Digestive Health

Regulate and Optimize Your System

Traditionally, acupuncture is understood to benefit digestion by regulating the flow of Qi. This is actually easy to understand when it comes to digestion. There's a specific direction of flow of food through the digestive tract. When that is interrupted by things like emotions or pathogens, there will be obvious signs. If there is stagnation to the downward flow, perhaps with a stressful situation, it's common to experience indigestion, heartburn or bloating. The downward flow is inhibited, so the food is sitting in place or going up instead of down. There are acupuncture points on the arms, legs and torso to regulate this flow and relieve symptoms. 

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Moxabustion is a type of heat therapy that is often used in conjunction with acupuncture. It relaxes spasming and can warm and nourish the metabolic fire. This is especially important in "cold and deficient" issues like most types of chronic diarrhea and belly gurgling (borborygmus).

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Modern researchers are looking at biological mechanisms to understand what exactly the acupuncture is doing. They are finding that acupuncture regulates the communication between the nervous system and the digestive system, or the Gut-Brain Axis. It also can reduce inflammation (measured by specific inflammatory markers) in the lining of the gut and the organs. Believe it or not, acupuncture can even change the microbiome and shift it towards a healthier balance of micro-organisms in the intestines! That's pretty amazing.