How to Test for and Fix a Hiatal Hernia
Over 100 million Americans suffer from some type of digestive dysfunction. Forty-four percent alone suffer from acid reflux. While many want to turn immediately to the family doctor for help, we’re urging you rather to train yourself to THINK as a patient.
Instead of having someone else do your thinking for you, paying them vast sums of money in the process, take your health back into your own hands and educate yourself. The solution to your digestive dysfunction and stomach pain is simpler than you think – and a whole lot simpler than the medical community tries to make it.
What is a Hiatal Hernia?
The stomach sits below the diaphragm muscle and has a one-way valve called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). The LES allows food into the stomach and then is supposed to close, allowing nothing back up.
If the stomach is situated too high and part of it is above the diaphragm, the one-way valve gets stuck open, allowing acid and food to reflux.
No, this condition does not require surgery and you don’t need an endoscopy. This is a lie the medical community spreads to try to make more money off you.
What Causes a Hiatal Hernia
A hiatal hernia can be caused by two things:
- A past trauma like vomiting or sneezing. When you vomit or sneeze, the diaphragm rapidly contracts and sometimes the stomach can get caught above the hiatus.
- A weak or spasmed diaphragm. Most of our breathing muscles are in our diaphragm. When you breathe in, your belly should expand rather than your chest, but if you breathe primarily with your chest, over time a hiatal hernia will form, caused by a weakened, under-used diaphragm.
Symptoms of a Hiatal Hernia
If you have any of the following symptoms it indicates your stomach is not doing it’s job when it comes to digesting food:
- Food allergies
- Indigestion
- Heartburn
- Acid Reflux
- Upper GI discomfort
- Abnormal bowel movements (normal is brown, large, no pain or strain)
- Gastric or duodenal ulcers
- Stomach burns/churns when empty (not hunger pangs)
- Eating or drinking solves stomach pain
- Eating or drinking worsens stomach pain
- You’re taking antacids (Prilosec, Tums, Zantac)
These symptoms indicate either a hiatal hernia or, more commonly, insufficient amounts of stomach juices.
First, Perform the Stomach Juice Test
Perform this test on yourself the next time you’re having indigestion, bloating, gas, reflux, heartburn, or any digestive complaint:
Take one tablet of Stomach Juice (you can order it here >) with each meal for a couple days. One of two things is going to happen:
- It makes it better – The indigestion, heartburn, etc. will get better. You have just performed an experiment on your own body and proved to yourself that you have low stomach juice.
- It makes it worse – If this happens, chances are you have a hiatal hernia or, more rarely, an ulcer. No, you don’t need surgery – skip to the next section.
If the Stomach Juice helped, it’s advisable to take 2-3 tablets with each meal. Start with one per meal, then work up to 2-3 slowly. Your body has become accustomed to low stomach acid and will take time to adjust back to a normal, healthy level.
How to Fix a Hiatal Hernia
There is a two-step fix you can undergo to fix a hiatal hernia without ever having to go to the doctor. This will often take a few repetitions before the stomach will stay in place.
Step One – Deep Breathing
Lie down on a flat surface and place a book on your stomach. Begin breathing with your diaphragm as deeply as you can. The diaphragm is the largest breathing muscle in the body and is located in your abdomen.
When you breathe in, expand your diaphragm and stomach so that the book rises as high as possible, and when you exhale the book should fall to become level with the rest of your body. This will help to ease the stomach down back into place. Do this for 10 minutes each day until the stomach juice test is no longer creating a burning sensation.
Step Two – Stomach Pulling
This step should take place after you’ve performed the breathing exercise in step one, and is best performed with a partner.
Have your partner place their hands two inches below the sternum and one inch to the left of center. The stomach is located on the left side of the abdomen just below the rib cage – this is what we’re aiming for. Press into the abdomen and pull down using about 10 pounds of pressure. Do this for about one minute.
Many report feeling a small shift in their abdomen coupled with relaxation as the diaphragm relaxes and the stomach returns to its normal place.
That’s it. If you go through this process and no longer experience pain or any of your previous symptoms, you just healed yourself and became your own doctor! This likely saved you thousands of dollars and years of pain and digestive dysfunction.
If you didn’t know it before, perhaps now you realize that it is truly possible: YOU CAN HEAL YOURSELF!