Hi Charmaine,
It sounds like aggressive ab exercises are a no-go. Rather work on gently building core strength by pulling your belly button in gently towards the spine as often as possible, and swapping your chair for an exercise ball. Here is another move experts recommend:
Start your morning off with a cup of warm water (it is important that this is water and not any other liquid) While standing, hold your arms out to your sides and then bend your elbows so that your hands are touching your chest. Stand up onto your toes, stretching as high up as possible, then drop back down. You should feel a slight jolt as you do so. Drop down about 10 times in a row. After this, stand with your arms up and pant short quick breathes for about 10-15 seconds. The water acts as a weight, and its warmth helps relax the stomach. Raising your arms and bending your elbows stretches the diaphragm and opens up the hiatus. The jolt as you drop down pulls the stomach out of the hiatus and the panting tightens up the diaphragm and helps the hiatus to close up.
Here are a few additional tips you may or may not have heard already:
• Make your midday meal your largest meal, and do not eat after 5pm. This should solve indigestion problems.
• Eat 6 small meals instead of 3 big ones. This keeps your stomach full, which will reduce gastric pressure.
• Eat slowly!!
• Avoid bending over soon after eating, this may result in regurgitating the food.
• Use an antacid. Antacids will work very quickly on heartburn you may be experiencing because of the hiatus hernia.
• Don’t wear clothing that constricts the stomach. This will squeeze the abdomen, forcing food up against the hernia and cause food to reflux into the espohagus.
• Don’t smoke!!! Smoking stimulates the production of stomach acids.
• Eat easy to digest foods. This includes fruit; rice; steamed vegetables; seeds and grains; aged cheeses; yogurt and cottage cheese. Vegetable juices are also great because digestion is limited. Make a point to avoid fried foods and stop eating meat.
• Eat more dried fig, fresh pineapple and dried or fresh papaya. These foods are loaded with digestive enzymes.
• Raise your head at night, sleep on a thicker pillow, or stack up two thin ones.
• Chiropractic adjustments can help.
• Reduce stress. Mediation, relaxation, music, reading or just some plain old time alone can really make a difference.
• Multiple digestive enzyme tablets may help. Betaine hydrochloric acid tablets may also work. If your stomach acid is lacking, it can lead to heartburn, indigestion, acid reflux, bloating and gas. Insufficient stomach acid means that pepsin cannot properly digest our protein foods.
• The homeopathic remedy (and Schuessler Cell Salt) Natrum Phos, 6X, may help.
• Avoid activities that cause abdominal strain.
This includes heavy lifting and straining during bowel movements. If you must lift something that is heavy, bend your knees and lift with your legs and don’t bend at the waist to lift a heavy object. If straining during your bowel movements, consider taking a stool softener
• Try to see what will happen if you stop drinking tea and coffee for couple of weeks. You maybe surprised by results. For me heartburn is guaranteed if I have more than one cup of tea a day.
• Make sure that you have enough good vitamins in your diet. This will help your body to relieve stress
