Question
My significant other has been having stomach issues for the last year.  He has gas, blotting, nausea, and ofte gets a pain that goes up his neck.  This usually happens after he eats or does some heavy work.  Often he will feel fine when he goes to work (he is a laborer in a foundry) but will start to feel ill after he eats on his first break.  He has had his gall bladder removed, had an endoscopy done (which was fine), and they have checked his heart(which is fine). I was wondering if there is something that could be causing this that chiropractic would be able to help.

Answer
Dear Linda,

This is not a typical chiropractic problem, but I do have some ideas for you.

I have had patients in the past that have experienced improved digestive function with cervical spine (neck) and thoracic spine (mid back) spinal adjustments, but unfortunately, it is impossible to predict who will respond to this and who will not.

Acupuncture has been beneficial also in helping to control nausea, in some cases.  I recently was helping a patient to loose weight through auriculotherapy (ear point acupuncture), and on follow up visits, she reported improved digestive function.

Some of my digestive issue patients respond well to simply taking papaya enzymes with their meals. This is a simple and safe thing that can be done.  Typically a person will chew 3-5 papaya tablets after meals. The enzymes assist in digestion.  These can be found at Wal-mart or any other pharmacy or health food store, and they are inexpensive.

It sounds like your significant other might be suffering from gastric reflux disease/issues, and he should make sure that he does not have any significant esophageal disease. I assume your MD has done an upper GI evaluation to ensure that the stomach and esophagus are OK...  If he is suffering gastric reflux/hiatal hernia problems, sometime I get improvement through doing a stomach/hiatal hernia manipulation.

The primary thing, Linda, is to try and get as solid of a diagnosis as possible, and THEN initiate treatment. So far, it sounds like the diagnosis is a little shaky. Perhaps  a gastrointestinal MD specialist is in order...

I hope that these give you some ideas. I am so sorry that he is having such a hard time.

Keith Biggs, DC
http://www.eastmesachiropractor.com
http://www.biggschiropractic.blogspot.com
http://www.therapeuticfoods.blogspot.com



















First of all, has he had any upper GI studies? You need to make sure that he is not suffering from any esophageal and stomach issues. (I assume that the edoscopy was rectal...)

With the symptoms spreading up into the neck/throat area, I have to wonder if he has been evaluated for severe gastric reflux disease, with significant irritation of the esophogeal mucosal membrane. Is he taking antacids? If he is, does he feel that they work for him... and how long has he taken them? If he has a long history of antacid use and gastric reflux issues, he could be suffering from an inability to properly digest