From the Mayo Clinic website: Achalasia is a rare disorder that makes it difficult for food and liquid to pass through the swallowing tube connecting the mouth and stomach (esophagus).
My question: Can restricted esophageal fascia be a major factor in achalasia?
A thirty-year-old woman presents with achalasia. She has chronic tightness in her throat and chest, and her condition has worsened over the years. She is desperately trying to avoid invasive surgery.
She had some reflux as an infant, but nothing extraordinary. When she was five or six, she swallowed a hard candy that became lodged at the base of her esophagus.
Her grandparents called for an ambulance, but she did not go to the hospital because the candy cleared after ten minutes. But after that incident, she developed stomach pain, and her symptoms got worse over time.
After extensive testing at ten years of age, doctors diagnosed her with achalasia. They did a balloon dilation of her lower esophageal sphincter (LES) which only offered temporary help. Knowing that stretching the fascia does not release it, I would not have expected this approach is be corrective.
On my evaluation she had a sixty-second brain cycle, but severe fascial strain from her throat down to her stomach and out into her ribcage.
In therapy fascial strain started to release, and by the end of the session, her upper body felt looser. The question is: Was the esophagus part of that looseness?
On a follow-up phone call, she was puzzled because she felt I had not done much in the session, but she felt significant change in her body. Her ribcage felt different, but there was no change in her esophagus. Since that organ is deeper in the body, more sessions may be needed to evaluate the possibility of success.
"Disease begins in the fascia."
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