Aumakua is a naturopathic clinic dedicated to getting to the root cause of disease, with a focus on digestive health. Did you know that digestive symptoms such as constipation are often signs that the entire body is functioning at a suboptimal level?
Aumakua Integrated Wellness Clinic
Downtown Vancouver Constipation Treatment
604-684-6565
815 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC
Click for Contact Form
Constipation is often written off as being “no big deal”, or treated with a temporary fix like laxatives without exploring the underlying cause. Although occasional constipation may not be anything to worry about, chronic constipation is a serious condition that affects daily life and that should not be ignored.
Research shows that 1 in 4 Canadians regularly experience symptoms of constipation [1]. Constipation is one of the most common reasons for emergency room visits as well as being a chief complaint heard by gastroenterologists and other specialists, and yet we are frequently failing to find a cause or an adequate solution. We are spending hundreds of millions of dollars annually on laxatives without getting to the root of the problem. Many patients will end up spending years or even decades of their lives suffering from constipation without knowing where to turn or what to do.
At Aumakua, we believe in addressing this problem head-on. We work with patients to get to the root cause of digestive concerns like constipation. As constipation generally stems from issues in the gut, we recommend specialized testing including a lactulose breath test which assesses different variations and degrees of SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth), a common cause of digestive issues that often goes undiagnosed, as well as DNA stool testing to analyze microbes in the large intestine. Based on your test results, we implement our protocol to eliminate pathogens and repair intestinal integrity for long-term digestive vitality.
Our Approach
At Aumakua, our approach to constipation as well as to other digestive disorders and chronic illness, in general, involves restoring your digestive system. We work with our patients to develop a complete picture of diet, lifestyle, potential nutritional deficiencies, hormonal imbalances, and other factors that can contribute to digestive and overall wellbeing. We test for underlying imbalances within the gut using a comprehensive DNA stool analysis and lactulose breath testing for SIBO. We work to not only resolve symptoms of constipation but also to prevent recurrence by administering individualized protocols and long-term strategies, and identifying and resolving underlying causes.
We don’t want to see you suffer and we know it’s not healthy to be dependent on laxatives for the rest of your life! We want to help you repair your digestive system for the long run through prevention, nutritional support, and personalized naturopathic guidance.
Infectious Stool Testing
An infectious stool testing culture assists the specialist with checking whether there’s a bacterial disease in the digestion tracts. An expert places little feces tests in clean plastic dishes with supplements that energize the development of specific microbes. The targeted bacterias will possibly develop if they are already in the stool test.
Aumakua Integrated Wellness Clinic
Downtown Vancouver Constipation Treatment
604-684-6565
815 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC
Click for Contact Form
Frequently Asked Questions
What is constipation?
Most of us have experienced constipation– difficulty having a bowel movement– at one time or another. Occasional constipation can be brought on by a change in routine, like traveling overseas, or a period of acute stress. But for many people, constipation is a persistent or even lifelong problem.
Constipation is generally defined as having fewer than three bowel movements weekly (or simply fewer bowel movements than is normal for you) combined with hard and dry stools that are difficult and/or painful to eliminate.
Other symptoms of constipation can include:
- Feeling like you haven’t completely emptied your bowels after a bowel movement
- Pain in the abdomen
- Bloating
- Gas
- Fatigue
- Anxiety
What causes constipation?
Constipation is often caused by a multitude of different factors, which can be tricky to pin down on your own, but constipation generally comes down to what’s going on in your gut. Gut imbalances leading to constipation can be caused by bacterial overgrowth, parasites, and pathogens. This is why we always start with testing and treating the gut.
An imbalance in gut flora and/or leaky gut are the most common causes of constipation that we see. Constipation may also be a symptom of another condition such as SIBO or IBS.
At Aumakua we take a comprehensive health history and use specialized testing in order to narrow down these potential causes and treat each individual patient effectively.
Which tests are recommended for constipation?
To zero in on what’s going on in your gut that may be causing constipation, we recommend breath testing for SIBO which offers a profile of which gas, in particular, is being produced in excess by bacterial overgrowth in your intestine, in order to determine which bacterial group we need to focus on eradicating. Another tool that we use is DNA stool testing, which analyzes microbes in the large intestine. These tests are essential for directing an effective treatment protocol.
What is the best diet for constipation?
The best diet for any condition or symptom varies to some extent from person to person, and we offer nutritional protocols to best support our treatment.
Are you tired of suffering from unexplained, chronic constipation? Have you started to feel like this may just be the way you’re going to be forever?
We believe that you can heal! Our team is ready to work with you on uncovering the root cause of your symptoms and restoring your digestive wellbeing for the long term using our proven protocol.
Aumakua Integrated Wellness Clinic
Downtown Vancouver Constipation Treatment
604-684-6565
815 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC
Click for Contact Form
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