What a lot of people don't know about recovering from a digestive system disease like Celiac, IBS or leaky gut is that there are often underlying chronic illnesses that pop up related to the damage done by these diseases, to organs and tissues. Doctors routinely offer prescription drugs to manage symptoms and even suggest elective surgeries that have a small rate of success in managing symptoms but most natural remedies are rarely discussed and can be more effective with no negative side-effects and are nearly risk free.
Through my recovery, I was determined to heal my body completely and educated myself extensively on every means to do so and found several things that were so simple and effective I was floored.
One of them was self administered abdominal massage and it changed my life!
Due to years of damage from undiagnosed Celiac disease, my digestion was wrecked! Not only did I have to re-learn what to eat to regain my health but I had constant abdominal pain that several doctors were unable to help with. One of the natural treatments I found was this simple practice of massaging your own abdomen to assist your peristalsis (the natural movement cycle of your intestines) and massage internal organs to assist in detoxification and healing. Once I started making it a daily routine my pain completely disappeared and my digestion improved noticeably on the first try!
There are massage and other natural healers who specialize in this practice to help you more but I'll describe the very simple version that works wonders for me. Please do talk to your physician before trying this to ensure it's safe for you.
First, lie down comfortably on your back with your legs bent up to relax your abdominal muscles.
Then, start to massage in small circles, starting on your right side, inside your hip bone, and moving up your abdomen, following your rib cage, across the top and back down your left side.
Repeat this cycle as many times as you'd like or until you feel relief. The best part about this practice is you can customize it to work best for you by altering the pressure you're using and speed to massage areas more or less, depending on how you feel. You can use your fingertips or balled up fists to massage as you go around and you may even notice that you will begin to find specific places that are typically sore or seem constricted.
The bonus of this practice is that it also connects you to your body when you may have been avoiding or trying to ignore the sensations that are painful and uncomfortable, but it's important to notice them and receive the critical messages they give you about your health and how to best treat yourself.
I hope this technique helps you too!