When You Keep Getting Colds and Digestion Isn't Good Either | Incheon Low Immunity Frequent Colds
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Hello, this is Baekrokdam Korean Medicine Clinic.
This is one of the stories I hear most often in the consultation room.
“Strangely, I've been catching colds frequently lately.”
“My stomach has been consistently poor, I often have heartburn, and I feel bloated no matter what I eat.”
Did you know that all of these could be connected?
1. Patient's words – “This is already my fifth cold this year”
When I listen to patients, they say things like this:
“I catch a cold, get better, and then catch another... it's already the fifth time this year.”
“The runny nose stops in a few days, but the fatigue lasts for over a month.”
“I often have heartburn, and if I eat something greasy or spicy, my stomach always feels bad that night.”
“It's not exactly like I have indigestion, nor is there sharp pain... but I always feel bloated.”
“My heartburn is worst in the morning on an empty stomach. Sometimes I even feel like gagging.”
If you look at the cold in isolation, it seems like a simple immunity issue; heartburn seems to be caused by stomach acid, and indigestion seems like a dietary habit problem. However, you must not view these as separate issues.
2. What becomes visible when viewed as a single flow
These symptoms did not arise independently of each other.
When the gastrointestinal tract weakens, the autonomic nervous system is destabilized; as the autonomic nervous system wavers, immunity against colds weakens, and as fatigue accumulates, the condition of the gastrointestinal tract worsens further... it rotates like a single loop.
In Korean medicine, this is called “Bi-wi-heo-yak” (Spleen and Stomach Deficiency). The digestive organs, which are responsible for the center of the body, have weakened.
Because the body cannot produce the energy it needs here, and the stomach energy that should descend instead surges upward, the result is heartburn, loss of energy, and easy exposure to colds.
3. Heartburn is not only because of stomach acid
When people mention heartburn, they usually think of too much stomach acid being produced, but in many cases, it is actually the opposite.
Cases where stomach acid secretion is insufficient, so the stomach is not emptied on time and food stays too long. That stagnant food becomes a weak acidic irritant that rises up toward the esophagus or throat.
The resulting symptoms are:
- Heartburn on an empty stomach in the morning
- A feeling of continuous burping
- Discomfort in the epigastric area (solar plexus)
- Gagging, coughing, bad breath
If you simply cover this up with acid suppressants, it may improve temporarily, but it will recur unless the energy of the gastrointestinal tract itself is restored.
4. The reason for frequent colds is also, ultimately, ‘energy’
Energy is not necessarily something that appears just after drinking a fatigue recovery supplement.
To maintain defense in our body, “Qi” must be stable.
However, if the gastrointestinal tract becomes deficient, the body cannot absorb nutrients well, fatigue is not recovered, and the intestinal immune system collapses, making it easy to be infected even by small viruses.
In other words, it is more accurate to view frequent colds not as a simple immunity problem, but as a problem of the body's center being shaken.
5. How should this be handled?
In this situation,
- Taking supplements unconditionally to boost immunity
- Managing only with acid suppressants
- Relying on digestive aids
These are temporary measures. When we actually treat, we use acupuncture to regulate the circulation of stomach energy and balance the autonomic nervous system, and herbal medicine to boost the energy of the gastrointestinal tract, stabilize stomach acid secretion patterns, and restore basal body temperature and intestinal immunity.
By slightly adjusting meal times, sleep patterns, and exercise intensity, we must enable the body to find its center.
You can break free from the vicious cycle.
Colds, heartburn, and indigestion. When viewed individually, these are just common symptoms, but if they recur and persist, they must be viewed as connected.
When medication alone is not enough, what is truly needed is to restore the body's flow. That is how recovery begins.
#LowImmunity #FrequentColds
