Alternative Gallbladder Treatment
Gallstones develop long before there are any symptoms, but once there are symptoms, often alternative gallbladder treatment may not be sufficient to prevent gallbladder surgery. This surgery is one of the most commonly performed surgeries in North America and is considered fairly safe. If surgery can be prevented with alternative treatment, most people will choose to skip having surgery. When you want to try alternative gallbladder treatments, you should discuss your options with your healthcare provider to determine what will be safe and effective for you. At the first sign of gallstones, you will want to look into alternative gallbladder treatment before your condition becomes acute and you need emergency surgery.
Alternative Gallbladder Treatment Options
There are alternatives to surgery when treating gallbladder problems. Some are commonly used for treatment and others are only used when it is not safe to perform gallbladder surgery due to other health issues. These are some of the alternative gallbladder treatments:
- Olive oil and lemon juice flush - this may be effective for small gallstones, but larger stones may become dislodged and stuck
- Prescribed medication - has been effective in dissolving gallstones, but has side effects
- Gold coin grass - this softens and crushes the gallstones to allow for easy passage, but it can take a long time
- Intestinal cleansing - this helps if there is a history of constipation and clogging
- Gallbladder flush - this will cause small stones to come out within a few days, but it is recommended to use gold coin grass first
- Diet changes and fasting - when used with other treatments, this can encourage more stones to be expelled
- Ultrasonic crushing of stones - ultrasound is used to break apart large stones to make them easier to pass
There are many combinations of flushes and diet that can result in gallbladder stones coming out. You can research your options and discuss what you want to do with your doctor.
Diet and Alternative Gallbladder Treatment
When there is pain from gallstones, the pain can be relieved by changing the diet. This may give the appearance of successfully treating the gallbladder stones. Diet changes will simply prevent, reduce, or lessen gallbladder pain, but it does nothing to remove gallstones. It will eventually need to be treated. Some of the foods that can trigger gallbladder pain include the following:
- Fatty foods
- Onion
- Cabbage
- Caffeine
- Chocolate
- Alcohol
- Coffee
- Nuts
- White flour
- White sugar
- Citrus
- Sodas
- Black teas
- Legumes
- Cauliflower
Avoiding foods that trigger gallbladder problems will give you more time to treat the gallstones with alternative gallbladder treatment.
Avoiding Gallbladder Surgery
Like with any surgery, there are risks and the same is true of gallbladder surgery. After gallbladder surgery, the body will not be able to digest some foods as easy as it did in the past, especially fatty foods because there isn’t a consistent supply of bile going to the intestines. When surgery is necessary, it is worth the risks.
When large stones are coming out they can cause pain, but the pain will be duller than the sharp pain of a gallbladder attack. People who have adverse reactions to foods like whole grains, legumes, soy products, nuts, or seeds may have a higher risk of reacting to herbal alternatives to treat gallbladder stones. Herbs can potentially interact with prescription drugs. Consult a healthcare professional at the first signs of gallbladder stones.
Gallbladder Treatment
Understand other Gallbladder Treatments.