Chinese Medicine • Ballina NSW
Digestive Acupuncture
Gut symptoms have a way of taking over your life without anyone being able to tell you exactly why. Tests come back unremarkable. You’re given a diagnosis that describes what you have but not what’s driving it.
Or you’ve been managing things on your own for years, cutting foods out one by one, and you’re still not right.
Chinese medicine approaches digestion differently. We identify the root cause, not just the downstream effects.
Where You Are Right Now
Most people arrive at Chinese medicine after months or years of managing gut symptoms. Whichever point you’re at, there’s a way in.
Tests come back normal
Your bloods and scans: all clear. You’re still bloated most evenings, your bowel habits are unpredictable, and you’re not imagining it. Chinese medicine works when tests show nothing.
Have diagnosis, but not relief
IBS, GERD, IBD. You know what it’s called, and medication is taking the edge off. But you’re still managing around your gut rather than living without thinking about it.
Tried elimination diets
FODMAP, low-histamine, maybe both. You’re eating a very restricted diet and still not comfortable. The food keeps getting blamed for a problem that sits somewhere else in the system.
Stress makes symptoms worse
It’s fine until a deadline hits, a difficult week, or a single hard conversation. Then the gut falls apart. Chinese medicine excels at this type of symptoms.
Medications stopped working
PPIs, antispasmodics, laxatives. They helped at first. Now you’re taking them just to stay level, and you’re wondering what else is actually possible.
Got sick once, been off since
A gastro bug, a course of antibiotics, a period of intense stress. Something shifted in your gut and it hasn’t come back.
What We Treat
We treat the full range of digestive conditions with acupuncture and Chinese herbs tailored to the root pattern, not just the symptom.
IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome)
Stress triggers it, food restriction manages it, but the root rarely gets addressed. Acupuncture has the strongest evidence base for IBS of any digestive condition in Chinese medicine.
Bloating and Indigestion
Food sits heavy after meals, the abdomen distends, digestion feels effortful. Usually a Spleen deficiency picture, sometimes with Liver involvement when stress makes it worse.
Acid Reflux and GERD
Stomach Qi moving upward instead of down. Acupuncture redirects it, while herbs and diet address whether the cause is heat, stress, or constitutional deficiency.
Constipation
Not all constipation is the same. Four distinct patterns in Chinese medicine, four distinct treatment approaches: dry-type, stagnation, cold, and deficiency.
SIBO and Gut Dysbiosis
Bacterial overgrowth in a weakened system that can't clear it. Treatment addresses the Spleen deficiency and Damp accumulation that made the overgrowth possible.
Crohn's Disease
Gastroenterologist-led care stays primary. Chinese medicine adds meaningful support for fatigue, pain, and quality of life through both flares and remission.
Ulcerative Colitis
Active flares need medical management. Between flares, Chinese medicine works on the Spleen-Kidney deficiency that drives the relapsing pattern.
Diverticulitis
Bowel inflammation with structural change. Chinese medicine supports motility, reduces the inflammation load, and addresses constitutional weakness alongside medical care.
Haemorrhoids
Usually a combination of Damp-Heat and deficient Qi failing to hold. Acupuncture and herbs reduce swelling and treat the root pattern driving recurrence.
Bloating
Abdominal fullness and gas that doesn't resolve. Food and fluid stagnate when the Spleen isn't transforming properly. That's where treatment starts.
Diarrhea and Loose Stools
Chronic loose stools signal Spleen Qi deficiency, often combined with cold or damp. Treatment restores the Spleen's transformative function rather than just slowing the bowel.
Parasites
Gut infections and parasites deplete the system and leave lasting dysbiosis. Chinese herbal medicine addresses both the acute phase and the recovery from it.
The Gut-Brain Connection
The gut and the brain communicate in both directions. Stress tightens the gut. A struggling digestive system disturbs mood, sleep, and concentration. Chinese medicine has mapped this relationship for thousands of years through the Liver-Spleen connection and the Heart-Spleen pathway.
The Liver-Spleen disharmony pattern is one of the most common presentations in clinic. Stress disrupts digestion directly. Cortisol affects motility. Anxiety changes gut permeability. In Chinese medicine terms: the Liver becomes constrained under stress and overacts on the Spleen, and the gut immediately suffers. The Heart-Spleen connection adds another dimension. Overthinking and sustained anxiety directly deplete Spleen Qi. Patients with anxiety and gut symptoms often present with both as a single pattern, not two separate problems.
Find the root, not just avoid symptomatic food
Food elimination manages symptoms. It doesn’t resolve the pattern creating them. Chinese medicine asks why certain foods are causing reactions, what the underlying deficiency or accumulation is, and what it would take to restore your body’s capacity to digest properly.
