Might this be worth a shot?

Hello everybody, I’d like to share something I did, that is probably helping me.

I’ve had moderate IBD for over a year now. I tried many treatments, with little to no effect. I started logging everything about my dietary habits to see wether I could find a relationship between certain foods and symptom severity; sure it got worse for me when eating spicy stuff, or gluten rich foods, but that was it.

Only two months ago I began an analysis of other factors, including my hygiene routine. Normally I shower everyday, scrubbing most of my skin with liquid soap and washing my hair twice with regular shampoo; I never walk barefoot so to prevent foot fungus infections; and I have a rigorous oral hygiene routine where I first use floss, then a waterpik (water pressure gum cleaner), then I scrape my tongue, then I brush not only the teeth but also the inside of the cheeks, the palate and the tongue before finishing with a one-minute mouthwash, three times a day. Why this rigorous? It is the only thing helping my halitosis. I have been doing this type or mouth cleaning for more than two years.

Three weeks ago I noticed my tongue was very dry, whitish-greenish in color, so I decided to skip the tongue scraping for a few days. After a week or so I noticed quite less abdominal pain, and some halitosis returned. My tongue was pinkish and moist, just like a healthy one. By that time I wondered wether my excessive hygiene had a relationship with my bowel disease?

I decided to ditch the floss, waterpik, tongue scraping and mouthwash, keeping only a regular teeth brushing only once a day. I stopped scrubbing my skin, now when I take a shower I only wash the armpit and groin areas, and shampoo my head only once. I even again started to walk barefoot indoors.

My symptoms improved more than 80% over the course of two weeks. Sure the halitosis has returned and my shoes are only a bit smelly, But I rather live with that than being miserable from IBD symptoms. Probably in my case there is indeed a relationship, and I really hope for this recovery to persist.

It may be that this is only working for me, but it might be worth a shot if you think your hygiene is strict as mine used to be.

Good luck!