Sometimes I can't believe how many patients I see that have some form of acid reflux. Symptoms can include upper abdominal bloating soon after a meal, a dry persistent cough, bad breath, heartburn, or full out burning acid regurgitating up to the throat. There are many levels of acid reflux and all of them should be addressed. Letting small symptoms like these develop further could damage the esophagus and can even lead to cancers of the upper digestive tract.
The biggest problem I have with acid reflux is the most common approaches to treating it. Treating acid reflux usually means suppressing the acid with calcium (TUMS) or various medications that inhibit the production of acid in the stomach. This approach may sound simple and correct but there are consequences to suppressing or blocking the acid. For one our stomach is supposed to be a very acidic place. The acid from our stomach mainly in the form of hydrochloric acid helps us to digest our foods. Without the proper acidity levels we have trouble digesting foods. Some of the more difficult to break down nutrients are Calcium, Magnesium and many proteins (amino acids). Utilizing acid blocking can be necessary for short periods of time to allow the esophagus to heal but staying on these acid reducers can lead to other problems from the loss of these vital nutrients.
The best way of going about fixing the symptoms of acid reflux is by adressing the deficiencies or structural imbalances that lead to the symptoms in the first place. That is always the treatment approach at our office, treat the person not the symptom. The two main causes that we see in our office for acid reflux are either a zinc deficiency, a hiatal hernia, a TMJ (jaw) problem, or a subluxation (misalignment) of the mid thoracic vertebrae. Usually it is a combination of a few or all of these problems.
I will begin by explaining the relationship of the TMJ imbalance and acid reflux because it ties things together. It starts off with the trigger for every problem Stress. Stress can be physical(getting punched in the mouth), chemical(smoking ciggarettes), or emotional(trying to meet a 9:00am deadline for the project. Either way one of the things people do when under stress is to clench their teeth together placing stress on the jaw joint the TMJ. If there happens to be even a slight imbalance in the alignment of your bite then that clenching or grinding of your teeth can cause TMJ dyscomfort. As soon as your innate senses TMJ dyscomfort there should be a compensation to alleviate that dyscomfort. Remember your jaw is very important, if it doesn't work properly you don't eat and you die. So preserving the function of the jaw takes priority over many other problems. The classic compensation for a jaw problem is to create tension in muscles around the neck area to help bring the jaw back into alignment. If that muscular compensation subluxates (mis-aligns) either the 3rd,4th,or 5th cervical bones there can be an impact on the function of your diaphragm (C3,4,5 all innervate the diaphragm muscle).
A weakness in the diaphragm muscle can lead to a hiatal hernia.
A hiatal hernia happens when a weakness in the diaphragm allows a part of the stomach to rise up above the diaphragm where the esophagus should be. Why is that a problem? There is a small sphincter that separates the esophagus and the stomach. That sphincter keeps the acid in the stomach. In the case of the hiatal hernia that sphincter may not be working properly and acid or regurgitated food can escape.
When there is a problem with the optimum function of the diaphragm there can be tension that builds up in the 5th,6th,and/or7th thoracic vertebrae which all contribute to the innervation of the stomach itself.
When there is a zinc deficiency(either from lack of zinc in the diet or too much copper in the diet which competes with zinc) there may be a decrease in the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach. If there isn't enough hydrochloric acid you can also get acid reflux. Sounds crazy I know but if there is enough acid in the stomach that acidity actually triggers that sphincter we mentioned at the junction of the stomach and the diaphragm to close. With a lack of acidity that sphicter gets lazy and if there is little acid to stimulate it to close it can become weak. If you have a wak sphincter and you eat a meal that will temporarily incerase your stomach acidity that acid can escape out of the weakend valve and give you symptoms of acid reflux. So if you have the proper acidity your acid reflux will improve.
The way to fix all of this is to see a health care practiotioner that understands all of these parts. This is why I love applied Kinesiology so much it gives the practitioner the tools to understand why the patient is having symptoms from many different perspectives without the use of drugs or surgery.
The typical protocol in our office would involve checking for and fixing subluxations in the spine and the TMJ by adjusting and/ or using muscle balancing techniques. Also we would check fotr nutritional needs for supplemental Betaine Hydrochloride, digestive enzymes, and zinc. We can also release stress from the diaphragm itself with different muscular corrections.
The longer you have had these imbalances the more difficult they are to fix but given time most people can get healthy without the use of drugs or surgery.
Hope this addition to the blog helps more people to understand about what we do.
Yours in Health,
Jason Piken DC, CNS
