Diverticulitis Diet and Treatment

Eating a high fibre diet will keep your digestive system running smoothly. However, water soluble fibre found in leafy vegetables, fruit and oats, is easier to digest then the fibre in wheatbran, lentills and beans.

Often, if symptomless, no treatment is needed for Diverticular Disease. Ideally a diet high in fibre should be adhered to and if pain occurs from time to time, a medicine to prevent muscle spasm may be useful. If constipation is a problem then regular use of laxatives is advisable.

If imflammation and infection has set in with pain and bleeding, then the first line of treatment is rest, antibiotics and lots of fluids and pain killers.

If the condition become worse, application of antibiotics to the affected area and intravenous antibiotics may settle the condition. Occasionally a badly affected area may have to be surgically removed.

In the worst cases, a stoma may need to be performed, where the bowel is brought out of the skin at the side of the abdomen and into a bag that collects the faeces. This can be temporary measure, which may be reversed when the bowel has had time to rest and recover.

Diverticular Disease

Diverticullitis