Body image changes are common among patients living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) because of the illness and related treatments. Currently, there is little known about how those patients experience and perceive their altered body image in the literature. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of body image changes in patients with IBD in China and to describe how those changes influence patients' perception of body and self. Methods: This study used a descriptive qualitative approach. A total of 16 participants from three tertiary hospitals in southeast China were recruited through purposive sampling combined with maximum variation strategy. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and analyzed using conventional content analysis method. Results: The following six themes were extracted: (1) "being a constrained person," (2) "being a flawed person," (3) "being a disliked person," (4) "being an alienated person," (5) "being a reconciled person," and ( 6) "being a blessed person." Conclusion: With the diagnosis of IBD and its side effects of treatments, patients' life changed significantly and they were struggling to reinterpret their body and self. As a result, negative self-evaluations and/ or positive self-evaluations towards themselves generated. Further studies are required to explore the underlying mechanism and related influencing factors about how those different images were produced.

Despite the increasing number of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients using traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), relatively few studies have examined their experiences with TCM in the Chinese healthcare context. The aim of this study was to explore these experiences from the perspective of IBD patients. Adopting a qualitative descriptive method, IBD patients from several comprehensive hospitals in Hangzhou, Zhejiang were recruited through purposive sampling. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and analyzed by a conventional content analysis method. The results are presented thematically. Fourteen IBD patients participated in the study. They often used TCM, such as Chinese herbal medicine, retention enemas of Chinese medicine, and acupuncture, as a complementary therapy instead of as an alternative to conventional therapies. Three themes emerged from the analysis: triggers for initiating TCM, the experienced efficacies of TCM, and disturbances caused by TCM use. The IBD patients initiate TCM treatment due to the unsatisfactory effects of conventional therapies and TCM culture. However, the efficacies of TCM are subjective and slow acting and vary across individuals. There are communication gaps between physicians and patients concerning TCM. Thus, healthcare professionals are encouraged to gain more knowledge on these therapies and employ a participatory decision-making style based on this understanding.