Treatment

Treatment of diarrhea depends on the cause. Diagnosis of medical problems such as IBD (Crohn's disease or Ulcerative Colitis) or Celiac disease requires assessment and treatment by medical specialists, especially if there is poor weight gain, chronic or severe symptoms, or bloody diarrhea. Avoidance of specific causes or risk factors may be of benefit in other situations, such as eliminating dairy products in lactose-intolerant individuals, or drinking only from safe water sources in places with poor sanitation. Careful hand washing after using the toilet and especially before handling food is very important for prevention of infectious diseases. "Toddler's diarrhea" is a transient and benign cause of diarrhea in young children that does not affect appetite, growth or behavior, does not cause pain, and does not require treatment.
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a group of diverse health care systems. There are many CAM therapies used to treat diarrhea. Many treatments have not been well studied in children, especially regarding effectiveness and safety. There are very few high-quality studies, and this can make it difficult to give good evidence-based advice. The information presented here is based on published research, a lot of which is based in developing countries where diarrhea is a serious and common problem and CAM are being used commonly