Hiatal Hernia treatment with acupuncture

Patient came to seek treatment for complaints with hiatal hernia and heartburn.

Patient is an avid athlete, involved with surfing, kite surfing and paddle boarding all year long. His symptoms started 3 years ago and patient was told to follow a low acid diet and was given medications to control his heartburn symptoms. However he did not want to rely on medications and was wondering whether acupuncture could help his symptoms.

Upon questioning he revealed that he had a kite surfing injury 3.5 years ago where he got slammed against his board and broke his ribs in the front. He never got proper treatments for it and decided to let the ribs heal on their own, because “it wasn’t that bad and I didn’t want to stop surfing in mid July”

Upon checking his posture, he displayed a forward tilt of his pelvis and a noticeable bump on the fractured site. After all his ribs never really healed properly (ouch). 

This made me think that his diaphragm, that attaches to the lumbar spine in the back, to the sternum in the front and to the ribs in the sides may be pulling the diaphragm out of its natural alignment, therefore letting the stomach pass through it.
(The diaphragm is a double-domed muscle, separates the thoracic cavity from the abdominal cavity, assists the breathing and the food pipe (esophagus) passes through it. The diaphragm also acts as a physiological sphincter to prevent reflux of gastric contents into the esophagus.)

For treatment I picked  Motor Points of the low back, the core and the pelvis to help correct his postural alignment, I used Trigger Points to release the diaphragm (it twitched a lot!) and I also used Traditional Acupuncture Points to calm his nervous system and to support his overall digestion. 
​
We sealed the treatment with this exercise: 

​After a few treatments patient reported lessening of his original heartburn symptoms. 

related post: Broken rib treatment with acupuncture and herbs