Cori, biofeedback is a treatment for this."Biofeedback Biofeedback is a technique in which a person is trained to change a specific physical response, for example, fingertip temperature, heart rate, or muscle tension, to reduce undesirable symptoms. Biofeedback has been used to successfully treat many diseases and disorders such as IBS, migraine and tension headaches, hypertension, insomnia, and anxiety. Biofeedback requires equipment that can be used in a therapist�s office, or can be purchased or rented for personal home use. Over time, a person gains sufficient control over his or her physical responses as a way of managing the unpleasant symptoms so that the equipment becomes unnecessary. It is important to note that one or many of these techniques and therapies can be used to manage a person�s problems and symptoms. One of the goals of psychological treatment is to provide a person with a variety of "tools" which can be used to cope with the GI symptoms. This type of psychological treatment is tailor made for each individual, and tries to maximize a person�s natural skills and abilities. It is used in collaboration with the person�s other health care providers, and with other things, such as medication, to manage GI symptoms."
http://www.med.unc.edu/medicine/fgidc/psychserv.htm#BIOFEED In IBS one of the root issues is hypersensitivity to gut stimuli. But IBS can alter sensations in different ares of the digestive tract, including the rectum and anus.What effects the gut can effect the brain and vice versa.Hypnosis works very well on this issue (hpersensitivity) as well as some other issues in regards to IBS, but uses the subconcious route as opposed to the concious route. The use of both biofeedback and hypnosis could be even more benefical perhaps for this issue.Personally it has helped me in this area a lot as well as some others I know of, I suffer about 90 percent less from incomplete evacuation. There still are some odd days where I really feel my anus and its a hard feeling to explain, the nerves there for me are hypersensitive as well as in my gut.I have noticed these muscles can spasm and cause headaches and actual feelings in my head, like anxiousness or dizziness and sometimes even anger out of the blue.I have also noticed in the past that when the muscles tighten there it sends the upper colon out of whack. The natural movement of contractions is top to bottom and out and its as if a cork (tighten anal muscles) was there and this backfires up the colon to cause upper pain as that starts an altered contractions and spasms further up.I am personally 85 percent better on all global symptoms of severe pain and alternating C and D and a multitude of other IBS features, after a couple years using HT however.
