Hiatal Hernia as a Common Cause for Acid Reflux Indigestion Heartburn and other Digestive Disorders

That burning feeling from the pit of your stomach isn't always due to acid reflux. Sure, some people do overproduce acid, yet a large majority of people also under-produce acid.

A simple history and symptom survey of a patient is not enough information to prescribe the common acid-reducing drugs such as Prilosec, Zantac, Tagamet, and Pepcid. Otherwise, serious digestive side-affects can occur and cause long term problems such as Osteoporosis, due to calcium dysregulation. There's no sense in taking Calcium Tums, you need acid to breakdown calcium, so avoid this marketing gimmick.

The fact is, as we begin to age our bodies start to lose much of it's zinc, which is absolutely necessary to produce acid in the stomach. So why are so many people taking acid-reducing drugs, particularly the elderly? Zinc is the mineral that allows the stomach's cells to produce acid. A simple aqueous zinc taste test or taste tally will often demonstrate a zinc deficiency.

Much of acid reflux (or the symptoms of acid reflux), including heartburn, indigestion, esophageal spasms, and eventually Barret's Esophagus, are caused by hypochlorhydria, or a lack of acid.

In order to tell if there is too little or too much acid, there are several options...the pH of the stomach can be measured directly or a simple acid challenge can be performed. Two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in a 8-10 oz glass of water is sufficience enough to provide an "acid challenge" to the stomach. If this causes irritation, then it is likely that there is, in fact, too much acid in the stomach, yet many people indicate that the apple cider vinegar mixture provides relief of their stomach symptoms.

The idea to take away from this is that either too little or too much acid can cause symptoms of heart burn, acid reflux, indigestion, and pain in the chest. Most often it is too little acid.

A hiatal hernia is a common mechanical problem between the stomach and the diaphragm muscle (this muscle allows breathing to occur). In this condition, the stomach is pushed up into the diaphragm, which can cause a whole host of digestive problems as far up as the mouth and as low as the colon. Spasming in this area can make it hard to swallow food, create a feeling of something being "stuck" in the throat, impair proper digestion, TMJ dysfunction, and headaches as well.

Shortness of breath, symptoms of acid reflux, heart burn, indigestion, esophagus spasming, and sudden onset of neck and jaw pain are common indicators of hiatal hernia and hypochlorrhydria (low acid).

Chiropractors trained in Applied Kinesiology are able to easily detect such a dysfunction because of the additional training received in evaluating the entire body, particularly the digestive system. Hiatal Hernias can be manually reduced (using the hands) without the typical approach of surgery. In many difficult cases, the hernia may need to be treated multiple times due to the formation of scar tissue and myofascial adhesions. With proper home instruction and dietary evaluation, many stomach and digestive issues abate quickly.