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Acupuncture for Digestion
Can acupuncture help with digestion?
Experiencing digestive issues in San Francisco, CA?
The digestive system consists of your gastrointestinal (GI) tract as well as key organs such as the liver, gall bladder, and pancreas. The GI tract is made up of your mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine.
These organs, together with the microbiome of bacteria found in your gut, break down and absorb nutrients from the foods you eat and liquids you drink on a daily basis. Once absorbed, these nutrients and vitamins are used for energy and help you to function and stay healthy.
Symptoms like bloating, abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, nausea, and cramping are indications that things are not flowing through the digestive tract smoothly and that the digestive system is not functioning as efficiently as it should. Digestive issues can arise from a number of different triggers but are usually linked to chronic stress, improper diet, poor sleeping habits, and other lifestyle factors.
acupuncture for digestion in San Francisco
acupuncture for digestive issues in San Francisco
Chinese medicine for stomach in San Francisco
acupuncture for digestion in San Francisco
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Fortunately, we have acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine!
Acupuncture for digestion can help to stimulate the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve is one of the largest nerves connecting your brain and gastrointestinal tract, sending signals in both directions. By modulating the brain-gut axis, the vagus nerve can, in turn, activate the parasympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system is the “rest and digest” part of the nervous system, which balances the “fight or flight” response of the sympathetic nervous system. This is especially important because an overactive sympathetic nervous system can impair our digestion.
Acupuncture for digestive issues can also reduce pain and inflammation as well as promote peristalsis.
At Optim Health and Acupuncture, we often combine our acupuncture for digestion treatments with Chinese herbal medicine. Together, acupuncture and Chinese medicine can help to treat a wide variety of digestive concerns including abdominal pain, bloating, nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis.
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