Same Western diagnosis, different TCM pattern. Two patients with bloating can look completely different: one is cold, worse after meals, with a pale tongue, pointing toward Spleen Yang deficiency. Another runs warm, has stress-triggered symptoms and a bitter taste, pointing toward Liver-Spleen disharmony with Damp-Heat. Both have bloating. The treatment is different. A generic elimination list won’t address that distinction. Pattern-based medicine does.
We treat the person, not just the symptoms
Chinese medicine doesn’t isolate a gut symptom from the person experiencing it. Your sleep, stress levels, energy, and emotional life are all part of the clinical picture. The pattern behind your bloating or IBS often extends well beyond the gut itself. Treating the whole pattern is what produces lasting change rather than ongoing symptom management.
This matters practically. If stress is driving the Liver overacting on Spleen, addressing only the gut leaves the root untouched. If Spleen deficiency is building Damp and disrupting sleep and concentration, treating those together changes the trajectory. Chinese medicine treats the system, not the organ.
What Treatment Looks Like
The first appointment runs 75 to 90 minutes. Most of that is history: when symptoms started, what makes them better or worse, how stress, diet, sleep, and energy all interact with what’s happening in the gut. Tongue and pulse add diagnostic information that the history alone doesn’t fully capture. Digestive cases often have quite distinctive tongue signs: a thick coat points to Damp or food stagnation; a pale body suggests Spleen Qi or Yang deficiency; cracks through the centre point toward Yin deficiency.
Acupuncture leads the treatment. Points on the abdomen, limbs, and back address the pattern driving the symptoms. Most patients find acupuncture deeply relaxing, which is itself part of the therapeutic work for stress-related gut presentations.
Chinese herbal medicine is often prescribed alongside acupuncture, particularly for digestive cases where daily treatment between sessions adds meaningful benefit. Formulas are built to the pattern and adjusted as the pattern shifts.
Dietary guidance is practical and pattern-specific. Not a generic elimination list. Guidance based on what your particular pattern actually needs: warming and cooked foods if there’s Spleen Yang deficiency, less Damp-forming food if Damp accumulation is the central issue, and a realistic approach to what you can sustain over time.
Realistic timeframes: IBS and bloating often show clear response within 6 to 8 sessions. Reflux and constipation are similar. SIBO and complex dysbiosis patterns take longer, typically 3 to 6 months of consistent treatment. IBD is adjunct support that continues alongside gastroenterologist care.
Eric (AHPRA CMR0002758292) is happy to write clinical notes if your treating GP or gastroenterologist finds that useful.
Common Questions
What does acupuncture actually do for digestion?
Acupuncture influences the nervous system, reduces the inflammatory response in the gut, and regulates gut motility. These effects have been studied in the context of IBS and functional gut disorders. From a Chinese medicine perspective, needling specific points restores normal Qi flow through the digestive organs, clears Damp and food stagnation, and supports the Spleen and Stomach’s functional capacity. Both maps point toward the same outcome.
How does Chinese medicine explain IBS?
The most common pattern is Liver overacting on Spleen: stress directly disrupts digestive function, producing alternating bowel habits, cramping, and bloating. Spleen Qi deficiency with Damp is the other major root, producing chronic loose stools, fatigue, and poor appetite. The pattern is identified through tongue, pulse, and symptom history. Two people with IBS often have different patterns and different treatment plans.
Can Chinese medicine help if my tests came back normal?
Yes. Many of the presentations seen most often in clinic, including bloating, functional constipation, reflux with a negative scope, and IBS, are conditions where conventional testing doesn’t capture the functional problem. Chinese medicine is particularly suited to these presentations because it works with functional patterns rather than structural findings.
Will I need to change my diet?
Usually, yes, but the guidance is specific to your pattern, not a generic restriction list. Some patients with Spleen Qi deficiency need warm, cooked food and less raw salad. Others with Damp accumulation need to reduce dairy and sugar. The goal is a framework that makes sense of your symptoms and that you can actually live with.
How does Chinese medicine approach SIBO?
SIBO maps closely to the Spleen Qi deficiency and Damp accumulation pattern. Treatment focuses on strengthening the Spleen, resolving Damp, and addressing the constitutional weakness that makes bacterial overgrowth recurrent. This works best alongside appropriate medical treatment, not instead of it.
Can acupuncture help Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis?
As adjunct support alongside gastroenterologist-led care, yes. Chinese medicine can help manage the symptom burden during remission, support energy and mood, and address the fatigue and pain that accompany IBD. It is not a replacement for medical management.
Where are you located and how do I book?
Kentro Health is at 18 Cherry St, Ballina NSW 2478. Patients come from Ballina, Byron Bay, Lennox Head, Bangalow, and across the Northern Rivers. Book online at drhigashino.com/bookings/ or call 0411 864 736.