Recommended TCM Natural Treatment for Diverticulitis:
According to TCM, a high-fiber diet that's low in fat and sugar can prevent the symptoms of diverticulosis and the development of diverticulitis. Many practitioners recommend a vegetarian diet as an effective way of meeting these suggestions. Fiber, of course, can make stool softer and easier to pass through the bowels. Lowering the intake of fat and sugars may also allow food to move through the digestive tract quicker and with fewer complications. Foods with a lot of fiber include brown rice, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes.

Certain items that can become trapped in the intestinal pockets should be avoided, including nuts, berries with seeds, and popcorn. For the fiber to have a positive effect on bowel movements, you should increase your daily intake of water by more than five glasses. Some researchers say that vegetarians have a lower rate of diverticular disease; studies have shown that Seventh-Day Adventist vegetarians (who eat no beef, fowl, or seafood) have a diet that is higher in fiber and lower in fat than the diet of the general population and lower rates of diverticular disease and colon cancer.

Treatment in Western Medicine:
The only possible treatment for diverticulosis is to increase fiber in the diet. Fiber will not heal existing diverticula, but it may prevent more from forming. If you have diverticulitis, your doctor will prescribe antibiotics, and may recommend a liquid diet and bed rest to help your colon recover. If you have severe pain or an infection, you may need to be treated in a hospital so that antibiotics can be given intravenously (into a vein).

If fever continues, you may have an abscess, which can develop when a diverticulum becomes perforated (develops a hole). An abscess is a collection of pus. A surgeon then will help your doctor plan the next step: drainage or surgery. The choice depends on the extent of the problem and your overall health. Drainage means that the surgeon cleans out the pus. Emergency surgery is required to treat peritonitis, the most serious potential complication of diverticulitis. Peritonitis requires surgical repair as well as intravenous antibiotics.

Surgery also may be required during the hospital stay to treat a particularly severe episode of diverticulitis. These include continuous bleeding, perforation of an abscess, attachment of two organs by a fistula, or colon obstruction caused by scarring from previous episodes of diverticulitis.

When done during emergencies, a colon resection is a two-stage process. First, a section of colon is removed, but because of infection, it is not safe to rejoin the ends. Instead, the surgeon creates a temporary hole, or stoma, in the abdomen and connects the colon to it, a procedure called a colostomy. A bag is attached to collect the stool. Later, a second operation is done to reattach the end of the colon, and remove the colostomy.