01
A burning chest
Sour acid comes up, your chest burns,
and it feels like something is stuck in your throat.
Instead of adding more medication,
toward meals that sit comfortably.
Acid Reflux (GERD) · Bad Breath
A day when you don't regret eating, don't wake up to sour acid in your throat, and don't cover your mouth when talking up close. Getting that day back is the goal of this care.
What we often hear
If your tests are clear but you're still uncomfortable,
there's a place no one has looked at yet.
Many people spend years with the burning coming back every time they stop their medication. Meanwhile they eat less, and their energy drains away too.
02
Stomach medicine for years
You've taken acid blockers for a long time,
but the cough and lump-in-the-throat feeling haven't changed.
03
Bloated after just a little food
The pit of your stomach feels blocked,
and you stay uncomfortable long after eating.
04
Bad breath that won't go away
Even after brushing and a dental cleaning,
you worry about it when talking up close.
05
A hard, tense belly
It hurts when you press around the pit of your stomach and navel,
and your whole body feels heavy and tired.
Suppressing stomach acid is different from finding out why it overflows
Acid-suppressing medication has the advantage of calming the burning quickly.
It's closer to switching off the fire alarm.
Once the alarm is off, things go quiet for now. But the fire itself is still there.
We're not telling you to stop medication you need. We mean that our job is the fire.
We look for where it starts in the blood flowing to the stomach.
When not enough blood reaches the stomach, stomach acid becomes diluted, and diluted acid digests food more slowly.
The body then tries to make up the shortfall with volume.
It overflows not because the acid is too strong, but because it's too weak, so more of it is produced.
So our treatment aims to get blood circulating to the stomach again — with herbal medicine, pharmacopuncture, and visceral Chuna, where we work directly on the abdomen by hand.
Progress varies with each person's condition.
1
The pit of your stomach feels tight
and food often sits badly
Main Symptoms
- • Bloating that lasts long after meals
- • Frequent burping
- • Pain when pressing the pit of the stomach
Diagnosis Pattern
Weak, sluggish stomach with food stagnation — the stomach isn't moving well
Recommended Treatment
A prescription to get the stomach moving
Improves motility to clear stagnation and support digestion.
→ The blocked feeling after even a small meal eases, and your belly softens.
2
Sour acid comes up
and your throat feels uncomfortable
Main Symptoms
- • A burning feeling in the chest
- • A lump in the throat and a dry cough
- • Symptoms get worse in cold air
Diagnosis Pattern
Liver–stomach disharmony — heat rising upward
Recommended Treatment
A prescription to clear heat and protect the lining
Brings down rising heat and calms inflammation of the esophageal lining.
→ Waking up to sour acid becomes less frequent, and the stuck feeling in your throat fades.
3
Your belly feels cold
and your bowel movements are irregular
Main Symptoms
- • Reacts right away to cold food
- • Gurgling sounds in the belly
- • Diarrhea and constipation take turns
Diagnosis Pattern
The intestines are cold and not working well
Recommended Treatment
A prescription to warm the intestines
Warms the belly to even out bowel movements and support absorption.
→ Food spends less time in the stomach, so the odor rising to your mouth eases too.
How we treat
We work toward getting blood circulating to the stomach again.
Personalized herbal medicine
Increases blood flow to the stomach
and revives sluggish movement.
and revives sluggish movement.
Pharmacopuncture
Pharmacopuncture at points connected to the stomach
helps its function come back.
helps its function come back.
Visceral Chuna
We work directly on the abdomen by hand
to release tight areas and support circulation.
to release tight areas and support circulation.
Treatment Process
What happens on your first day
1
We let you feel your own belly
As we check by hand where it's tight and where it hurts, we also check the temperature.
Then we have you place your own hand and feel it. It's quicker to understand when you feel for yourself that this spot and that spot are different temperatures. There's fat on both sides, so if only one side is cold, less blood is reaching that area.
2
We find which stage is blocked
Digestion has three stages: swallowing food down, breaking it down in the stomach, and absorbing it in the small intestine.
The medicine we use depends on which of the three is blocked. We'll point to that stage and explain.
3
We check your neck and posture too
A lump-in-the-throat feeling can't always be explained by the stomach alone.
4
We ask about your sleep and mealtimes
When you eat what, and when you lie down, plays a big part.
5
We tell you what to check first
If there are warning signs, an endoscopy comes first.
Self-check
In 2 minutes, see how your stomach is doing now
Sum up how your stomach has felt over the past two weeks in eight questions.
The result doesn't diagnose a disease. It organizes things so you can bring it to your visit.
