A hiatal hernia is a problem that is affecting more and more people. Nuestros poor eating habits, stress, the pace of life, obesity, smoking, chronic coughing and constipation may be some of the causes of hiatal hernias.
It is estimated that between 20% and 30% of the population could have a hiatal hernia and, in addition to the above reasons, this may also be due to genetic factors. This condition is fairly common, as 30% of people over the age of 50 suffer from it. However, this percentage is likely to be higher, as many people with a hiatal hernia have mild or no symptoms and do not associate it with this condition.
Symptoms
A hiatal hernia does not always produce symptoms, but, if it does, they can be very unpleasant and make our lives more difficult. Some of these symptoms are gastroesophageal reflux and, as a result of this, heartburn, which worsens when bending or lying down, dry cough, bad breath, chest pain, difficulty in swallowing and/or continuous belching.
Treatment using osteopathy and/or physiotherapy
We can help treat hiatal hernias through the use of physical therapy or osteopathy by setting clear objectives: restore mobility, suppress adhesions and maintain thoracic-abdominal balance. 50% of digestive visceral treatment is by treating the diaphragm.
It should be borne in mind that the older the injury, the more difficult it will be to reduce it. Even so, even if it is not possible to achieve a complete reduction, osteopathic treatment will manage to reduce aerocoly (intestinal gases) and gastrocoly (belches).
When mechanical traction takes place that puts stress on the oesophagus or stomach, it affects deep fascial chains on the one hand and the flexion chain on the other. Pressure differences, caused by a difference in tension between the thoracic cavity and the abdominal cavity cause the stomach to tend to rise up through the oesophageal hiatus, irritating fascias, nerves and even the diaphragm muscle.
Osteopathy may be effective in the treatment of a hiatal hernia because it reduces tensions that block the movement of bones and organs, allowing the stomach to function properly and improved digestion. The diaphragm can be worked on to help reduce the hernia on the one hand and to regulate the vegetative nervous system that regulates the stomach on the other. As for the diaphragm, there are different techniques to stretch and relax it. It can be treated with both inhibition and stretching techniques.
These treatments are especially effective in cases of a sliding hiatal hernia, but somewhat less so in cases of a rolling or strangled hernia.
Our colleague Raúl González Barrado, of Vázquez & Barrado, Physiotherapy and Osteopathy and lecturer at the Madrid Scool of Osteopathy (EOM), shows us another way of integrating INYBI into the osteopathic approach to our patients in this video. In this case, the use of INYBI contributes to a more effective and complete hiatal hernia reduction technique.
INYBI is a good complement to fascial and other structural techniques,such as treatment at a diaphragm or psoas level, as well as visceral treatment such as for a hiatal hernia. Prior to this technique, we will have carried out another series of techniques included in the protocol for this type of dysfunction in which we will also have used INYBI, such as for the normalisation of the vagus nerves at the level of the diaphragm.
To carry out the technique, put the INYBI at the suboccipital level in vibration mode. In this way, when working on reducing a hiatal hernia, the INYBI allows us a fixed point at the level of the suboccipital musculature that will interest us a lot in this technique due to its relationship with the central tendon and the mediastinal fascia due to its relationship with the stomach.
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