358: Unpacking Hiatal Hernias: Physical and Emotional Roots
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Welcome to the Ancient Health Podcast, where East meets West in the world of medicine. I'm Dr. Chris Motley, and here we explore how modern Western science and traditional Eastern wisdom come together to unlock the body's full healing potential. Each week, we'll dive into powerful tools, techniques, and approaches from both sides of the world to help you optimize your health and live with vitality. Let's bridge the gap between ancient practices and cutting-edge medicine. Let's get started.

Hello friends, I wanted to talk about the hiatal hernia. The hiatal hernia is a condition where parts of your stomach, the upper portion of the stomach, can push its way up into what we call the cardiac sphincter. It is the hole or the opening where your esophagus, as it makes its way down through the chest,

actually pushes its way or makes its way through the diaphragm wall. And the diaphragm being the muscle that separates your lungs and your heart from your intestines, your liver, your spleen, your pancreas. So there's a muscle that basically lines this lower edge of your lungs.

And that muscle has a hole right in the middle, right below your sternum, where that esophagus makes its way through. And as it enters into the stomach, the stomach, the upper fundus, the curvature of the stomach can actually push partially up into that hole.

And this creates a system where the stomach is actually compressing the esophagus because it's making its way above the diaphragm. So this is where individuals literally have problems swallowing. They have chronic acid reflux. They can even have Barrett's esophagus. They can have conditions where there's pockets of infections that are present throughout the esophagus where food gets caught in the throat. Have you ever found yourself

chronically having to clear your throat or when you eat food it feels like food is basically trapped within the esophagus within the throat or do you find that when you're taking a supplement it can get caught that is a real and valid issue because I've had friends I've had patients that were often disregarded as this all being in their head when they felt that something was caught and later on when they got different types of scans

When they got a throat scan, when they had a camera put down, they were found to have small pockets of openings that were collecting debris, such as food, and this led to chronic infections within those areas. This, in turn, created a chronic inflammatory state where the infections were actually creating inflammation within the esophagus.

This could lead to, and I've seen this in many of my patients where they were scarring through the esophagus. This can lead us down into the area around the diaphragm. And most every one of these patients have a hiatal hernia. And that hiatal hernia is such a condition that in the Western world, again, can often be lightly disregarded. Like it is not something to be taken seriously.

And most of the time when I find that doctors hear about, they'll say when it gets bad enough, you'll just have surgery to stretch the esophagus and hopefully do a small procedure to actually pull the hiatal hernia down. Now, I do see the effects, the benefits of doing those types of procedure where you stretch the esophagus because there's too much tightening or scarring or when they come and pull the stomach down where they have to clamp down the diaphragm and sew it up so that the stomach doesn't push its way back up.

But why is this happening? Why does this occur chronically? Why does it happen to you or the people you love? Now, what are some of the major signs and symptoms? Because it's often disregarded, but I want you to know that if you have a problem with partially undigested food, if you have problems where you're passing food that's undigested like leafy greens, or if you're having issues where you're starting to see literally food debris that's almost full amounts in the toilet bowl,

A hiatal hernia could be a possible problem. If you're having chronic indigestion, heartburn, the pockets of inflammation in your esophagus, if you're chronically having to clear your throat, if you have the problem of taking a full breath in, if you can't expand the diaphragm, if you have heart palpitations, if you have a sludgy gallbladder or gallstones that are chronic,

If you have chest tightness related to the heart, because the heart cannot expand fully when it's pumping, this can all give us basically a bird's eye view leading us to this hidden chronic condition. So let's recall in physiology that the diaphragm is sitting right below the lungs and your heart is

is in a small bag of muscle called the pericardium around the heart. And that muscle is basically right here and it's resting on the diaphragm. Yes, it's called the cardiac sphincter, that little hole where the esophagus goes through. So your heart's very close to your esophagus.

So as you breathe and you're pushing out air, breathing in air, your diaphragm will push downward to take that breath in. And that breath is actually assisting the heart in its mechanisms. It's actually helping the pericardium to contract and to expand just by you moving your diaphragm through a full breath through your stomach and out.

