Which is sexier? - Spastic Colon or Irritable Bowel Syndrome

The name Irritable Bowel Syndrome is the more common 'modern' name for a condition describing regular symptoms of cramping, bloating, Nausea, constipation / diarrhea and mild to severe abdominal pains.

In the past a patient with the same regular symptoms and diagnosis of IBS was referred to as having the wonderful name of 'Spastic Colon'.

Why the term 'Spastic'?
A 'Spastic' movement is one in which something goes into uncontrollable spasms, spontaneous contractions or cramps.

It was used to describe the feeling you get in your bowels if you suffer from IBS and you experience the sensation of 'spasms' or uncontrollable contractions of the colon.

The muscles of the small and large intestines would go into regular spontaneous contractions, more than they normally should do when digesting food. Or, the motility of the intestines is not as efficient as it should be, causing the transportation of digested food through them to be either too slow (Constipation) or too fast (Diarrhea).

However, before settling on the name Irritable bowel syndrome it has also been called many other names including nervous colon, spastic bowel and even spastic colitis has been used in the past. Although its worth pointing out the term spastic colitis was actually quite an inappropriate term to describe it because Colitis is a different condition which causes the gut to become inflamed whereas IBS does not cause Inflammation.

Which name do you prefer?
While neither of the terms used to describe the illness are terribly 'Sexy', I believe that the newer name of Irritable Bowel Syndrome is better.

You go to your doctor and he/she says that you have ' Spasticated Colon ' and it brings all kinds of visions into your head as to what that means. It just doesn't have the same ring to it does it?

Even Irritable Bowel Syndrome is a bit of a mouthful to say and it makes it sound like its just a minor 'Irritable' inconvenience but for some sufferers it can be a living hell and feels slightly more than just 'irritable'.

I'm pretty confident that many sufferers of severe IBS could easily exchange the word 'irritable' (which suggests by the name that it's nothing more than a minor itch that needs scratching), to some pretty colorful names to insert before the 'Bowel Syndrome' part.

The best way to refer to it, in my opinion, is by the abbreviation of Irritable Bowel Syndrome to the much more easily pronounced 'IBS'.

It sounds much more acceptable and neater that trying to say to a friend or a colleague that you have a 'spastic colon' and then watching the look of confusion on their faces before trying to explain what it is.

At least with the term IBS it's shorter to say, easier to write, and people are more likely to take you seriously if you say you have the condition IBS rather than you have a 'spastic colon'.

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