HEALTH DISPATCH : Digestive Issues Could Be Hiatal Hernia

[Guest guest]

From HEALTH DISPATCH - newsletter from Dr David Williams

 

Digestive Issues Could Be Hiatal Hernia

 

 

Do you ever get heartburn after eating, or have a tendency to burp your

food and stomach acid back up into your throat? Or sometimes, do you feel

like you’re full to the top after eating only a few bites? Do you suffer from

sour stomach or burning that is not helped by antacids? And does all of

this get worse when you sit down or lie on your back? It’s possible you have

a

hiatal hernia.

 

 

Allow me to explain what this condition is and how one can develop a

hiatal hernia. There is a big dome-shaped muscle called the diaphragm that

separates the organs in the top part of your chest from the stomach and the

other digestive organs in the bottom half. If there wasn’t, we would be

listening for the heart somewhere in the area of the bellybutton after working

on

our feet all day. Well, in the back part of the diaphragm, there’s a

button-sized hole that allows the esophagus to go from the throat to the

stomach.

Sometimes this hole gets enlarged for one reason or another and, if it

does, the stomach can worm its way up into the hole—a condition known as a

hiatal hernia.

 

 

Some studies have shown that 32 percent of everybody over 50 and 89

percent of those over 90 have a hiatal hernia and I’ve seen patients with it

at

all stages, from children on up.

 

 

A Simple Test

 

If you think you may have a hiatal hernia, there’s an easy way to check. It

’s not a foolproof test, but some doctors who screen for a hiatal hernia

have their patients take a deep breath and hold it for 40 seconds. If you can

’t hold your breath for that long, and there are no other problems, a

hiatal hernia is a possibility.

 

 

A Simple Fix

 

If the stomach is stuck up in the hole of the diaphragm, then the first

order of business is to get it out. This can be done in two ways. I’ve had my

patients with this problem drink about a glass of either room temperature

or slightly warm water when they get out of bed first thing in the morning.

(No coffee, no tea, no juice, no cold water—just warm water.)

 

 

While standing, bring your arms straight out from your sides and bend your

elbows so your hands are touching your chest. Then stand up on your toes

as high as possible and drop. You should get a pretty good jolt. Drop down

like this 10 times in a row. Then, while standing with your arms up, pant

short quick breaths for about 15 seconds. That’s it.

 

 

The warm water acts like a weight in the stomach. Being warm, it doesn’t

cause the stomach to cramp. Instead, it relaxes it. Spreading your arms

stretches the diaphragm and opens up that hole in the back. Dropping down on

your heels jerks the stomach out of the hole and the panting tightens up the

diaphragm muscle to close the hole.

 

 

If you have a hiatal hernia, you need to do this exercise every day—not

just until everything feels normal. It will also strengthen the area, and

make the hiatal hernia less likely to come back.

 

 

More Tips for Avoiding a Hiatal Hernia

 

 

1. First, don’t stuff yourself with large meals.

 

2. Don’t sit in some overstuffed soft chair or lie down right after you

eat. The stomach will be churning and digesting the food and it will have

nowhere to go but into the hole.

 

 

If you have problems in the middle of the day, or anytime for that matter,

you don’t have to wait to do the exercise. Do it at the time the problems

occur.

 

 

Until next time,

 

Dr. David Williams