So that's why breathing techniques that are through the stomach, expanding the belly, can help pull down that diaphragm muscle and assist the heart to actually help take ease off the heart. That's why breathing techniques are so important for heart health. So,

underneath the diaphragm, that's where that stomach lies and the gallbladder and the spleen. Remember, the spleen is attached to the side of the stomach. The pancreas lies right behind the stomach and the gallbladder is on the opposite right side of the stomach. But why is this important for the hiatal hernia talk? If you have a hiatal hernia, usually you are going to find there could be chronic infections within the gallbladder, within the stomach, within the spleen, and those can tighten up those organs.

And why this is important is because there is a mesh. There is a mesh of connective tissue that keeps the stomach connected firmly up into the diaphragm. And it also connects it and is interwoven to the other organs like the gallbladder and the spleen and the pancreas. But why is it there? Because you don't want your organs hanging around and loose so that they can drop because your organs can drop. They have to be set in a particular pattern to help you have optimal health.

If your stomach and gallbladder are infected or if you have gallstones, if you have a chronic stomach infections like E. coli, H. pylori, salmonella, strep or staph, if you have chronic mono in the spleen such as Epstein-Barr virus, if you had strep, if you had infections in these areas, it can tighten up that fascia around those digestive organs. And this will tighten up their connectivity up into the diaphragm.

Which means the diaphragm cannot expand downward in a nice fluid motion because the area is so tight from the infections and from the tightening. But what does this do to the heart?

it causes the heart to do what? To have to work harder because it's not assisted by the diaphragm. Since the diaphragm is basically tightened right here and it's making its connectivity to this muscle, it cannot fully push down. And so your heart is going to feel the strain all from what? All from the stomach and the infections that are happening within that stomach area. So when we look at a hiatal hernia,

We're not just looking at it as, oh, it's just a part of the stomach that's pushing up above the diaphragm. Not at all. We're looking at it as there's chronic infections that are probably associated with all the other organs, like the gallbladder, the spleen, and the pancreas, maybe the upper portion of the small intestine, and it's serious implications on the heart and the function of the heart. So when individuals have a chronic heart issue,

One of the first things I always look into is the inflammation and the congestion of the stomach and the gallbladder. And if you've had a problem with your stomach, like stomach inflammation, always had issues where you've had regurgitation, things pushing up, the first thing you need to go get checked for is a hydral hernia. The other thing I would suggest is that if you've ever had heart dysfunctions like arrhythmias or palpitations, you have to correlate them.

They can work hand in hand. I'm so thankful that many times with heart indicators, I have seen them get removed out of the body. I've seen those things heal just by working on the digestive system, the upper digestion.

the stomach and the gallbladder, cleansing those areas of any minor infections or stones or sludge. I've seen it release the diaphragm, cause the area to ease up around that esophageal sphincter and do what? Release pressure on the heart. That's why it's so important. This not only causes you to feel loose in that area and causes pressure to be released in the heart, but you know what else? If there is infections around the stomach and the spleen,

that could cause a problem with what? Your red blood cell production. And if the heart is strained, this can also lead to conditions or assisting conditions such as anemia. So if you have chronic indigestion and chronic stomach issues, then you could actually look into, do I have anemia? And see if that hiatal hernia is there because that can have serious connectivity to that condition. I have, I can't verify this, but I will say this.

I've seen many individuals over the years that have had hiatal hernia, and one of the biggest things that they've always told me is that they used to drink out of water hoses when they were a kid or they swam in lakes and they swam in lakes that may have not been the cleanest.

Nothing against swimming in lakes, nothing against people who drink out of water hoses, but you have to remember that tap water, city water, sometimes lakes can contain parasitic infections such as Giardia, trypanosoma parasites like protozoa parasites. You can find these types of infections lurking around. If they get in the body, they can take rest within the stomach in that area because they want a free meal.

And this can lead to that cascade where the diaphragms tighten down and the heart can suffer. Can those infections that are in the stomach leach their way out through the system into the arteries and make their way up to the heart? I believe so. So...

When we talk about what are we going to do about the hiatal hernia, there are procedures that I believe if it is a very major hiatal hernia, if it's a very major problem, then yes, I would agree that it is a good thing for you probably to get that surgically repaired if it's in a major dysfunctional way. There are ways that you can use this.

