Bowel Obstruction

Overview Causes Symptoms Treatment

Causes of Bowel Obstruction

A bowel obstruction occurs when something blocks the normal movement of food, fluids, or gas through the intestines. While this blockage can develop for several reasons, the most common cause is post-surgical adhesions – internal scars that form after surgery. No matter how skilled the surgeon, adhesions are known to form naturally after most surgeries as the body’s response to tissue damage.

Adhesions: The Most Common Cause

Following surgery, infection, inflammation, or trauma, the body naturally produces bonds of internal scar tissue called adhesions as part of the first step in tissue repair (healing). Measured by scientists at a strength of 18,000 lbs per square inch (1,266 kilo/cm), adhesions can create powerful rope or curtain-like bonds that can cover or connect loops of the intestines to nearby structures, slowing or preventing food from passing through the bowel. Adhesions can pull or twist the bowel, narrowing it into a stricture or completely blocking its passageway.

Once formed, adhesions tend to remain in place or to grow due to ongoing inflammation. For this reason, bowel obstructions often reappear months or years after successful surgery.

Other Possible Causes

While post-surgical adhesions are the primary cause, bowel obstructions can also result from:

Infection
Injury
Hernias – parts of the intestine pushing through weakened abdominal muscles

Tumors or growths inside or outside the bowel

Inflammatory conditions, such as Crohn’s disease or diverticulitis

Twisting of the bowel (volvulus) or intussusception, where one part slides into another

Severe constipation or impacted stool

Why It Matters

Regardless of the cause, a bowel obstruction can quickly become a serious medical emergency. Bowel repair is the second most common emergency surgery in US hospitals. Bowel blockages stop digestion, prevent absorption of nutrients, and may cut off blood flow to the intestines. For these reasons, timely diagnosis and treatment are essential.

Symptoms of Bowel Obstruction

• Nausea and vomiting
• Abdominal pain or cramping
• Abdominal bloating or swelling
• Constipation or inability to pass gas
• Loss of appetite
• Abdominal tenderness
• Distension (visibly enlarged abdomen)
• Severe dehydration
• Stringy stool*

*One of the lesser-known indicators of an imminent bowel blockage is the appearance of a pencil-thin stool.

BM is sometimes referred to as stringy stool. This often overlooked symptom often suggests a partial obstruction, allowing only a narrow passage for stool to pass.

Treatment for Bowel Obstruction

The Clear Passage® Approach is a very site-specific manual therapy pioneered by our founder as a result of decades of study and investigation into reducing adhesions non-surgically. Our work has been shown to reduce adhesions and reverse partial and even total bowel obstructions without resorting to surgery that so often creates more adhesions. Unique in the world, this highly researched, well-documented therapy is unlike any other non-surgical therapy we know of. Like peeling apart the run in a three-dimensional sweater, our non-surgical techniques focus on reducing or eliminating adhesions by dissolving internal bonds (crosslinks) that bind collagen fibers together, at the very core of adhesions.

Clear Passage® Therapy has been credited with saving lives and returning normal lifestyles to many people, including those who suffer from recurring bowel obstructions. Our highly trained therapists have had hundreds of successes reversing or eliminating bowel obstructions by decreasing adhesions that formed due to a prior surgery or other cause. A large surgeon-authored study published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology shows the Clear Passage® Approach reduced recurrent bowel obstructions by fifteen times the norm (no therapy). Our goal is to break the repetitive “adhesion-obstruction-surgery” cycle that many of our patients describe as their life before Clear Passage®.

Condition Specific Disclaimer:

Bowel obstructions can be life-threatening conditions that require prompt medical attention. If you are experiencing severe abdominal pain, vomiting, bloating, fever, or an inability to pass stool or gas, you should seek emergency medical care immediately! We are happy to consult with you, even if you are currently obstructed and are in the hospital.

Testimonials:

To read Clear Passage® Therapy patient success stories, please visit our Testimonials page.

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