One of the most common questions we get from patients—after they start feeling better—is: ‘Why didn’t my other doctors ever do this?’

I just heard it again this week, which made me think that I should do this blogpost. Because it’s a really good question… so I’ll try to answer it the best I can.

Let’s start with the simplest answer: Most doctors are not trained to solve IBS.

That might sound shocking—but it’s not about bad intentions or a lack of intelligence. It’s about how our healthcare system is set up, and how medical professionals are educated.

Conventional medical training focuses largely on acute care—which is life-saving.  Doctors are trained to spot serious diseases, stop infections, treat injuries, and manage emergencies. But when it comes to chronic issues like IBS—where symptoms persist for months or years and don’t respond well to medication—most doctors simply aren’t equipped with the tools to get to the root cause.

You and I know that IBS is serious, but the system doesn’t classify it that way.

Instead, IBS is treated as a diagnosis of exclusion.

That means that they are ruling out what they consider more life-threatening issues, and if your colonoscopy and blood tests come back normal, and nothing else seems “wrong,” you’re told you have IBS.

You might be offered a one size fits all approach, like sibo (which is the only thing they have going right now), a medication for symptoms, or some vague dietary advice, and then… you’re sent on your way.

Beyond what they were already looking for, this approach doesn't truly ask why your gut is acting up. It doesn't ask what’s preventing you from having perfect health, and what's triggering your symptoms. It only asks if certain life threatening issues are causing your symptoms.

You may think it goes further than that, because what doctors do looks impressive and you hear a lot about medical research into these areas, but that research often isn’t being applied at the clinic level. Most importantly, this approach fails to ask, “How do we fix this?”

But here’s what we do differently at our clinic—and why it works.

We start with the belief that IBS is not a mystery—it’s a message.

Your body is trying to tell you that something is off. It could be a food sensitivity, a microbiome imbalance, hidden inflammation, low stomach acid, chronic stress, or even a past infection that’s still affecting your gut.

All of these, and a whole lot of other things, are real, testable, and treatable causes of IBS—and we see them every day in our patients.

Instead of masking symptoms, we ask deeper questions and go beyond insurance models that typically don’t support longer visits, cutting edge testing, or deep nutritional counseling.

I always assume that there is a cause for your symptoms, and that my job is to help you find it, not just to rule out certain things.

That’s why we run advanced testing, we listen to you about everything in your health history, and we build a plan tailored to what is happening to your body, your gut, and your lifestyle. I know that this sounds like what always happens when you go to the doctor, but if you stop and think about it, it’s not. Because if it was, you’d be better already.

Because when you truly do all of that, people get better. That’s how we help people not just manage IBS—but solve it.

So when patients see this and start to feel dramatically better—sometimes after years of suffering—the natural reaction is frustration:

“Why didn’t anyone else tell me this was possible?”

“Why did I have to find this out on my own?”

And we get it. It’s frustrating.

But the truth is, most conventional doctors are doing what they were trained to do and what they are paid to do. The system simply doesn’t reward the time, testing, or holistic approach that solving IBS requires.

And most doctors don’t have the training, time or freedom to go beyond symptom management for IBS.

That’s why we’ve built something different. We work outside of that system—so we can actually help people heal.

So when you finish seeing us, you too will wonder, “Why didn’t my other doctors do this?”

Of course, if they did, then you wouldn’t need us.

On the bright side, you’ll learn a secret that most of our patients learn. That there is an answer and that there’s a better way.

A way that listens to your body.

A way that asks the right questions.

A way that finds real answers.

And a way that actually works.

Remember, there are specialists for a reason. We’re IBS specialists. And if you’re ready to take that next step, we’re here to help, give us a call at the IBS Treatment Center at 206-264-1111. We work with people around the world via telemedicine, and we’d be happy to work with you too.

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