Certain techniques to help press down the diaphragm and help the hiatal hernia There's a hiatal hernia release where practitioners such as myself like a good applied kinesiologist a good body worker like an exercise physiologist a physical therapist Literally makes their way into releasing the diaphragm Pressing the diaphragm down while a person is lying or sitting there back up against the wall taking a big breath in even through the chest

and then pushing the hands right trying to get your fingers wedge up above the stomach and gently massaging down the stomach as a person breathes out through their stomach the temp is to try to pull the top that stomach down back through that esophageal hole now

That may take many treatments. I find that when you find a good muscle therapist, a good body worker, if you can release the diaphragm muscles, like literally reaching up underneath the ribs and releasing that tight fascia, you can see times where that stomach will release and get relaxed and allow the upper fundus, the upper curvature of the stomach to fall down around from that esophageal area. I've seen it happen. I've done it before in my practice. I'm so thankful it's been able to help people. Now,

This can work many times, but we also have other individuals that have seen this work, and I've seen it work, where patients literally drink a glass of water, and they will actually do a rebounder, like a trampoline, and they will drink enough water, maybe a glass or two, and they do bounding to help the weight of the stomach to pull that stomach down. But will that keep it from happening again? I don't know if it'll keep it from happening again, but I will say this.

The problem that you have is that the stomach tightens back up and can pull it back up. But why? Because there are emotional components. The stomach is tightening up because there's a heightened amount of sympathetic response, heightened amount of fight or flight. And that heightened fight or flight is basically because the body is too stressed. There's heightened amount of adrenaline being released or cortisol because you may be in a situation where you're in fight or flight or where you're nervous or you're anxious.

This vagus nerve, which carries parasympathetic signals, your relaxation signals, is traveling down through all the major organs, especially the digestive organs, and feeding that diaphragm and that stomach. So when the parasympathetics are really, really at their highest, your relaxation is at its highest, that diaphragm will release nice and easy and that stomach will free flow and the heart will beat nice and steady.

But once you get into a constrictive mode, like I'm in the full fight or flight or in a full adrenaline mode, this area can tighten up. That's why we often forget to breathe through our stomach. So the number one thing you want to learn is how to do breath work. This was what I suggest to start to help with hiatal hernia is to get an application on your phone that fits breath work in your desired rate. I like to do that in the infrared sauna.

I like to find the breath work that helps and really learn how to exercise my diaphragm to help release that area. In conjunction, if you need to do some medical procedures for your hiatal hernia. Now, this would show me that if you have sympathetic overload, like you're in fight or flight, there's an emotional component to the hiatal hernia. And that's where I really want to just tell you this.

If you have a chronic hiatal hernia, it doesn't mean that you have all the emotional problems. It could be that it came from your parents. If your parents or grandparents or great-grandparents had chronic emotional fatigue within the stomach area, around the chakra of the abdomen,

or that the stomach meridians in acupuncture were displaced because of chronic stomach fatigue. It can come from, let's say, a parent who had chronic stomach issues with E. coli, H. pylori bacteria, salmonella, and they passed the weakened genetics to you to make you have a weak stomach. Yes.

But normally when those infections are in the stomach leading to stomach dysfunction, it usually tells me that the stomach was a holding pot. And why was it a holding pot for the bacteria or the infections or the parasites? Yes, easy access through food or when it comes down the pipe. But the emotional component in Eastern medicine has to do with the emotions of low self-worth, low self-esteem, which means that you hold others responsible.

Care and their well-being more in regards than your own so that you're actually saying their health is more important than mine. If they're OK, if my kids are OK or my parents are OK or my spouse is OK, their health is more important than mine. Now, I believe it's great to care for people and to be there for people. But I want you to know something. If you tell your body that I'm OK, I don't have to be worried about your body will listen to you and respond and not worry about you.

Your spleen, especially since it's on the side of the stomach, will literally pull back all those nice antibodies and all those good immune cells back to the spleen because they're not going to disperse them out like sending the army out. If you keep telling the army, there's nothing to worry about. There's nothing out there. Come on back in. And then if you have any type of problem with the stomach, like

Okay, I don't need to eat today. I need to skip my meals. I'm fine. I'm going to make sure that my kids eat and I'm just going to go without. You tell your stomach to do what? Don't release a lot of acids. I don't need the nutrients. I don't need the fats. I don't need the sugars. I don't need any of this to help me with my condition.

