How Posture Affects Stomach Issues

by | Dec 27, 2013 | Digestive Health, Restorative Exercise | 0 comments

Stomach Ptosis
Kyphosis is the natural curve of the thoracic spine.  The abnormal excessive anterior curvature of the thoracic spine (think rounded upper back) is referred to as hyperkyphosis, acquired or excessive kyphosis.  Excessive kyphosis can lead to osteoporosis, headaches, shoulder impingement, neck pain, impaired breathing, impaired digestion, intrathoracic stomach, and impaired heart and lung function.  It can also lead to gastric ptosis (lengthening of the stomach).  Contrary to popular belief, the stomach is not the size of your fist; it’s much larger.  The fundus (top) of the stomach starts between the fifth and sixth rib on the left side, and the antrum (lower portion) is about level with the midpoint between L2 and L3 (the second and third lumbar vertebrae).
Happy Stomach

Above:  An X-ray of my stomach with contrast dye to make the stomach stand out.

With Ptosis, the stomach can descend all the way into the pelvic cavity (see the black line on the photo below) and lose its tone and function.  Ptosis is different than prolapse in that with ptosis the top of the stomach stays near the diaphragm, but the lower part of the stomach descends toward or into the pelvic area.
forces applied to the stomach

Symptoms of gastric ptosis may include:

flatulence, heaviness after meals, difficulty sleeping on the stomach, need to loosen the belt while eating, reflux, headaches after a large meal, rib and vertebral pain around T6, belching, and strong hunger when eating.
Radiography may reveal a very long stomach that extends all the way to the pubis!  See an image of stomach ptosis (image a) on this page {click}.  You can also see the small intestines (image b) and large (image c) intestines prolapsed into the pelvic area. Even though these images are from someone with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a group of disorders that affect connective tissues, they demonstrate prolapses and ptosis very clearly.
kyphosis slouching stomach
“Acquired kyphosis (exaggeration of the normal curve of the thoracic spine) can also contribute to gastric ptosis, in a manner analogous to that of a tie which moves down as you lean forward,”- Jean-Pierre Barral, D.O.

Another factor may be a retroverted uterus.  (Side note: I’m starting to suspect that a posteriorly tilted pelvis is the number one contributor to retroversions.) With a retroverted uterus, the small intestines descend into the space where the uterus should be, pulling the stomach down with it.  All organs are directly or indirectly attached to other organs and structures. The stomach is attached to the liver, spleen, duodenum, and diaphragm via ligaments; the diaphragm is attached to the rib cage, spine, and sternum—alignment matters. For optimal function, internal organs need to move with fluidity and specific motions, and slide and glide in relation to surrounding tissue without restriction. They need mobility from external sources, such as the diaphragm’s motion during respiration or the beating heart. They also need fluid motility, which is their unique intrinsic movement. The motility is an active movement that the trained hand can actually feel. The motion traces the path the organ takes during embryological development and migration. Combining a posteriorly tilted pelvis with excessive kyphosis of the thoracic spine is not fun for the organs. Your structural alignment affects blood and lymph flow as well as the internal pressure system.

Some non-alignment causes of gastric ptosis include abdominal scarring from surgery or trauma, infection-related inflammation, and not chewing your food and eating too quickly.  Not chewing your food, or eating too quickly, a few times may not cause your stomach to lose tone, but if you eat like a petit cochon regularly (petit cochon is a sweet French way of calling someone a little piggy), the stomach will lose its ability to bounce back.  The stomach needs tone to churn during digestion mechanically.  There’s also a chemical component to digestion that is affected by the stretch of the cholinergic fibers of the stomach.

Who Knew?

Who Knew?

If you have gastric ptosis, Visceral Manipulation™ may help.  I combine whole body alignment exercises with Visceral Manipulation™ to address the structural and visceral causes of your digestive complaints.

abdominal scar massage class

Q&A

Question: Barbara, Awesome info. I’m pretty sure between kyphosis, tucked pelvis, and three c sections I have an internal organ hell brewing. If you are working on alignment does it help your stomach go back up? Or does it just stay stretched? Forever? What possible effects would c sections have? Thanks for the info. I’m eating up any info on correcting kyphosis.
Answer: If the stomach has lost its tone, it may not rebound to its natural state, but alignment and visceral work can help its function. I have worked with gastric ptosis before that did improve significantly, but it may have had to do with release from restriction. I suspect she had adhesions from her C-section pulling the stomach down via the greater omentum. In fact, I felt a drag from the C-section scar.
Loss of tone is different than organ position, so yes, alignment work will help organ position (think of the tie analogy) and help prevent loss of tone. In this case, scar massage may help.
See that’s what I’m wondering after 3 c sections what is going on In there or what might be going on. I’m def. going to be working on alignment but I would like to look more into this massage thing. Or just request to have all that area checked out 🙂 and then find someone close to me that does what you do… 🙂
Answer: The DR. probably won’t be able to tell if you have adhesions unless they do a laparoscopy, which unfortunately would cause more adhesions. You may want to get treatments from a Visceral Manipulation™ Therapist or osteopathic physician trained in Visceral Manipulation. You can search by location for a Visceral Manipulation™ practitioner on the Barral Institute website. If you are interested in learning self-care abdominal massage, I  teach self-abdominal massage for scar tissue in the Free The Belly course.

Author: Barbara Horsley has more than 26 years of experience as a licensed massage therapist. She specializes in abdominal massage and Visceral Manipulation™ and is an NCBTMB-approved educator. In addition to being certified in abdominal massage, she also studied biomechanics and restorative exercise. She is also a Certified Women’s Herbal Educator and a graduate of the IWHI Perimenopause & Menopause Certificate Program.