Digestive Disorders
GERD, esophageal spasm, swallowing disorders, gastroparesis, nausea, belching, gallstones, sludgy gallbladder, abdominal distention, gas, constipation, diarrhea, IBS-C, IBS-D, Crohn’s, anorectal disorders, and more.
GERD
GERD, reflux, heartburn - it has several names associated with it - but when you’re experiencing it you may just call it agony. For short, we’ll call it all GERD.
While we in the U.S. tend to just think we have too much stomach acid and pop a Pepcid, Nexium, or even a good old Tums, this condition is a lot more complex than it seems.
Some folks have GERD due to too LITTLE acid in their stomachs. This can often be due to severe, chronic stress that activates their “Fight or Flight” response, which shuts down digestion as part of its helpful function—-if you are running from a Tiger, you don’t want your stomach to waste any energy trying to digest the hamburger you had for lunch—-you want to run as fast as you can!
Esophageal Spasm and Swallowing Disorders
Esophageal spasm can create not only the discomfort of the spasms themselves, but also create reflux. The feeling can be so uncomfortable in the chest that the pain is mistaken for a heart attack.
Swallowing disorders (dysphagia) can be caused by esophageal spasm or the esophagus clamping down too tightly on the food it’s trying to move (Nutcracker esophagus). Scleroderma can also cause damage in the muscle layers of the esophagus. Immune disorders, MS, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, and spinal cord injury are also unfortunately common causes for this dysfunction.
Gastroparesis
The symptoms of gastroparesis can be nausea, vomiting after eating only a small amount of food, bloating, acid reflux, malnutrition, and more. While most often the cause of gastroparesis is unknown, there is some evidence it has its roots in vagus nerve dysfunction. Your vagus nerve is one of twelve cranial nerve pairs that run from your brain down to the organs they’re in charge of. Your vagus nerve, the 10th cranial nerve, is involved in moving the muscles in your digestive organs.
There are a number of treatments we can use. It is possible to regulate the vagus nerve with electroacupuncture. In addition, electroacupuncture on the spinal accessory nerves can be used. Stimulating the point ST 36 has been proven to stimulate gastric motility through scientific study.
Nausea & Vomiting
Nausea and vomiting can be caused by a number of things and there are few medical conditions that affect a person’s life more than these. Vertigo and dizziness can give rise to nausea and vomiting, as can morning sickness and even chronic constipation. Therefore we will treat both the symptoms and the causes, the “root and the branch”.
Gallbladder Issues
Whether you have a sludgy gallbladder or gallstones, I can help. If you feel you have a gallstone giving you colicky pain, it is helpful to know its size before treatment. Beyond a certain size it is unwise for us to try to move it with acupuncture and it may need herbal treatment first. Herbal treatment as well as some possible supplementation is a must in treating these conditions.
Anorectal Disorders
While this medicine may not be the first thing you think of for these conditions, it should be. Between saving you great discomfort and possibly avoiding surgery, we have some solutions for you. This treatment program will include acupuncture (Don’t worry, none in the anal area.), internal herbal medicine, and likely topical herbal medicine.
Gas & Bloating
Acupuncture and herbal medicine are effective for treating gas and bloating. A little investigative work needs to be done to figure out underlying causes as they can range from mild to more serious.
Diarrhea & Constipation, IBS, Crohn’s, and Ulcerative Colitis
I’m just going to say it: I love treating diarrhea and constipation. Once I learned in school how many different types and causes of diarrhea and constipation there are, I was hooked. Not to make light of these conditions, but I would love to help you with them. Please see the case study below to see an example.
CASE STUDIES
IBS-D, Anxiety, and Frequent Urination: 54 y/o female who worked in local government came to the office asking for help with her IBS-D, anxiety, and frequent urination because it was greatly affecting her work every day. Having sudden bouts of diarrhea made her very anxious, which made her experience more diarrhea. She found herself having to constantly plan where bathrooms were any place she went, drive herself everywhere she went just in case she had incontinence or had to leave suddenly, and was anxious all the time. It was limiting her ability to watch her daughter’s softball games, as well. This had been going on for a few years. When she came to the clinic, we decided to do three treatments a week for the first two weeks. Fortunately, after the first treatment she no longer had bouts of diarrhea—-a huge win for her. We regulated her nervous system so that it didn’t respond that way to strong emotion. We began work on the frequent urination. She had had heavy bleeding with menstruation and a uterine ablation procedure, meaning she likely had fibroids. A heavy uterus creates pelvic congestion, and it also often sits on top of the bladder, making complete bladder emptying nearly impossible. This leads to frequent urination as the bladder and uterus shift against each other. I recommended a pelvic ultrasound to see if this was the case. Meanwhile, I gave her home therapies to do to include hot spot compression therapy, breath work for anxiety, and bladder training. She did begin to see increased results with these therapies the more she did them.
A major component in the patient’s life (and what often leads to uterine fibroids) is a longstanding frustration and lack of joy. The patient admitted that she did not enjoy her work, wanted to retire, and felt pressured by her family to stay at the job . This congested emotion often leads to the formation of nodules in the body, whether on the thyroid, in the breasts, or in the uterus. I believe this was the case here. Clinically I find that patients who are trying to make a decision (or more accurately, know what they want to do but just cannot “pull the trigger” so to speak) have anxiety that is only relieved in the clinic but continues when they are home. These patients will not see an end to their anxiety without acting on their decision definitively.* —-JG
*All case studies presented on this website have personal details changed to protect privacy of patients.