And this will cause your stomach to produce lower amounts of acid, which allows any infections or microbes to get into the stomach lining. And then basically they can reign and rule because your acids are supposed to tear up and try to dissolve any parasites or parasite eggs or any excess bacteria. That's what stomach acid is for. Then you get to undigested foods. This all could lead to what? Leaky gut syndrome, villi around the stomach that are very inflamed. So,

When we think about our emotions and low self-worth, we have to look at the traumas that could have initiated it. We have to find out that you are worth mending. If you tell your psychology, your brain, your psychological being that you are worth mending, you're not trying to be all about me or be selfish. You're saying, no, I have to be there for myself so I can be there for others.

And so if you initiate this, your spleen will respond and say, OK, I need to send some good antibodies out there to make sure that everything's cleaned up so I can keep functioning properly. I'm going to eat properly at the point of times and tell myself I need to sit down and have a meal to nourish myself, nourish myself so that I can actually have the nutrients go out into my body to get me strength so I can help anybody in my family, the people I love. You're telling your body, I do respect you. I know that I need to mend.

That is the spiritual implication of what could be going on with the hiatal hernia. You take this and you can add in certain herbs, certain nutrients. There are many herbs that can help with infections. If you found E. coli, H. pylori, salmonella, parasites, I really like to keep some of the supplements down to some of my major ones that I love the most. Number one is Morinda or Noni, N-O-N-I. Morinda Supreme is amazing. I love it.

You can take that. It's really good for the digestive area. The second one is Golden Thread Supreme. Golden Thread Supreme not only helps clean up the gallbladder and helps with gallstones, but it cleans up so many infections, yeast, mold, bacteria, virus, parasites. So those are my two top picks. To nourish the stomach to help keep it easy, I also add in aloe vera. I like Georgia's aloe vera from Whole Foods or from a natural grocer. I also like to use Slippery Elm.

So you can use slippery elm, activated charcoal on an empty stomach at night. Don't get into constipation.

and you can use the aloe vera as an adjunct. Now, one of the other things I've seen work really well is ginseng. Ginseng on the stomach has been used in Eastern medicines for so many years that it actually helps heat up the stomach. Heating it up means giving it more vitality and strength and will help with acid production to help you eat up the old infections that come in through the food, help you digest your food properly, and it's been shown to clean up staph and strep so you can get rid of those pesky infections in the diaphragm.

So when we talk about the hiatal hernia, if you keep having indigestion, GERD, bowels with ulcerative colitis, if you have problems that are basically where you have irritable bowel syndrome, it means that things up in the upper area of the intestinal area and the stomach are not being digested fully. So you have to get that hiatal hernia checked.

You can find a good gastroenterologist in your area that has a good reputation and check for that if these conditions happen. If you are chronically in the emotion, if I'm not worthy to mend, I'm not worthy, I'm always worried and over-concerned, this can cause an ulcer. This can cause a lining issue within the stomach. Believe me, I had that in 2017 where mine ruptured and almost died.

Because I kept telling myself that everybody else was more important in the sense that I had to take care of my patients, I had to take care of my family before I took care of myself. And it taught me a lesson. I don't want that to happen to you. Let's cut this off at the pass.

So guys, I hope that this video helps with you. Take all the tips and go get it checked out if you suspect it. Check out the emotions and see if that correlates to what we're talking about. If they do, try neurofeedback, LENS, lens therapy. You guys are know what I'm talking about. On the Q&A, we talk about the neurofeedback and the lens. I also think that neuroemotional technique, NET is really great, or tapping, but NET

When you do this, remember, you have to live that life. You have to live in that arena where you're telling yourself, I'm going to help myself mend. I'm going to eat well. I'm going to nourish myself. Living the program will reprogram the brain to help those organs heal as well. So guys, I hope this helps.

Remember, if you have any questions, send me the questions and give me some comments. And I hope that you guys are having a great day. I love seeing you guys on the Q&A. Let's talk soon about this and let's see if you guys resonate with this. All right, guys, we'll talk soon. See you.

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Remember, true health is about balance, mind, body, and spirit. So stay tuned for more episodes where we continue to explore how ancient wisdom and modern science can work together to help you thrive. Here's to your health, balance, and well-being. I'm Dr. Chris Motley, and I look forward to our next episode together.