---
title: "Acid Reflux, IBS and The Gastroenterologist: What They Treat (And What They Don’t)"
entity: "blog"
canonical_url: "https://www.drdanwool.com/blog/ibsgasttroenterologist"
markdown_url: "https://www.drdanwool.com/llms/blog/ibsgasttroenterologist"
lastmod: "2024-10-07T07:00:00.000Z"
---

[video transcript]   A typical pattern I see in the clinic for gastroenterological problems is that a patient will have chronic aches and pains. They will go to the gastroenterologist, they will get scoped. If it was an upper endoscopy and they have something like gastritis or GERD or acid reflux, they'll be prescribed a drug like pantoprazole or omeprazole and sent on their way.

If it was a lower GI issue, they'll do a colonoscopy. Maybe there's a polyp or two. If the patient's a little bit older, they snip 'em out, and that's about it. They send them on their way and tell them they're fine.

Well, you can go to the gastroenterologist, and what they're thinking about is:

- Keeping you stable and safe.
- Getting your symptoms under control.

The same is true of Hospitals, Urgent Care facilities and ERs -- and that's where and how gastroenterologists are trained. They want to keep you stable and safe, and then once you are, they can refer out, and you can follow up with their nurse practitioner or physician assistant for whatever needs to happen next. Ultimately, if it is a serious enough issue, then, surgery is required.

 

## The Holistic Approach: Asking "Why?"

As a more holistic or a naturopathic gastroenterologist, I don't simply look at your gut; I look at the bigger picture. And for the functional issues, I would argue that it's better to see somebody who's going to be a little bit more holistic, who's going to ask "why" and get to the root cause of what's going on.

It's not to say that you shouldn't see a gastroenterologist, and I refer out to many excellent ones, however. It might be something else. Now, if you're seeing blood and mucus in your stool, or having extreme pain, you need to go to urgent care and get that handled. But for the more functional, chronic stuff, there's usually a better explanation that's coming from a different organ system or coming from diet or lifestyle that we're going to address here in our clinic a little bit more effectively than they might in a gastroenterology clinic. That's just looking down the specialty of the gastroenterological tract – boy, that's a mouthful!

So anyway, you know, we really continue to ask "why." We try to get to the root cause of what's going on so that we can work on that. And it is sometimes simple, sometimes it's complex. Guts go up and down, but it's kind of good to have somebody who's looking at absolutely everything in your corner for that.

 

## Scoped, doped and left to cope? 

## Get your custom Gut Health solution

If that sounds like something you need a custom solution for, go over to my website. It's [drdanwool.com.](http://drdanwool.com/booking)In the meantime, "fix your gut, solve your health".

## Oh...one more thing

🔔Don't forget to subscribe to my You Tube Channel for more updates!

[https://www.youtube.com/@drdanwool/?sub_confirmation=1 ](https://www.youtube.com/@drdanwool/?sub_confirmation=1)

About the Author

## Dr. Dan Wool, NMD

Dr. Dan Wool is a naturopathic doctor who specializes in gastroenterology, hormones and men's health in Scottsdale, Arizona. [Set up a free 15-minute discovery call with Dr. Wool today! ](https://drdanwool.com/booking)

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