By Lorn Allison,  Doctoral Candidate, L.M.T.

Recently I was asked why a person would have severe stomach burning after Stomach surgery or other G.I. surgery related to appetite or weight loss.

Let me preface that I am not a surgeon, my specialty is connective tissue, so this just my opinion after years of connective tissue and muscular work (including visceral) associated with my profession.

After surgery, scar tissue can be a serious problem for many people.

Even when tissue heals well and quickly, there is fascia (connective tissue that runs throughout the whole body), that potentially ‘knots’ up.

In bodywork (trigger point therapy) this winding of fascia can create burning and uncomfortable sensations or referred pain locally or to other areas of the body.

When the internal lining of the stomach is disturbed from cutting or cauterizing ( burning tissue to seal blood vessels), it seems to potentially cause post-surgical pain.

I have met people who are tormented by post-surgical pain that can be quite severe.

In most instances, I refer them to look into deglycerized licorice and colostrum as potential soothing agents for the stomach lining.

Digestive enzymes can potentially help increase their nutrient absorption from food when areas of the stomach that have been affected by surgery which may potentially cause some loss of ability in processing certain nutrients.

A reference for this is the following…

“Other causes of vitamin B₁₂ deficiency include surgical resection of the stomach or portions of the small intestine where receptors for the IF-B₁₂ complex are located.”¹

This means that if the receptors for the B12 are affected by the surgery, then

it may be harder for the person to absorb the vitamin.

Hope this helps!

Lorn Allison, Doctoral Candidate, L.M.T.