My Endoscopy Was Normal, but My Digestion Is Still Poor. What Should I Look At?

Key points in 30 seconds

1. A normal endoscopy doesn't mean there's no cause.
2. The position of the neck and back is sometimes connected to digestion.
3. We check by hand first, and if needed, look at the position of the bones with imaging.
4. Even the same curve is handled differently when the cause is different.
5. If you haven't had digestive tests yet, those come first.

What we often hear

• "My endoscopy was normal, but I keep feeling bloated."
• "It's only okay while I'm on medication, and then it comes right back."
• "Even after eating a little, the pit of my stomach feels blocked."

My endoscopy was normal, but my digestion is still poor. What should I look at?

We look outside the stomach for a cause the stomach itself doesn't show. The position of the neck and back, and the way you breathe, are sometimes connected to digestion.

People come to us after several endoscopies showed nothing clear and they were told it's "just nerves." Hearing that usually makes them more frustrated. It doesn't mean there's no cause; it means that test can't see it. But the explanation stops there.

Can neck pain be connected to poor digestion?

Sometimes it is. Nerves involved in the movement of the internal organs pass near the neck vertebrae, and when the back is rounded, the space in the abdomen is squeezed.

One person we saw in the clinic had both poor digestion and headaches. When we asked about possible causes, they said their neck and shoulders were always stiff and sore. Digestive medicine didn't help much, and the headaches had gone on for a long time.

Looked at separately, neck and shoulder stiffness, headaches, and digestive discomfort each seem like a problem for a different specialty. But looked at together, they sometimes point to one place.

How do you check?

First we check movement and strength by hand. If this suggests a structural problem, we look at the position of the bones with imaging.

This person had reduced flexibility and strength. Since it was hard to see this as simple muscle fatigue, we also took images, which showed the spine was curved sideways.

Is every scoliosis the same?

No. Scoliosis that appears without a known cause and scoliosis that forms as the body makes up for a misalignment elsewhere are handled differently.

This person's case was the second kind. As the balance of the pelvis and neck vertebrae broke down, the body curved sideways to make up for it. Since the curve didn't appear without a cause, working on the pelvis and neck was itself a way of working on the curve.

Misalignment of the upper spine overlaps with where nerves close to the stomach pass. That's why we looked at digestion and the shape of the back together.

In medical terms, the first is called idiopathic scoliosis and the second compensatory scoliosis.

What are the limits of this judgment?

We can't say for certain that working on the spine improves digestion. We saw both get better together; that doesn't prove one fixed the other.

An important point to add. This applies to people who have already had digestive tests, including endoscopy. Skipping those tests and looking at body shape first is the wrong order. If you're losing weight, having trouble swallowing, passing black stools, or waking up at night with pain, digestive tests come first.

We look outside the stomach too. The position of the neck and back, and the way you breathe, are sometimes connected to digestion.

If your endoscopy was normal but your stomach still feels off, come see us. We don't stop at "it's just nerves"; we look for where to look.

How much things improve together differs from person to person, depending on how many areas are involved and how long it has been going on.