G.I. or Gastrointestinal problems can take a real toll and even the most patient person. Digestive complaints can cause not only daily discomfort, but they can also rob you of essential nutrients, daily energy and you may even cause you to miss work or your normal activities that you enjoy every day.
Dealing with chronic stomach problems should not a minority but in many cases a majority. According to G.I. Alliance over 20 million Americans suffer from chronic digestive disorders and diseases, are one of the most prevalent causes of disability in the workforce. More Americans are hospitalized with digestive diseases than any other condition. Most commonly when people suffer from stomach problems, they usually resort to over-the-counter medications or maybe even seeing their general physician for some type of relief. But did you ever think of someone else such as a chiropractor who may be able to help you with your digestive and stomach problems. You might want to consider trying a chiropractor to see if you can get some type of relief from these digestive issues. Chiropractors are specifically trained to deal with gastrointestinal conditions such as bloating, gas, abdominal pain, constipation, acid reflux, diarrhea and IBS to name a few. I'd like to discuss how some of your stomach issues you may be experiencing may actually be coming from your nervous system rather than your digestive system.
Your stomach and your nervous system.
If you have chronic stomach problems you already know that certain foods that you eat, stress and infections can cause your stomach to feel even worse. You may have even tried to avoid certain foods, reducing stress, daily meditation but you probably never thought how your spinal alignment is also affecting your digestive system. Your digestive system is directly connected to your nervous system which means your spinal alignment is also connected to that. Specifically, between your mid back (T6 thru T8) there's a collection of nerves that branch out from your spinal cord and connect to your stomach and your digestive system. These nerves carry signals to your brain and play a essential role in your digestive process. These signals help with the movement of food through your G.I. system, absorption of nutrients and minerals, breakdown of foods and the removal of waste products through your intestines. Therefore, when your spine is out of alignment specifically right between your shoulder blades, the signals it sends to digestive system can misfire and not work like they should. Issues with your lower back can also keep the signals that help with digestion from going on in your brain possibly causing digestive problems like constipation and diarrhea.
A subluxation or misalignment of the spine can also cause bones in the spinal and disc to press up against the nerves pinching, irritating and compressing these nerves. This too can cause a host of digestive and stomach problems from heartburn, bloating, gas, diarrhea, and constipation.
What Can a Chiropractor Do for Stomach Pain?
If you're tired of those over-the-counter anti-acids, Pepcid AC and Tums that you carry with you all day, it might be time to seek and give a chiropractor a chance to see if there could be an improvement with your stomach problems. The first visit will discuss the stomach problems you may have and some of the other areas of back pain that might be correlating to the stomach disorders. We will also do a examination and spinal x-rays to determine where your pain could be stemming from. After discussing this information and a reviewing the findings, we could start a plan that would possibly help with your digestive problem. Don't let that digestive problem affect the quality of life when there could be a simpler option. Thanks for reading, Dr. Joe