What is Stretta therapy? Many patients worldwide have opted to undergo sleeve gastrectomy to help them lose weight and improve their health. Having done over 1800 sleeves, I have seen a small percentage of patients who have post-op heartburn/GERD issues that are sometimes not able to be controlled with acid-reducing medications.  Fortunately, there is a new cutting-edge treatment available for treatment of GERD in the US known as The Stretta Procedure, and my partner Dr. Tracy Pitt is ready offer this therapy to our patients. Stretta therapy is a minimally invasive procedure that significantly reduces GERD symptoms, allowing the many of patients to eliminate or largely decrease use of medications.  Many medications that are used to treat GERD have been shown to cause an alarming increase in kidney and heart disease when used long-term. Stretta is an outpatient procedure performed in less than 60 minutes, allowing patients to return to normal activities the following day. Stretta doesn’t require any incisions, stitches or implants.

How Stretta Works

The Stretta system delivers radiofrequency (RF) energy to the muscle between the stomach and esophagus, which remodels and improves the muscle tissue, resulting in improved barrier function and fewer reflux events. Stretta treats the underlying problem that may cause GERD without surgery. Stretta Therapy for Treatment of GERD RF energy is an energy waveform which is used in many medical specialties:

• Cardiologists use RF to stop dangerous heart rhythms
• Urologists use RF for treating prostate enlargement
• Ear, nose, and throat specialists use RF to eliminate snoring and sleep apnea
• RF is used in cosmetic procedures for body contouring, skin rejuvenation and tightening

This treatment was also recently reviewed on the Dr. Oz show, which you can see here: As we are implementing this new technology, there will be many challenges to overcome with regards to insurance coverage (which is especially challenging in the state of Ohio). While we are working towards this goal, we have established a self-pay price to perform these procedures at JourneyLite ($4,999.00*) for those who may be interested in having this done as soon as possible. If you are interested in utilizing insurance, we can provide more information and help to get this process underway. For more info on Stretta go to www.stretta-therapy.com [iphorm id=”25″ name=”Stretta Appointment Request”] *Price as of 3/1/2016, subject to change.