Health Discovery: Chew Gum to Get Better Faster After Colon Surgery

Chewing gum after colon surgery may reduce your discomfort—and the time you spend in the hospital.

This low-tech therapy—done three times daily for five to 45 minutes, beginning the day after surgery—helps revive intestinal function by stimulating nerves in the digestive system. This triggers the release of gastrointestinal hormones and boosts the production of saliva and secretions from the pancreas, according to a review by British researchers of five earlier studies.

Specifically, gum chewing eases ileus, the inability of the bowels to function properly after removal of part or all of the colon, a common response to the trauma of abdominal surgery. Ileus is a major contributing factor to postoperative pain, nausea, vomiting and cramping, the researchers, of St. Mary’s Hospital in London, reported in August’s Archives of Surgery. Postoperative ileus costs the U.S. health system about $1 billion a year.

On average, colon surgery patients who chewed gum moved their bowels and were discharged from the hospital one day earlier than those who weren’t gum chewers, an analysis of the studies found. Gum chewers also reported less pain and discomfort compared with the others.

The typical hospital stay after colon surgery is four to five days, but some studies indicate that gum chewing can result in discharge two-and-a-half days earlier.

By chewing gum, “normal intestinal function is stimulated, causing an earlier return to eating,” says Kenneth Waxman, M.D., director of surgical education at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital and author of one of the first studies exploring the benefits of the practice. He adds that patients can chew gum and “realistically expect that they will be doing something that may speed their recovery.”