Months of Mysterious Abdominal Pain.
Went through all the testing and examinations, nothing found.
Strong, sharp pain when sitting and relaxing with an empty stomach.
A symptom that started after moving across the world; the dull pain that started only in the left side started to spread across the whole abdomen.
This is an intro to a real story of a patient who came to our clinic, placing their last hope in finding the real cause of this pain after several hospital visits failed.
At the time, the patient was a 45-year-old male, moved to Atlanta a few months earlier. He visited a family clinic where he underwent blood tests and X-rays, but no significant abnormalities were found. He was told he just had gas in his stomach and intestines and was prescribed dietary fiber. However, his symptoms didn’t improve.
He has been working a desk job for over 20 years with little regular exercise routines. After moving to Atlanta, his lifestyle became even more sedentary due to car transportation. In addition to the abdominal pain, he also suffered from chronic shoulder stiffness and headaches.
Upon examining, we found his neck and shoulder muscles were extremely tight, causing headaches. In the abdominal area, there was a significant tension across a wide region extending from the left side of the abdomen to the lower back. He especially felt strong pain from the area beside the belly button down to the hip joint. In addition, he had difficulty raising his left leg, with a limited range of motion in the left hip joint.
From the X-ray, we discovered his pelvis was significantly tilted downward on the right side, and his lumbar spine was twisted toward the left. Because of this, the nerves, muscles, and his organs on the left side were placed under pressure. In addition, his spine showed a S-shaped curvature, disrupting the overall balance of the body; and his hunched back posture chronically compressed the abdominal area. On top of these conditions, several lifestyle factors contributed to his symptoms: long hours of sitting with poor posture, a car dependent lifestyle, physical and mental fatigue after moving, lack of exercise… All these factors reduced mobility in his left hip joint and sacroiliac joint, causing excessive tension in the iliopsoas muscles. Combination of this prolonged muscle tension was causing his persistent dull abdominal pain.
Starting the treatment, we first restored the balance of the spine and pelvis and adjusted the left hip point, where mobility was restricted. Then, we performed treatment to relax the deep abdominal tissues, where it was excessively tight. We also taught him posture correction and hip stretches to do at home.
At a follow-up visit three days later, the pain in the lower abdomen and hip had almost completely subsided. However, since a slight discomfort remained in the enter of the abdomen, further spinal adjustments and focused treatment to correct his posture was done to relieve abdominal compression. Within a few days, the discomfort disappeared as well.
The cause of this mysterious abdominal pain was excessive tension in the iliopsoas muscle, located deep within the abdomen. While this condition is well known as a cause of lower back pain, it can also cause abdominal pain and constipation. If medical examinations show no issues but symptoms like back pain and abdominal pain persist, posture and pelvic misalignment may be contributing factors. If you continue to experience unexplained pain or discomfort, feel free to consult our clinic.
Chronic physical pain can make daily life feel heavy and filled with anxiety. If you are having mysterious internal pain but no cause is found, it may be worth turning your attention to your posture and body alignment—the external aspects of your body. You might find the source of your pain somewhere unexpected.
Patient Testimonial:
“After moving abroad, I suffered from intermittent side pain. I went to doctors and had X-rays taken, but the cause was unclear, and I didn’t know what to do. That’s when I found Atlanta Yajima Chiropractic. They carefully listened to details about my posture and pain and not only treated the affected area but also advised me on daily stretching methods. Thanks to their help, my condition improved.”
Chiropractor Yoshiro Yajima
