms can suddenly flare up after a flu, during a holiday, or due to a stressful situation at home or work. Because the intestines react directly to our environment and emotions, Western medical treatment is not always straightforward. However, there are effective, natural ways to significantly reduce these symptoms.
The TCM Perspective on IBS: The Liver and the Spleen
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), we look at the entire digestive system and the direct impact of your emotions on it. In TCM, IBS is seen as a classic imbalance between the Liver and the Spleen.
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Weak Spleen Qi (your digestive fire): In Chinese medicine, the Spleen is responsible for digesting food and absorbing nutrients. If this energy is weakened—often due to fatigue, excessive overthinking, or eating too much cold and raw food—you will notice it immediately. Food sits heavily in your stomach, you get bloated, your stool becomes loose or irregular, and you feel tired after a meal.
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Liver Qi stagnation: The Liver is responsible for a smooth flow of energy throughout your body and reacts extremely strongly to stress, frustration, and tension. When you are stressed, the Liver energy stagnates. This built-up tension then “strikes” your already weakened digestive system (the Spleen). This explains why your bowels act up immediately during a busy or emotional period.
How Can Acupuncture Help with IBS?
Acupuncture is a highly effective, natural way to restore the balance between tension and digestion.
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Calming the nervous system: Acupuncture takes your body out of the alert ‘fight or flight’ mode and brings it back into the ‘rest and digest’ state. This immediately reduces the hypersensitivity of the nerves in your intestines.
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Regulating bowel peristalsis: By stimulating specific acupuncture points on the abdomen and lower legs, we help normalize bowel movements. This has a calming effect when the bowels are moving too fast (diarrhea) and a stimulating effect when they are too slow (constipation).
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Relieving cramps: In Chinese medicine, there is an important rule: where energy flows freely, there is no pain. By resolving Liver stagnation, the smooth muscles around the intestines relax. This takes away the sharp cramps and the tight, painful feeling in your stomach.
What Can You Do Yourself? (TCM Nutrition Tips)
Alongside Western advice such as drinking enough water and eating sufficient fiber, Chinese medicine offers a few very clear lifestyle and nutritional recommendations to support your Spleen:
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Eat warm and cooked foods: Your intestines have to work incredibly hard to digest cold salads, iced drinks, and raw smoothies (they literally have to warm the food up first). Opt for warm meals, light soups, and boiled or stir-fried vegetables instead. This takes far less energy from your body.
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Chew well: Digestion begins in the mouth. The better you chew, the less work your stomach and intestines have to do afterward.
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Rest and routine: Try to eat meals and snacks at regular times and truly take your time to eat. Avoid eating hurriedly behind your laptop or while scrolling on your phone.
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Keep moving: Walking, gentle cycling, or yoga helps tremendously to keep your bowels moving and to release built-up tension in the body.
Do you struggle with your digestion daily and want to see if we can bring your system back into balance with acupuncture? Book an appointment via the button below.
Note: If you suddenly notice blood in your stool, experience unexplained weight loss, or are over 50 and experiencing bowel issues for the first time, please always contact your general practitioner first.
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Acupuncture in Amsterdam East
My clinic is located in the Eastern Docklands (Oostelijk Havengebied), between Java Island and Amsterdam Central Station.
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Public Transport: The bus and tram 26 stop just a 5-minute walk from the clinic.
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Car: You can easily park in the nearby parking garages De Loodsen or Withoedenveem.
Hope to see you soon at the clinic!
:) Kim