Is it a Hiatal Hernia?

Are you experiencing heartburn? Maybe you are regurgitating food or liquid into your mouth? Is there a backflow of stomach acid into the esophagus causing acid reflux? Perhaps you have difficulty swallowing or shortness of breath? These are all possible signs that you might have a hiatal hernia. If it is really bad you could have bloody stools. You need to see a doctor soon.

A Hiatal Hernia is a condition in which the upper part of your stomach bulges through an opening in your diaphragm. Your diaphragm is the thin muscle that separates your chest from your abdomen. Your diaphragm helps keep acid from coming up into your esophagus. There is a muscle called the pyloric sphincter that may be involved. The pyloric sphincter is a ring of smooth muscle that connects the stomach and small intestine. It opens and closes to control the passage of partially digested food and stomach juices from the pylorus to the duodenum. If it gets stuck open acid is allowed to come back up causing some of the symptoms outlined above.
Antacids are the most common medication you might use for relief. If your symptoms last longer then a few weeks you might be prescribed a proton pump inhibitor to decrease acid release in the stomach. The problem here is that you are addressing the symptoms. Long term use may cause a risk of fractures, pneumonia, diarrhea, hypomagnesemia, vitamin B12 deficiency, chronic kidney disease, and dementia. A pretty scary thing to consider.
What you can do is to lose weight and change your diet. Then you may just consider seeing a chiropractor, yes, a chiropractor. Find one who is trained in treating Hiatal hernias, there are not many. I happen to be one. Let me explain.
The diaphragmatic opening may be stuck in the open position due to your ribs being out of place. Have you ever stopped your car with a seat belt on? Of course, we all have. The sudden jolt can put your rib cage out of place. Maybe you took a bad spill skiing, or you were pulled suddenly when walking your dog. Accidents like these can cause the ribs to subluxate. There is the connective tissue that attaches to the rib cage that can cause the hiatal opening to be stuck in the open position. We need to release the ribs to release the tissue to allow the hole to open and close.
Now you are wondering how we fix this? Well, it requires an exam to see if your ribs are torqued. That may require what we call an adjustment. Next, we have to manually pull the tissue back down where it belongs. This might be a little uncomfortable but it can work when there are findings to substantiate the treatment. Now lets put this in perspective. You need to see your medical doctor first. I refuse to take a patient who has not gone through a complete medical workup. All the symptoms I mentioned above can be really serious. Everything else needs to be ruled out before I would consider seeing you. Hopefully, this makes sense. We don't see many cases but when we do we are fairly successful at helping these patients. I think you agree that staying away from proton pump inhibitors makes sense. If you have any questions give Dr.McKay a call. 203-656-3636 Core Health Darien is located at 551 Post Road in the same building as Quest and M&T Bank.