Frequently asked questions
Q. My endoscopy was clear. Why does it still hurt?
A. An endoscopy looks for inflammation or ulcers in the lining. It can't show functional problems, like how well the stomach moves or whether enough blood is reaching it. Reduced function may be the cause.
Q. What do you mean the acid is weak, not strong?
A. When not enough blood reaches the stomach, stomach acid becomes diluted. Diluted acid can't digest food on time, so the body tries to make up the shortfall with volume. That extra stomach fluid then overflows upward. It does overflow, but not because it's strong. It's weak, so more is produced, and then it overflows.
질문 9개 더 보기 접기
Q. I feel bloated after meals and keep burping.
A. This is when, on top of the acid problem, the stomach also isn't moving well physically. Food sits instead of moving down, gas builds up, and the burping keeps coming. In this case we combine herbal medicine with visceral Chuna, where we work on the abdomen by hand.
Q. Is it okay to keep taking acid blockers?
A. Sometimes they're needed. We don't recommend stopping suddenly on your own.
When acid secretion is suppressed, the body keeps stockpiling signals telling it to make acid. If the medication is then removed, everything that built up is released at once, and things can actually get worse. One study found that even in healthy people with no reflux symptoms at all, 44% developed symptoms after taking the medication for 8 weeks and then stopping (summary of the evidence).
So we start while you keep taking your current medication as is. When it's time to cut down, we'll guide you to talk it over with the prescriber, bringing your records with you. How much and how fast to reduce is for the prescriber to decide. Our part is helping your body get to where that decision becomes possible.
Q. Can herbal medicine help?
A. When the approach is to help the stomach move on its own rather than to suppress symptoms, it often helps. But it depends on your condition, so we'll check during your visit and tell you.
Q. I brush well, but I still have bad breath.
A. The first step is to have a dentist check your gums and teeth for problems. If they say everything is fine and the odor still won't go away, we look at your stomach too. When digestion is slow and food stays a long time, the odor can rise upward.
Q. Will I never be able to eat wheat-based foods again?
A. It's best to avoid them during treatment, but once your stomach function recovers, having them now and then is fine.
Q. I cough at night, but it's not a cold.
A. Even with a cold, you cough less while you sleep, because the brain switches off the cough reflex during sleep. But it can't switch off the airway irritation caused by reflux. That's why you cough at night, and it's worse when you lie down. Some people come in for a nighttime cough alone, and it turns out to be reflux.
Q. My stomach is the main issue, but my bowel movements are irregular too.
A. That's a symptom that tends to come along with it. When a lot of stomach acid is being produced, the acidity is off further down as well. So people with reflux often have bowel problems too, whether constipation or diarrhea. When you have to go right after eating or can't hold it for long, we call it "stinging stools." We don't look only at the stomach and forget what's below.
Q. Even when I'm full, I keep wanting to eat, and I crave sweets.
A. When food is absorbed well, the brain sends a signal to stop eating. When it isn't absorbed, a signal to eat more goes out instead. That's why you keep wanting to eat even when your stomach feels full, and why sweets in particular are so tempting. We don't see it as a matter of willpower.
Q. Herbal medicine is a liquid. Won't it make the reflux worse?
A. It can, so we ask first and then decide. Sometimes liquids can actually trigger reflux. We adjust when you take it and how much, or switch to a different form. If it bothers you after you try it, please tell us right away. Putting up with it won't help.
Acid Reflux (GERD) · Bad Breath 건강 칼럼
의료진이 직접 전하는 건강 정보입니다.
Column
Acid that comes up the moment you lie down: three things you can change tonight
During the day it's more or less manageable. The problem is the moment you lie down. So you stack two or three pillows, and some nights you fall asleep propped up on the sofa. When you lie down, the esophagus and stomach become level, and during sleep you swallow less of the saliva that washes acid back down. Three ways to reverse those conditions have been confirmed with numbers.
Column
The night you skipped your stomach medicine: why did it get worse?
I've been feeling a bit better lately, so maybe I'll skip it tonight. Then a few nights later, you wake up to acid worse than before. Drinking water in the early hours, you conclude: my stomach just can't do without the medicine. But that night may not be proof that your stomach is broken. It may be a predictable reaction that happens when a medication is suddenly taken away.
Column
Acid that comes back up when you stop the medication
It's fine while you take the medication, but within a week or two of stopping, it comes back up. There's a mechanism behind this called rebound. Even in healthy people with no reflux symptoms at all, 44% developed acid regurgitation and heartburn after taking an acid-suppressing drug for 8 weeks and then stopping. We've summarized the evidence on what you can do without stopping your medication on your own.
Health column
Our articles on acid reflux and bad breath
We've written up the questions we hear most often in practice, one per article.
Feel free to start with whatever you're most curious about.