THE STOMACH AND DUODENUM

The duodenum is the passage way from your stomach into your small intestine. It hugs the pancreas and is home to the Sphincter of Oddi.

DID YOU KNOW?
In a car accident the duodenum can suffer whiplash because of the seatbelt.

Tissues lose their normal motion when they become inflamed (like through whiplash or stress or eating poorly or repetitive motion or…). The natural healing process involves the creation of inelastic and more granular “replacement” tissue. It is kind of like a localized ‘drying-out’ of the affected area. This disbalance causes our serous fluid (the slip and slide lube inside of us) to get very thick. Re-introducing motion to dry and thick areas, as you can see, is very helpful!!

And speaking of the serous fluid which is produced by the membranes of the abdomen, our body amazingly, uses a natural suction between layers of this serous-coated abdominal membrane to hold your organs in place. So when the fluid is not working right it can impact the function of your organs.

That the beginning of the duodenum we have the connection with the stomach. This connection is marked by another sphincter valve called Pylorus. The connection with the esophagus at the top of the stomach is called the Cardiac sphincter.

The stomach is a site for both chemical and mechanical digestion – chemically is the enzyme part and mechanically is the churning of the smooth muscle wall.

ABOUT HERNIAS
Abdominal pressure affects the stomach. The stomach (abdomen in particular) is a negative pressure zone. The lungs and chest area (the thoracic cavity) is a negative pressure zone.

Nature sucks things into negative pressure areas.

So, if the Cardiac sphincter is not functioning correctly, if the ligaments in that area are lax, or if there has been trauma to that area due to surgery, injury etc a hernia can develop because ‘hernia’ the stomach is HERNIATED into the esophagus (sucked up into it). Since the acidity level of the stomach is high and the acidity of the esophagus is low the person experiences this as acid reflux.

Belching and flatulence
are the body’s natural way to balance
these pressures when they are off.

The stomach and duodenum are associated with appearance and self-image, poor self-esteem, fear of failure, social stressors.

Applying the gentle visceral manipulation techniques can be restore balance to this commonly stressed area.