Suffer from gastroparesis? We can help!

Gastroparesis is a condition that involves delayed gastric emptying of the stomach. There can be several causes on why a person could develop this including: diabetes, viral infection, post-surgical, autoimmune, medications, or it can be idiopathic “unknown” cause.

Patients with gastroparesis often report nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, bloating, and decreased desire to eat due to the pain and fear of eating.

Most common treatment involves work-up by primary care and gastroenterologist to rule out potential underlying causes and imaging may be done at that time to rule out obstruction and access gastric motility. Standard treatment includes dietary modifications, hydration, glycemic control, and pharmaceutical interventions.

What if you are still experiencing symptoms and pain?

This is where naturopathic medicine and acupuncture can help! There is often an underlying cause on why the person has inflammation or digestive issues. Food allergy testing may be indicted to see if there are any food triggers and acupuncture treatments can provide immediate relief of symptoms while also addressing root cause.

Read our previous post on how acupuncture can help digestive issues, here.

How can acupuncture help gastroparesis?

Acupuncture has been shown to help decrease inflammation, reduce pain, regulate digestion, and speed healing. Recent studies on how acupuncture can help gastroparesis showed patients had improvement in symptoms short term and long-term after receiving acupuncture.

What do the studies say?

In study done in the Journal of Chinese Integrative Medicine, looking at acupuncture versus standard treatment of metoclopramide in postoperative gastroparesis, provided insight on mechanisms of action. This study looked at specific acupoints on how the patient recovered, symptoms, and prognosis. The study showed that patients receiving acupuncture showed a “recovered” status which was reporting no nausea or vomiting symptoms, and could return to normal diet. This was compared to the drug group which reported lower number of participants in the “recovered” group. The study reported, “After 5 days, 80% of the acupuncture versus 60% of the medication group developed feeding tolerance.”

This highlights acupuncture as a safe, effective, and natural way to help patients improve quality of life, reduce symptoms associated with gastroparesis, and regulate digestion.

If you suffer from gastroparesis, we can help!

At Starting Point Acupuncture in Bothell, we specialize in complex and chronic conditions, digestive issues including gastroparesis, being one of them. Call our office today, (425) 686-4498 to set-up your initial consultation to learn how we can help your specific concerns.

Sources:

Uptodate.com

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6516818/

https://www.naturalmedicinejournal.com/journal/2011-02/acupuncture-vs-metoclopramide-postoperative-gastroparesis-syndrome-0

Sun BM, Luo M, Wu SB, et al. Acupuncture versus metoclopramide in treatment of postoperative gastroparesis syndrome in abdominal surgical patients: a randomized controlled trial. J Chin Integr Med. 2010;8(7):641-644.