Gastrointestinal Diseases

The same prescription cannot be used for someone who feels full and has a blocked epigastrium after eating only a little, someone with heartburn and acid reflux, and someone with recurring diarrhea or constipation following gas and abdominal pain.

Soian Korean Medicine Clinic uses the patient's constitution as the basic direction and adjusts the prescription according to the area of discomfort and the currently most distressing symptom. We distinguish and treat whether the focus is reduced gastric motility with postprandial bloating and early satiety, tension and irritation rising from the stomach, or intestinal hypersensitivity with cold-heat and fluid imbalance.

Even if the diagnosis is the same, if the body's response differs, the prescription changes. Conversely, if different diagnoses share the same constitution and functional decline, a common treatment axis can be applied.

It is common for patients to experience recurring post-meal discomfort, chest pain, abdominal bloating, and bowel irregularities even when endoscopy or imaging tests show no major abnormalities. This does not mean that functional dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome are mild or psychosomatic.

Gastrointestinal motility, sensory hypersensitivity, autonomic nervous system and stress responses, and tension in the abdomen and diaphragm interact to create actual discomfort. If structural disease is not detected in tests, the remaining functions must be treated with greater precision.

Soian Korean Medicine Clinic actively treats long-standing dyspepsia by examining constitution, abdominal responses, and changes in eating and bowel habits. Rather than simply advising patients to avoid spicy foods, we focus on restoring the entire flow of eating, digesting, absorbing, and excreting.

The first factor is constitution. We assess usual digestive capacity, appetite, cold or heat sensitivity, sweating, sleep, fatigue, bowel and urinary habits, and food reactions to determine which treatment direction is most suitable.

The second factor is the specific area of discomfort. We distinguish whether the issue involves esophageal or gastric reflux and heartburn, reduced motility in the epigastrium and stomach, or abdominal pain, gas, and defecation problems in the small and large intestines. We also examine the pain patterns in the gallbladder and pancreas areas.

The third factor is the current target symptom. We identify the symptom the patient finds most distressing among bloating, heartburn, acid regurgitation, nausea, reduced appetite, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and constipation, and compare changes before and after treatment.

During abdominal palpation, we examine tension, cold or heat sensations, tenderness, gas, and the degree of abdominal movement during breathing around the epigastrium and navel. By combining the interview findings with abdominal responses, the treatment direction becomes clearer even within the same digestive disorder.

Herbal medicine continuously manages digestive function and overall body condition even during times when the patient is not visiting the clinic for recurring digestive disorders. We establish a basic prescription suited to the patient's constitution and adjust the herbs according to target symptoms such as gastric motility, reflux, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and constipation.

Constitution-based acupuncture regulates tension in the whole body and abdomen, as well as autonomic nervous system responses. We assess how epigastric and abdominal tenderness and bloating change immediately after treatment. If localized tenderness and tension are prominent, acupoint injection is applied in conjunction.

For patients whose diaphragm, abdominal wall, spine, and pelvic movements are stiff, preventing comfortable abdominal movement, we consider visceral Chuna therapy. If whole-body tension easily returns even after general treatment, or if there is a clear response in the abdomen and respiration before and after temporomandibular joint balance adjustment, the temporomandibular joint balance method can be selected.

We do not apply all treatments at once. We determine the most effective combination based on constitution, symptoms, visit frequency, and treatment response.

The course of digestive treatment is not judged by pain scores alone.

• Whether post-meal bloating and early satiety decrease
• Whether the frequency of heartburn and acid reflux decreases
• Whether the range of foods that can be eaten without abdominal pain expands
• Whether diarrhea, constipation, and gas become stable
• Whether the abdomen feels comfortable after bowel movements
• Whether post-meal drowsiness and whole-body fatigue change

The goal is not to force patients to eat large amounts of food unconditionally. We aim for a state where patients can comfortably digest foods suitable for them, their daily activities are not disrupted by meals, and bowel movements occur naturally.