How I was Treated with Hiatal Hernia & Acid Reflux (GERD) Conditions

I’m a male, 48, 5’ 9”, 155 lbs., a non-smoker, and a practicing vegetarian most of the time (my Achilles' heel: sushi. Love it, can't live without it).

Approximately one year ago I was experiencing chest pains and heartburn. The chest pains were such that I thought I was experiencing early warning signs indicating possible heart attack. Relative to the heartburn; it seemed not to matter what I ate, because everything upset my stomach, and also made me belch, incessantly, at times.

Luckily, my high school buddy is also one of the best chiropractors in the Long Island/New York area. Once I explained what was going on within me, he immediately assessed that I was suffering from a “hiatal hernia.”

A hiatal hernia occurs when part of the stomach protrudes up into the chest through the sheet of muscle called the diaphragm. This may result from a weakening of the surrounding tissues and may be aggravated by obesity and/or smoking. Often, people with hiatal hernia also have heartburn or GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disorder). Although there appears to be a link, one condition does not seem to cause the other, because many people have a hiatal hernia without having GERD, and others have GERD without having a hiatal hernia.

My chiropractic friend accurately noted that people with a hiatal hernia sometimes experience chest pains that can easily be confused with the pain of a heart attack. He also detailed a related story of one of his patients. That poor guy was mis-diagnosed by doctors, who did, indeed, attribute his pains to heart problems. Subsequently, they went on to issue a rash of expensive tests and wrongly prescribed drugs, neither of which did a thing to relieve the guy's pain. By accident, he just happened to attend an appointment he made with the chiropractor, for seemingly unrelated back problems, and disclosed his tale of woe. In an instant, the chiropractor examined the guy and correctly pinpointed his condition: hiatal hernia.