Larry Wurn, Research Director of Clear Passage Therapies, discusses manual therapy (Wurn Technique) to treat abdominal adhesions and small bowel obstruction without surgery. In the video, a patient discusses her recurring battle with adhesions and bowel obstructions and how Clear Passage Therapies saved her.

Listen to the live interview of Larry Wurn, Research Director, Clear Passage Therapies and co-author of Miracle Moms, with Dr. Derrick DeSilva, Jr. MD, host of Health Radio.

Click here to listen http://www.healthradio.net/archives/20091005/0941dd1b.mp3

Wurn talks with Dr. DeSilva about opening blocked fallopian tubes and treating adhesions causing small bowel obstructions, using the Wurn Technique, a nonsurgical manual physical therapy treatment.

Derrick DeSilva, Jr., MD

“Derrick DeSilva Jr., M.D. has his own radio talk show called “Ask the Doctor” , which airs on WCTC Radio in New Jersey (1450 AM), as well as his own television show, “To Your Health”, which airs on News 12 New Jersey.” More at http://www.askdrdesilva.com/

Adhesions in abdomen after surgery

Click here to download the free ebook, chapter 16  “Surgical Adhesions, Small Bowel Obstructions” from “Miracle Moms.” Includes theory, research, and heart-warming stories from individuals struggling with surgical adhesion pain and small bowel obstructions.
(http://www.clearpassage.com/resources/ebook.php)

“Miracle Moms, Better Sex, Less Pain” by Larry and Belinda Wurn with Richard King, MD is available now at amazon.com (Med-Art Press). Foreword by New York Times best-selling author Christiane Northrup, MD  and endorsed by physicians from Harvard, Columbia, Northwestern, and other fine professionals.

Dr. Jacques Moritz, Director of Endoscopy Section and Division of Gynecology, St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center says, “As a gynecological surgeon I have seen first hand what happens after I operate on patients. As much as I try to prevent adhesions I know that most patients after surgery are going to develop some form of adhesive disease. In the past treatment for adhesions has been even more surgery which caused even more adhesions. Now with the amazing “Clear Passage” technique patients have a safe and effective alternative to surgery. “

By Jackie

If you suspect you have a small bowel obstruction, you should immediately see a doctor. A small bowel obstruction occurs when the small intestine becomes cinched, preventing solid food from passing through the intestine. Not only is your body unable to absorb the nutrients it needs, it is unable to eliminate toxic material. A blockage can also cause extreme pain and bloating as food and gas back up.

While you are waiting to see the doctor or trying to select the best treatment option, you can make changes in your diet to help you cope with the pain, bloating, lack of nutrients, and toxic build-up.*

Do not eat solid food. If your small bowel is blocked, there may only be a small passage for food. Solid food may be too large, so it is suggested you drink only liquids. While this may be difficult, remember, these dietary changes are only temporary until you receive treatment.

Blend and juice vitals nutrients. To ensure you are receiving the nutrients you need, blend nutritious food in a food processor or blender until the consistency is close to a liquid as possible. Do not try blending any type of meat – not only is it difficult to “blend” meat, it is significantly harder for the intestine to process meat. To get more nutrients, use a juicer. Use as many organic, fresh fruits and vegetables as you can. This is the time to throw in kale, spinach, and other nutritious foods that your body is lacking due to the blockage and the inability to process solid foods. To mask the taste, try mixing in carrots, sweet potatoes, and apples.

Do not eat or drink any unhealthy food. Because your body is unable to process or eliminate food, it is depleted of nutrients and considerably more toxic. You do not want to add to this by eating or drinking any beverages that will add more unnecessary chemicals or unhealthy additives to your body. This means no soda (which can also be problematic due to the carbonation), no processed food, no fatty foods, etc. You want to do everything you can to only provide nutrients for your body.

Drink Slowly. Drinking too quickly can cause you to swallow air. While the air is obviously harmless, it can add to the build-up of gasses and the subsequent pain from bloating.

Increase your fiber. Fiber helps waste move through the small intestines. Because you can only drink liquids, trying mixing in some flax seed, blended prunes, or other fiber-rich choices.

Avoid gassy foods. A small blockage can cause gas to build-up, creating significant pain. Avoiding food (even in liquid form) that contribute to gas will prevent further pain. Common foods that cause gas are cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, etc.), milk products, onions, artichokes, pears, and wheat.

Avoid foods that promote inflammation. Inflammation causes the tissues of the body to swell, meaning the passage for food to pass in your intestines could become smaller. Common foods that cause inflammation include sugar, refined carbohydrates, and gluten-containing foods (wheat, flour, etc.) To learn more about what you can do to reduce inflammation naturally, please read Anti-Inflammatories and Reducing Inflammation Naturally.

I must emphasize that this diet should only be used as a temporary measure while you are either waiting to speak with a doctor or be treated for a small bowel obstruction. To learn more about treatment for bowel obstruction, please visit our bowel obstruction page.

