Digestion is one of the most common reasons people seek help from health professionals. Something as simple as abdominal bloating can have a big impact on our energy and comfort levels throughout the day. For many people, digestive problems can cause embarrassment and affect our work, relationships and leisure times. Many people utilise Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine to help resolve digestion problems so that they can get back to being their best selves.
Common digestive complaints we hear about in the clinic include:
- Constipation
- Diarrhoea
- Vomiting
- Nausea
- Bloating & Stomach pain
- Reflux, Indigestion, Heartburn
- Mouth & stomach ulcers
- Traveller’s diarrhoea
- Hiccups
- Flatulence.
Sometimes these symptoms occur relatively isolated or they may present in chronic digestive conditions including:
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
- Crohn’s Disease
- Ulcerative Colitis
- Coeliac Disease
- Diverticulosis/Diverticulitis
- Parasites
- Haemorrhoids
- GERD
- Liver cirrhosis
- High cholesterol.
Digestive conditions can be anywhere on a spectrum of non-serious to extremely serious. In addition to some detailed questioning, Acupuncturists use some unique diagnostic methods such as pulse taking and observation of your tongue – both of which help us to come up with a plan specific to your needs. We encourage you to answer our questions with honesty and reflection so that we can assist you more efficiently.
Dietary and lifestyle advice is an important part of any Chinese Medicine approach so we will spend some time in your consultation talking about foods and eating behaviours which will help to improve your digestion and prevent troubles from recurring in the future. Many digestive health conditions respond quickly to Chinese medicine herbal formulas so these may also be a part of your overall care.
