If you or someone you know is experiencing indigestion, irritable bowels, constipation, bloating or pain (in the stomach or intestines), acupuncture can be a tremendous resource for feeling better now and maintaining those improvements over the long term. Acupuncture improves the body functions of digestion, absorption and metabolism. Acupuncture reduce…s ulcers and neutralizes excessive stomach acid. Acupuncture calms abdominal distention and helps the body balance as to reduce or completely eliminate IBS symptoms. Acupuncture even addresses overeating and sugar addictions. Acupuncture & Digestion: The TCM Perspective TCM states that the stomach receives food, while the spleen transports, distributes and transforms nutrients. They both share the work and coordinate to fulfill the task of the digestion and absorption of food. When the function of the spleen in transporting and transforming the nutrients is in disorder, symptoms such as poor digestion, poor appetite, abdominal distension, weakness of the limbs and weight loss may occur. The small intestine receives the food content that has been partially digested by the stomach and then completes the digestion and absorbs it. In the light of modern medicine, most of the carbohydrates, proteins and fats in the food are absorbed by duodenum and jejunum, while the bile salts and vitamin B12 are absorbed by ileum. Water and electrolytes are also exchanged in the small intestine. The endocrine function of the pancreas also contains various digestive enzymes important to digestive function. So what does that all mean for your acupuncture treatments? Acupuncture stimulates energy to the liver, gall bladder, stomach and spleen (the four main channels for digestion) along with the small intestine, large intestine and even lung or heart channels (depending on the particular patient). Acupuncture isn’t a one-size-fits-all treatment. Needles can be placed at specific points to maximize the effectiveness for the patient, and those “patterns” will somewhat change from session to session based on exactly how the patient is doing that day and responding to treatment. Acupuncture & Digestion: The Process Every patient is different. Some patients have varying degrees of “excessive heat” in their system causing problems, while others have varying degrees of “excessive cold” creating symptoms. Through a consultation we’ll discuss your main issue, the type and intensity of your discomfort and when that discomfort occurs. We’ll discuss your diet and lifestyle and eating habits to determine if there’s anything contributing to the problem. And the acupuncture sessions will combine treatments and nutritional counseling. It can be wonderfully empowering for a patient to not only feel better and experience better digestion from acupuncture treatments, but also feel he or she has more control over how to stay healthy moving forward.