Posture causing digestion problems, such as acid reflux and heart burn, even irritable bowel type symptoms too… never thought so did you? Turns out we can help.

When you think of a young person, what posture comes to mind, upright, no bends, very flexible too. When you think of an old person, what posture comes to mind? Bent over, hunched shoulders, short stature, maybe a little twisted to one side? Yes this is in fact what happens to some of us as time goes on. You see the body fixes itself in so many ways except one, it cannot correct bones when they are stuck in a forward direction- we just do not have the muscles to do this. This is why we get more and more bent over with time. In saying that I have 6 year olds that have postures of 60 year olds! Why? Because of more sitting from the incorrect use of iPads, computers and the reduction in physical activity.

Think about where your stomach is situated in your body? It is just under the breast line and to the left of your rib cage. So when you are sitting, and you are sitting hunched over a computer, slouching on your couch or in a poor car seat, you are placing a lot of continuous pressure right where the stomach sits. (It’s hard work remembering to sit up straight all day.) This pushes on the bag-like structure for long periods. When it’s full the pressure increases. It makes pure sense the contents (or some of the contents) of the stomach can be ‘squashed’ out. This will feel like a burning or irritation in your chest. At Spirohealth we see some clients complaining of reduced appetite or that they just cannot eat what they would like to because if they get too full- they get heart burn/acid reflux. There are numerous causes to this and so a thorough history and a full postural analysis is vital for getting some answers.

The pressure that continuous sitting in a poor posture can do to the lower intestines is significant too. Food moves through us much slower and it’s more difficult for the body to move our food through us. This creates- a bloating and/or constipation type picture. It literally irritates the bowel and you develop ‘Irritable bowel disease’ or IBS. Diarrhoea and loose stools are common too. Again there are numerous causes to IBS and so a comprehensive examination is vital.

The other side of this is the neurological supply to the stomach and the intestines. When you have changes in the shape of your spine, this creates interference on how the nerves in this particular area communicate with organs, muscles, glands and tissues of the body. Pressure on the nerves around the mid back region specifically can result in the stomach not functioning properly and you suffer the symptoms of low acidity, high acidity, indigestion, reflux etc.  Pressure on the nerves in the lower back region can interfere with the messages getting to the lower intestines causing their dysfunction.

Surprisingly we have had very young clients present with symptoms such as acid reflux and loss of appetite. From 6 years old. We work with children from just a few days old, so please bring in your little one if you have any concerns.

Get a check up with our Advanced team of consultants today contact us