*These suggestions are not a substitute for medical advice from a doctor or nutritionist.

By Jackie

Small bowel obstructions are no matter to take lightly. In addition to causing devastating pain, an obstruction can prevent waste from leaving the body and nutrients from being absorbed by the body.

If a patient suspects s/he has a bowel obstruction, s/he needs medical attention immediately. A visit to do the doctor is vital because s/he can ascertain if the bowel is actually blocked (obstruction) or isn’t functioning properly. If the doctor suspects an obstruction, s/he will normally monitor the patient over a period of time to see if the obstruction goes away on its own.

Why be so cautious before moving forward with treatment? Because doctors know that surgery is a serious matter – especially surgery to the delicate tissue of the intestines. Patients who undergo surgery for obstructions risk developing more obstructions as a direct result of the scarring (adhesions) produced by the surgery to remove an obstruction.

If your doctor currently suspects you have a bowel obstruction, it is important you know that the number one cause of obstructions is adhesions. Adhesions are what form scar tissue. They form after the body heals from any sort of trauma – such as an infection, inflammation, surgery, car accident, etc. Although they help an injury heal, adhesions can also bind nearby structures. If they form in the intestines, they can cinch the small bowel closed or pull on the intestine. The constant pull can create inflammation and thus more adhesions.

How can you know if adhesions are the likely culprit for your obstruction?

• First, you need to visit the doctor to rule-out serious conditions such as Crohn’s disease.
• Second, examine your medical history. Have you had any recent illnesses that cause inflammation or infection? Were any of them in your abdomen or pelvis? For example, diverticulitis causes infection and inflammation in protrusions from the colon. Even if the doctor has treated this condition, you may still have adhesions in your body that developed because of the infection and inflammation. Other infections or inflammation to keep in mind are hernias, gallstones, Crohn’s disease, etc. Another important question to ask yourself: Have you been in a car accident? Although the only physical effects you may have felt were whiplash, the internal organs often absorb the shock of such sudden trauma. This could have caused internal damage, which then caused adhesions to form in the healing process. Examine your life for any serious injuries, falls, accidents, or surgeries.

• Third, have your symptoms subsided? Obstructions caused by adhesions generally do not subside because the body has no natural way of dissolving the collagen that forms adhesions.

If you or your doctor suspect adhesions are the cause of your obstruction, our trained therapists can help. Through hundreds of manual physical therapy techniques, our therapists can identify areas of restriction and adhesion formation, then work to loosen the area. Gradually, over a 20 hour program, the adhesions are detached and deformed, allowing the bowels to function properly. Most patients who come to Clear Passage Therapies for bowel obstructions choose to complete therapy in an intensive week of treatment due to extreme health risk of a bowel obstruction. Clear Passage Therapies can resolve adhesions that create an obstruction, but if the bowel is completely obstructed, it is a life-threatening condition that requires emergency surgery.

To learn more about our treatment for bowel obstruction, please visit our bowel obstruction page.

By Jackie

A small bowel obstruction can be a life-threatening condition. As the bowel slowly cinches closed, the helpless victim may find herself unable to eat or have a bowel movement. If these serious symptoms continue, doctors have no choice but to perform surgery. While surgery can successful remove the blockage, a large percentage of patients will experience a subsequent obstruction.

Why? Let’s look at what causes a mechanical obstruction. In the majority of patients, the obstruction started after inflammation, infection, trauma, or surgery near the intestines. Whenever an injury occurs in the body, collagen rushes to the site to repair the damage and contain the area. As these sticky strands of collagen continue to build layer upon layer, they form adhesions. Adhesions are extremely beneficial – they help a wound seal and perform many other vital functions. But because of their “sticky” nature, they can also attach to nearby structures or cause restriction within a structure or organ.

For example, if an infection occurs within the intestinal tube, collagen will rush to the site. As it forms adhesions to repair the area, these adhesions may attach to both sides of the tube, causing it to cinch together. If adhesions form on the outside, it may cause one part of the intestine to be pulled and attached to another part. Over time, this constant pulling can create more irritation, inflammation, and subsequent adhesion formation – thus worsening the problem.

The only existing method to remove adhesions in conventional medicine is surgery. Unfortunately, surgery itself is a cause of adhesion formation. After the surgeon has made her incisions, removed the adhesions, and sealed the wound, collagen rushes to the area to help it heal. Thus, the awful cycle of adhesion formation starts again, possibly creating another bowel obstruction.

When a patient returns to the hospital with another bowel obstruction, doctors can only offer another surgery. As far as the patient knows, there is no other treatment and s/he must submit to surgery if they want to be able to eat solid food, have a bowel movement, or be free from pain. But another surgery only perpetuates the cycle, leaving the poor victim with cyclical surgery for life.

