IBS & Gut Issues Treatment in Greenville, SC
IBS and gut health treatment in Greenville, SC. Dr. Hendry's functional medicine and acupuncture approach heals the gut and resolves digestive symptoms. Call (864) 365-6156.
"I was referred to Dr. Will Hendry after spending thousands of dollars for medical doctors and procedures regarding a digestive issue. I will never forget the amount of time he spent with me on my first visit — something that had never happened with conventional medicine."
— Stuart M. · April 2015 · Google Review
What Is IBS & Gut Issues?
The most frustrating thing about an IBS diagnosis isn't the symptoms — it's the explanation that comes with it. 'Your colonoscopy was normal, so it's IBS.' As if not finding structural damage on a scope means there's nothing wrong. As if the bloating, the unpredictable urgency, the post-meal cramping, the days where leaving the house feels impossible — all of that is just functional. IBS is functional in the sense that it involves functional gut dysfunction, not structural damage. That distinction matters because functional dysfunction has specific, identifiable, and treatable causes. SIBO — small intestinal bacterial overgrowth — is found in up to 78% of IBS patients in research studies, and is directly responsible for the gas, bloating, and altered motility most patients describe. Food sensitivities drive the majority of the rest. Gut motility dysregulation, post-infectious microbiome changes, and the gut-brain axis disruption that follows chronic stress round out the picture. None of these show up on a colonoscopy. All of them show up on functional testing.
Common Symptoms
Root Causes: A Functional Medicine Perspective
IBS is now understood as a gut-brain axis disorder with multiple overlapping root causes. Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) — where bacteria from the colon migrate into the small intestine — is found in up to 78% of IBS patients and drives the bloating, pain, and altered motility characteristic of IBS. Intestinal permeability (leaky gut) allows bacterial endotoxins to enter the bloodstream, triggering systemic and gut-localized inflammation.
Food sensitivities — particularly to fermentable carbohydrates (FODMAPs), gluten, and dairy — trigger IBS symptoms without causing the measurable damage seen in celiac disease. Enteric nervous system dysfunction — where the nerve network governing the gut is dysregulated — alters gut motility and pain sensitivity. Prior GI infections (post-infectious IBS), antibiotic use, and chronic stress all disrupt the gut microbiome in ways that perpetuate IBS.
Dr. Hendry's functional medicine approach tests for SIBO, intestinal permeability, food sensitivities, microbiome dysbiosis, and inflammatory markers to build a complete picture of each patient's gut dysfunction — rather than treating IBS as a single entity requiring a single solution.
How We Treat IBS & Gut Issues at IHP
Acupuncture for IBS is supported by multiple systematic reviews showing significant improvement in abdominal pain, bowel habits, and quality of life compared to sham acupuncture and standard care. Acupuncture regulates the enteric nervous system, reduces gut hypersensitivity, modulates the gut-brain axis, and reduces the stress-response amplification that worsens IBS.
Dr. Hendry's functional medicine protocol for IBS is individualized based on testing results: SIBO treatment (herbal antimicrobials or prescription antibiotics followed by microbiome restoration), low-FODMAP or specific elimination diet guidance, intestinal permeability healing (glutamine, zinc carnosine, collagen, and probiotics), and targeted supplementation for motility support. Chinese herbal medicine formulas — traditionally used for digestive conditions for thousands of years — address specific TCM patterns (Liver-Spleen disharmony, Damp-Heat, etc.) that correspond to distinct IBS presentations.
Dr. Hendry's Approach
I run a SIBO breath test on essentially every IBS patient who comes in. The literature puts SIBO prevalence at up to 78% in IBS — that's too high to skip the test and go straight to a generic fiber and stress management recommendation. What I find shapes the protocol: methane-dominant SIBO (typically constipation-predominant IBS) is treated differently than hydrogen-dominant SIBO (typically diarrhea-predominant), and both require gut restoration work after the bacterial overgrowth is cleared. I also test food sensitivities and, where clinical suspicion is high, intestinal permeability markers. The protocol that comes from actual data produces much better outcomes than the standard IBS advice most patients have already tried and abandoned.