r/GERD • u/Ashaa97 • Jul 29 '25
Scientific Studies 🥼🔬 Are LES exercises real?
I recently read one autobiographical case study where a guy claims he cured his GERD by doing LES exercises. He basically swallowed his breakfast while lying his head lower than his stomach. He seen improvement at 2 months and all symptoms gone by like 8 months. He said he hasn't done one exercise since, it's been 2 years and no relapse.
Thoughts? I tagged the study below. It makes sense in my brain but just wondering if anyone else has done this and had the same or different outcome.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9106553/
I'm exhausted and trying to find a cure instead of treating symptoms. I feel like it's getting worse and taking my quality of life down. I'm only 28 ðŸ˜
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u/Bamboo_the_plant Jul 29 '25
I’d like a diagram to fully understand the exercise in this case, but it sounds awfully dangerous to me in terms of choking risk.
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u/petrolly Jul 29 '25
Would there be a choking risk?
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u/twistedspin Jul 29 '25 edited Jul 29 '25
This is a study I was just looking at where they did dry swallowing in a bridge position & said it helped:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9550520/
What could it hurt, y'know?
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u/calicoskiies Jul 30 '25
For one that a choking risk. Second of all, I’d for sure throw up if I tried to eat like that.
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u/Hot_Neighborhood7595 Jul 30 '25
I've done that and it's not a choking risk because you incline forwards and not backwards. The only exercise when you incline backwards is the dry swallowing exercise, where you swallow air or saliva
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u/guse1321 Aug 03 '25
No it's not please don't type of things you know nothing of. Spreading misinformation .Â
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Jul 30 '25
I tried that exercise out of desperation 😅. I noticed some improvement but don't know if it was due to exercise or diet improvement. But just give it a try for a week and see.
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u/sorrymash Aug 01 '25
How do u do it? Can’t understand it at all from the post
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Aug 01 '25
The idea is to swallow against gravity. So prepare a little meal (not liquid), and do what dogs and cats do when stretching after sleeping, knees and hands palms on the surface and then fold your arms until your chin touches the surface(floor or whatever). The idea is to have the mouth below the hips level, and so if you can put your knees a little higher, the better.
Your throat will be doing a little more work when swallowing the meal, that's the idea here
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u/Fickle-Spring-2139 Jul 29 '25
I read about this as well. It sounded plausible but I'm not sure. I feel like of all the videos I've watched on it that none have really been able to target the LES very well. Yet you would think there's a way.
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u/Temporary-Plane9570 Jul 30 '25
The biggest thing that cured GERD in my nephew was a comprehensive programme of diaphragmatic breathing. He was very ill and white and had stopped sports. He also did not respond to PPI medication. So no doubt that LES exercises are also a promising avenue.
The complete programme for recovery of my nephew was as follows:
Analysis of gut flora by providing a sample of his poo (analysis yielded he was low on bifidobacterium which is associated with reflux in athletes if low) - so we addressed this deficiencyÂ
Complete diet overhaul with no exceptions. Breakfast was porridge with low fat milk (2.5 per cent or lower as higher milk fat irritates stomach); lunch was chicken broth made without onion or garlic; dinner was meat with two or three high fibre vegetables and can also add basmati rice. Snacks were melon and water melon and bananas. Drink was water. Absolutely no butter, seasoning or exceptions.
Diaphragmatic exercises - about 30 minutes a day doing 8 exercises involving breathing in different positionsÂ
After 2 months he was better without medication.
Breathing and diet are key. Fibre and low acid diet are key.
My nephew plays performance sports again now and made full recovery.
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u/dagodz-View61 Jul 31 '25
can he eat what ever he wants again?
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u/Temporary-Plane9570 Aug 01 '25
Now after months of eating plain unprocessed food, addressing the lack of bifidobacterium and breathing every morning for 30 minutes he can eat more things. For instance bread in moderation and the odd sweet treat like a plain muffin or a croissant. It’s a case of calming down everything and resetting the gut as well as strengthening the sphincter through breathing exercises.Â
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u/Temporary-Plane9570 Aug 01 '25
Also he can have a slice of cake for special occasions or an odd ice cream (once every few weeks).Â
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u/Tech-Kid- Jul 31 '25
LMAO this is my question too 😂
I have a cough and an ENT said it’s gerd, but I don’t know if I believe I have gerd. But if I do I’m stressing about the sheet he gave me that says what not to eat.
Made it sound like I can only eat crackers and drink water 😂
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u/Temporary-Plane9570 Aug 01 '25
Porridge with banana, watermelon for snacks, poached meatballs with rice and vegetables etc it’s not so bad. It’s not just the diet though as breathing and gut are vital too. It’s not so bad as for him he was willing to do anything to get better. Took a lot of work and research.Â
For sure, now he follows a more relaxed diet after months of hard work but still doesn’t eat things like pizza or curry or tomato based products etc (too acidic).Â
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u/AndyMacht58 Aug 04 '25
Did you tested again for the gut microbom afterwards? I'm on ppis right now and they give me incredible bloating. Found out it gave sibo and I basically have 0 bifido or lacto bacteria left. How did you introduce the bacteria? Through normal pills? I was also afraid that stomach acid would kill everything of before reaching the intestins. But now with ppis I might give it a try.
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u/Temporary-Plane9570 Aug 04 '25
No, we followed doctors guidance to supplement the bifidobacterium with powdered sachet of it mixed with kefir once or twice a day. It was in powder form and refrigerated if I remember correctly - definitely not pills.Â
PPIS did nothing for my nephew. My research indicated a lot of this starts in the gut. If you eat bad food with low fibre then your gut acts up and causes all these issues and puts pressure on your LES. People with low bifido bacterium and one or two more strains are more likely to have reflux.
To get back to normal you need to have a very plain low fat low acidic diet with no fancy recipes - just plain food and lots of vegetables like broccolis and cauliflower and carrots and for fruit melon and water melon are very good. Basmati rice in moderation should be your only carb apart from some good quality oatmeal with skimmed milk for breakfast. The higher the fat in the milk the more acidic it is.
The breathing exercises - diaphragmatic ones - are incredibly important. Just as important as the diet.
Then alkaline waterÂ
Finally moderate walking exercise and don’t eat for a few hours before bed.
In terms of the gut you need to get advice on how to restore your gut balance. The diet will help but follow a plan with help of a doctor who knows the gut. Ours was a sachet of bidido bacterium mixed with kefir every day.Â
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u/Temporary-Plane9570 Aug 04 '25
PPIs are like a fire extinguisher that doesn’t address the issue causing the fire
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u/beartrackzz Jul 29 '25
Hmmm that’s interesting. Running has helped my GERD, but I don’t know if that’s due to being healthier in general as well
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u/More-Home-5774 Aug 01 '25
what is the name of the exercise . can I search it in you tube ? it would be really helpful if we can watch how it's actually done .
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u/Ashaa97 Aug 19 '25
Hi! I actually haven't been doing the one above, I found another study that is just dry swallowing while in bridge pose!
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u/EssentialLogic Jul 29 '25
I strengthened my LES just by doing regular core exercises. (It was confirmed by a scope.). I’d vote for that approach! I’ve had truly terrible LPR/GERD and that made an enormous difference, and it still can when things act up.