Clear Passage Therapies (CPT) has successfully treated numerous patients with small bowel obstructions and we say it is time to put an end to cyclical surgery. When a patient begins to experience the tell-tale signs of another bowel obstruction, we can help! Our therapists have been using manual techniques to break-apart adhesions within the body for over 20 years. Using solely their hands, our therapists can locate areas of tension, restriction, and adhesion formation and slowly deform and detach adhesions.

One former patient, Ginny, came to us after eight surgeries. She explains, “I had already undergone a resection surgery to remove bowel obstructions (essentially adhesions) by cutting, then rejoining my intestines. I soon found myself in a vicious cycle of pain and hospitalizations. I needed surgery to reduce the adhesions and my pain, but the surgeries would cause more adhesions to form, necessitating more surgeries.” She began attending treatment at CPT two hours a week. She reported, “I can still remember the first day I was finally able to have a bowel movement without pain or laxatives, or to be able to eat without pain. It was amazing.”

Ginny’s full story will be featured in our upcoming book, Miracle Moms, Better Sex, Less Pain. Our book showcases the stories of over 80 patients, including five women with bowel obstructions. If you would like to read a sneak-peak of two stories, please see Resolving a Bowel Obstruction and You Have a Right to Refuse Any Drug or Surgery. To learn more about our treatment to reduce adhesions and resolve bowel obstructions, please visit our bowel obstruction page.

By Jackie

A small bowel obstruction can impact a victim’s life in dramatic ways. Katrina, a former CPT patient who struggled with numerous bowel obstructions, told us, “It’s hard to explain the pain unless you have had it. You get a lot of abdominal swelling and localized pain in certain spots. The swelling gets really bad and your clothes don’t fit. At night, your body throbs. It just gets to the point where it never goes away and the pain overrides your thoughts. You can’t even walk properly because you are in so much pain and you feel your body drawing up.” Other patients have reported throwing-up after eating and even passing-out. Many sufferers can only drink liquids because no solids can get through.

As the bowels slowly cinch closed, the helpless victim has very few options. Although a medical facility can place a tube down the nose to remove gas and fluids, the only conventional treatment option to remove the blockage is surgery. Unfortunately, surgery can cause more adhesions to grow and patients find themselves with yet another bowel obstruction. It quickly becomes an awful cycle of obstruction-surgery-obstruction.

Katrina’s first bowel obstruction occurred after she had a partial hysterectomy. Doctors performed a follow-up surgery when she continued to experience pain and found she had a partial bowel obstruction. Over the next 14 years, Katrina had nine subsequent surgeries for bowel obstructions. She knew she didn’t want to continue on this path and eventually came to our clinic.

CPT therapists are experts in treating adhesions and immediately set to work to break-apart the bowel obstruction. Katrina noticed changes right away and was able to have normal bowel movements by the end of her intensive week of treatment. When she returned home, she reported that energy was still increasing.

A small bowel obstruction can quickly become a life-threatening problem. If the bowel closes completely, emergency surgery is required. If you feel you have the onset of a small bowel obstruction, please contact us immediately. CPT therapists can design a program to relieve the obstruction and symptoms associated with the blockage. Please visit our bowel obstruction page to learn more about our treatment for this serious condition.

By Jackie

The 9th right of Dr. Carolyn Demarco’s A Woman’s Bill of Rights states, “I have a right to refuse any drug or surgical treatment.”

In the highly individualized and independent culture of the United States, many people do not have difficulty stating exactly what they want or don’t want. But for women who face chronic pain or infertility, their refusal of drugs or surgical treatment may mean they are out of conventional treatment options. This can be a very scary situation for any woman.

Reese, a former CPT patient, experienced this situation after multiple surgeries for bowel obstructions. Reese learned from her doctor in 2008 that abdominal adhesions had grown back for the 7th time after. She would need another surgery to remove the adhesions that were slowly blocking her intestines. Reese told us, “I did NOT want to live this way, having surgery after surgery just to stay alive.” However, Reese didn’t know what else she could do.

She had previously heard of Clear Passage Therapies (CPT) and contacted us for more information. Belinda Wurn, who founded CPT and has also experienced bowel obstructions, called Reese. After a lengthy conversation, Reese decided to attend treatment. Out therapists worked meticulously to decrease adhesions in her abdomen and free her intestines. After treatment, Reese reported, “I could barely believe how much better I felt. I was no longer near tears in pain with each breath and step I took! I had a total of five bowel movements that night and the next morning. I was beside myself!”

Reese’s full story will be featured in our upcoming book, Miracle Moms, Better Sex, Less Pain, along with the stories of other women who refused drugs or surgery for bowel obstructions, chronic pain, infertility, endometriosis, and many other conditions. Choosing to forego drugs or surgical treatment can be scary, but there are other treatment options available that work. To read an excerpt of a story about a woman who refused surgery to remove a fallopian tube blocked with hydrosalpinx, please see Resolving Hydrosalpinx. If you would like to learn more about our treatment for bowel obstructions, please visit our bowel adhesions page.