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Functional Medicine · Aliso Viejo, CA

SIBO Treatment in Aliso Viejo, CA

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth means microbes are fermenting food higher up than they should, which can bring bloating, gas, and stool changes. A breath test can support that question, and a positive result still has to match your symptoms. Diet changes are individual. This page does not list herbal antibiotic doses. For patients coming from Aliso Viejo, the office is about 7 miles away, 12–20 minutes, by Alicia Parkway or Pacific Park toward Mission Viejo.

Fermentation in the small intestine

The small intestine is built to absorb, not to host a heavy ferment. When bacteria there break down carbohydrates, gas can build under the ribs within an hour or two of eating. You may look pregnant by evening, belch, or swing between diarrhea and constipation.

That pattern is the concept behind SIBO. It is not a verdict you can make from bloating alone. Dr. Sani Kohen, D.C. and Dr. Tara Kohen, D.C. ask what you ate, how soon symptoms started, and whether an antibiotic, a stomach bug, or abdominal surgery came first.

Lactulose and glucose breath tests in plain language

SIBO breath testing measures gases in your breath after a sugar drink. Lactulose is not absorbed early, so it travels farther down the intestine. A rise can reflect the small bowel, and it can also reflect fermentation once the drink reaches the colon, which is why timing is part of the reading.

Glucose is absorbed higher up, so it mainly challenges the upper small intestine and can miss a problem farther down. Neither sugar is a better test for every person. FRI chooses with you, then reads the graph next to symptoms. A number without a story is not a plan.

A positive test is interpreted with symptoms

A positive breath test in someone who bloats after meals is a different situation from a positive test in someone who feels well. FRI does not treat the printout as the patient. Constipation, diarrhea, and upper abdominal swelling point the plan in different directions.

Stool testing answers a colon question, not this one. The gut health overview explains when GI-MAP is the better first step. If food reactions dominate the history, that is yet another page. Stacking tests without a reason is how people end up confused.

Diet changes stay individual

In Functional Medicine, some people feel better when fermentable carbohydrates are reduced for a while. Others get worse if the diet becomes so narrow that they under-eat. Nutrition and supplementation is built around what you tolerate and what the test showed. There is no herbal antibiotic dose on this page, and no brand protocol.

Functional medicine at FRI does not replace a primary physician, endocrinologist, gastroenterologist, or mental health clinician. Weight loss you did not intend, bleeding, or vomiting needs medical care. A breath test does not rule those out.

What to expect when you are seen for SIBO

You can start with a complimentary 20-minute consultation. The office is out of network, accepts HSA and FSA payment, and provides a superbill. Visits run Monday–Thursday, 9–6.

If a breath test is ordered, you follow a prep diet and a collection schedule. Results are reviewed with your symptom timing. Any food change is revisited, not handed down as a permanent menu.

Care that fits a canyon-and-commute city

Neck pain, lower back pain, and headaches track with the Irvine commute. Hip and SI pain tracks with hills and carrying kids up them. Joint mobilization and corrective exercise are everyday tools. McKenzie care is the spine option when symptoms have a direction that centralizes them.

Hormone and gut visits are part of the same practice. Perimenopause and SIBO have their own pages so those questions are not buried under sports advice. The Aliso Viejo chiropractor page is the hub.

Straightforward office policies

No referral required. Out of network. Superbill. HSA and FSA. We do not invent a copay. Labs, if ordered, cost extra and are explained first. Medication stays with your prescriber.

You will see Drs. Sani and Tara Kohen's practice, described on the about page. Photos of the gym and rooms are on the office page. If a problem is outside chiropractic and functional medicine, we will say so rather than stretch the visit to cover it.

Town Center days and Aliso Canyon edges

Aliso Viejo is compact, master planned, and hillier than it looks from the 73. The Town Center is errands, sitting, and short walks. The neighborhoods toward Aliso and Wood Canyons add dirt descents and stairs. A lot of residents commute north to Irvine business parks and then come home to a hill. Necks take the office. Knees take the canyon. We want both halves of that day, because treating only the part that hurts ignores the part that loaded it.

The canyon trails are a gift and a test. People start plantar fascia or knee complaints after they add mileage on dirt while their week is otherwise a chair. Gait analysis and a loading plan are more useful than a month of rest followed by the same trail.

Alicia, Pacific Park, and the 73

From the Town Center, Alicia Parkway toward Mission Viejo is direct. From the south and west edges, Pacific Park or the 73 north to a Mission Viejo exit also works. About 7 miles and 12 to 20 minutes when the parkways move. The suite is 26400 La Alameda, Suite 100, Mission Viejo, CA 92691. On-site parking. Monday through Thursday, 9 to 6.

If your day already includes the 73 toll road to Irvine, stacking a clinic visit on the south end of that drive can be efficient. Do not book so tight that you walk in from a stressful drive and expect a meaningful neck exam. Call (949) 312-1754. The complimentary consultation is 20 minutes if you want to start smaller.

Questions patients ask

Which breath test is better, lactulose or glucose?

They look at different stretches of intestine. Lactulose travels farther, so the timing of a gas rise has to be read carefully, including the chance that the colon joined in. Glucose is absorbed sooner, so it speaks more to the upper small intestine and can miss a lower problem. FRI picks from your symptoms. Neither result is read in isolation.

Does a positive test mean I must treat it?

A positive result is interpreted with symptoms. If you bloat, hurt, and change stool pattern in a way that matches the graph, the finding is more useful. If you feel well, FRI will not build an aggressive plan around a number. Your gastroenterologist remains the right clinician for disease of the bowel itself.

Will you give me an herbal antibiotic dose?

No. This page does not list herbal antibiotic doses, and the visit does not copy a protocol from a forum. If antimicrobial support is discussed, it is individualized and coordinated with your physicians. Nutrition changes are similarly specific to you. There is no brand protocol and no promise that gas will be gone in a set number of days.

How is this different from a stool test?

A breath test asks about gases produced after a sugar challenge, which is the SIBO question. GI-MAP stool testing looks at organisms and markers in a stool sample, which is a different compartment. You can read both on the gut health page. FRI does not order them as a pair unless your history asks two questions.

Related care for Aliso Viejo

SIBO is handled at the Mission Viejo clinic, not in a satellite office in Aliso Viejo. The related pages below stay on that same visit and add the methods or neighboring problems that usually come up in the history.

  • Aliso Viejo chiropractor

    How people from Aliso Viejo reach 26400 La Alameda and what the three pillars cover.

  • SIBO clinical overview

    The non-geographic condition page, if you want the clinic-wide explanation without the drive.

  • Functional Medicine

    The pillar this problem sits in at Functional Restoration Institute.

  • Gut Health in this city

    Digestion problems rarely arrive as one tidy symptom. Bloating, stool changes, and food reactions can travel together or take turns. This page.

  • Leaky Gut in this city

    People say leaky gut when they mean the gut barrier might be letting more through than it should. The plainer name is.

  • Food Sensitivities in this city

    A food sensitivity panel that looks at IgG or IgA is not an allergy test. Allergy, the IgE kind, is a different.

  • Chronic Inflammation in this city

    Inflammation is a process your body uses, not a personality and not a mood. It can be useful while you heal and.

  • SIBO Breath Testing

    A SIBO breath test measures hydrogen and methane in the breath after you drink a substrate, either lactulose or glucose. A rise.

Talk with the doctors before you commit to care

The complimentary 20-minute consultation is at 26400 La Alameda, Suite 100, Mission Viejo. Call (949) 312-1754.

Functional Restoration Institute serves patients across Orange County from our Mission Viejo clinic, including Aliso Viejo and surrounding Orange County communities.