Digestive Disorder

Acupuncture is a tried and tested system of traditional Chinese medicine, which has been applied in China for thousands of years to restore, promote and maintain good health. It is believed to stimulate the nervous system and to activate the body’s self-regulating systems. It helps to foster the natural healing process of the body and therefore, promote emotional and physical well-being.

Nowadays it is a common therapy and its benefits are widely acknowledged all over the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) considers acupuncture as a helpful treatment for resolving specific symptoms and conditions. Furthermore, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) proves the effectiveness of Acupuncture in treating chronic pain. Small studies show that abdominal bloating and other IBS symptoms are well treated with Acupuncture.

Jeanine Blackman, MD, PhD, medical director of the University of Maryland Center for Integrative Medicine recommends to ideally combine Acupuncture with other treatments. Balance Health offers an integrative approach to your health and supports you with the right natural treatments available. Acupuncture in combination with herbal medicine or relaxation exercises promotes the healing process successfully. Balance Health acupuncturists can help you to improve your health sustainably, which will have a positive influence on the symptoms as well as on your mood.

A 1998 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association revealed that of 116 patients surveyed, 78 percent reported that their IBS symptoms significantly improved and the degree of interference with life caused by those painful symptoms decreased after the herbal therapy. This study lends strong scientific support to treating IBS with Chinese herbs successfully.

In TCM up to 30 to 40 different herbs are usually combined to create an individualized complex formula. "In order to get a solution to a complex disorder like IBS you need a complex formula, and in order to get that, you need to see someone who can actually prepare it [… as they cannot be bought on store shelves]" says Jonathan Gilbert, who has a diploma in herbology and acupuncture from the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM). Balance Health is your companion and our practitioners create your tailor-made herbal treatment plan that will free you from your illness.

Functional medicine is about getting to the root cause of a disease or dysfunction, by identifying the triggers, imbalances, pathogenic influences and toxicities. It combines the consultative expertise together with the appropriate diagnostic procedures, like laboratory tests, to help the patient regain balance, wellness and vitality. Diet, detoxification and supplementation are the key tools to correct any imbalance.

How does a consultation at Balance Health look like?
The treatment with our functional medicine practitioner and holistic nutritionist Miles Price is built up in three evaluation steps:

1. conducting a thorough health, family history, lifestyle and diet evaluation
2. evaluating blood tests and laboratory results
3. prescribing specific dietary modifications, with supplemental detoxification support if needed

The benefits of this holistic approach combined with clinical support result in less pain, more energy, vitality, and elimination of symptoms.

Mind-Body Connection
As Balance Health pursues a holistic approach the diagnosis is not only based on what the practitioner sees, but also on what he understands while listening carefully to your body. Your internal landscape, marked by emotions, experiences and traumata, is crucial to fully grasp the extent of your root cause. Ideally you are able to connect your body with your mind in order to listen to the stories your body has to tell. Somatic Movement is a treatment that creates exactly this kind of mind-body connection. With the help of Somatic Movement you regain balance, gain freedom of movement, and increase your vitality and creativity to better meet life’s challenges.

Stress is probably the most common reason in our society why the blood as well as the Qi becomes stagnant. The result is pain and disease. When we are stressed our body is filled up with tension. Our chest tightens, our muscles stiffen and our stomach ties into a knot. We overeat and hold our emotions in. Stress prevents Qi from flowing naturally, which has negative impact on our digestion. Balance Health offers several complementary methods to release accumulated tensions from the body and to ease your pain. The therapies include Shiatsu Massage, Energetic Kinesiology, Chi Nei Tsang, and Meditation, which are further explained in the following:

Shiatsu is a traditional Japanese hands-on massage, which supports the body’s self regulating processes and vitality. Our Shiatsu practitioner aims to identify and correct imbalances in the body by means of physical stimulation, stretch and joint mobilization techniques. Some recent pilot studies demonstrate the effectiveness of Shiatsu in treating IBS successfully. Almost 80 percent of the participants responded favorably to the therapy.

Energetic Kinesiology looks behind the scenes and tries to understand why your body shows certain IBS symptoms and predictors of stress. Therefore, our practitioner tests your muscles and listens to the story your body has to tell. Results are instantly revealed in four key areas: physical structure, body chemistry, emotions and energetic systems. By evaluating the muscle response imbalances can be identified and problems can be naturally eliminated.

Chi Nei Tsang is a Toaist technique of abdominal massage that combines organ massage and breathing practices. This treatment addresses emotional and physical tension that might block digestion, and stimulates Qi to flow freely inside internal organs.

Meditation is a practice in which you experience the awareness of the present moment while focusing on your breath, thoughts or emotions. It includes a non-judgmental awareness of your own body and thoughts. Meditation is highly valued for its ability to reduce aches and stress. A study published in 2009 from the University of North Carolina proved that physical and psychological symptoms of IBS were more effectively managed by people practicing meditation. “Our study indicates that mindfulness meditation is a practical, widely applicable and inexpensive method to enable IBS patients to improve their clinical outcomes and gain associated improvement in well-being,” says Olafur S. Palsson, PsyD, a licensed clinical psychologist and one of the researchers.

The digestive system stores neuropeptides – the molecules that make up your brain – except we have ten times more of them in the body than in the brain! By using a technique called Active Memory, BodyTalk is especially successful at retrieving and neutralizing the thoughts and emotions from the gut have become pathologies. The consciousness of the large intestine related to the idea of letting go of the past e.g., old resentments, trauma, or former relationships.
Environmental factors affect the internal chemistry of your digestive system. Stress relating to your boss, mother, son, or husband directly affects the intestinal lining of your digestive tract, minimizing the absorption of vital nutrients. BodyTalk teaches the body to produce its own digestive enzymes and regulate its stomach acids in order to assimilate foods within the small intestine that previously caused harm or discomfort.