Struggling with Stomach Bloating and Gas?

It’s the weekend and you are so ready to start off on a good foot. You booked your yoga class at your neighborhood studio. You had a smoothie for breakfast. You didn’t have any coffee today. Then, as you are putting on your favorite form-fitting yoga pants, you look down and see that stomach bloating. In fact, the waistband of your pants is digging into your skin. You haven’t gained weight overnight, but often lately, you’ve experienced visible stomach bloating and extra gas (and thank goodness you’re working from home lately!).

This is new, maybe for the past few months, and uncomfortable. You take off your form-fitting yoga pants that you adore, and you change into last year’s saggy feeling and looking sweatpants. You’re conscious the entire yoga class that you need to pass gas, but you wait very uncomfortably until after a very quick Sivansana to head outside and let it pass without embarrassment.

Back at home, you are wondering why this is happening. You haven’t had issues with diarrhea or constipation. You may or may not have noticed that this occurs near your period. It’s uncomfortable enough that you search through your medicine cabinet. You know that neither Tylenol nor Ibuprofen will help. You certainly don’t need Imodium, that would just make things worse. You could try Gas-X but that doesn’t really help with the stomach bloating, or with getting back into your favorite form-fitting yoga pants.

So, what’s your next step? Schedule an appointment with your acupuncturist! Why? Acupuncture can help to relieve digestive upset by stimulating your parasympathetic nervous system, the mode of resting and digesting. Why else? With needles over the abdomen, acupuncture increases microcirculation in this area and mitigates local inflammation. Beyond that, acupuncture points on other areas of the body—the head, the arms, the legs—can also benefit digestion, and yes, relieve gas and bloating.

In Chinese medicine, digestion is part of your foundation of health, so as acupuncturists, we investigate all avenues of digestive health. Prepare to delve deep into topics we don’t usually talk about: how many bowel movements you have each day, the consistency of your bowel movements, the color, etc. Beyond that, your acupuncturist will look at bloating and excess gas within the context of lifestyle, diet, and stress.

It’s not only what you eat but how you eat that can all play a role in your digestive health. Are you eating freezing cold smoothies in January and having bloating? Are you eating the absolute healthiest warm quinoa and veggie bowl, while also working on a deadline? Are you eating okay but you never drink enough water because it just sounds terrible?

By looking at all of these factors, your acupuncturist can treat the affected areas to optimize your digestion, balance your hormones, and yes, relieve bloating and gas. In addition, you can learn how to create your own foundation of health by changing certain aspects of what and how you eat to follow the seasons, to help your particular type of bloating and gas, and prevent it from recurring.

Ready to Feel Relief?

At Portland Acupuncture Studio, we are experts in women’s health, so we can help you determine when hormones, digestive function, or lifestyle may be causing your bloating. Abdominal bloating is treatable, and its cause can stop being a mystery! Reach out to us today, so you can learn how to be rid of this uncomfortable symptom, get back into your favorite form-fitting pants, and head to your next yoga class with ease.

Established patients can schedule online, patients who haven’t seen us at Kwan Yin Healing Center call (503) 701-8766, or email us to schedule your appointment.