You just got back from a wonderful dinner and all of a sudden you feel the food in your stomach starting to go back up your throat. You feel a burning sensation in your chest and your mouth tastes acidic.
You just got back from a wonderful dinner and all of a sudden you feel the food in your stomach starting to go back up your throat. You feel a burning sensation in your chest and your mouth tastes acidic. You feel a lump in your throat like your food got stuck there. You feel cold sweat and the lingering pain just wouldn’t go away. Chances are you are suffering from acid reflux and you surely need help with heartburn.
Acid reflux is associated with the abnormality known as gastro-esophageal reflux disorder,
or simply GERD. In a normally functioning body, the food eaten stays in the stomach until fully digested. Gastric juices produced in the tummy hasten the breaking down of food into micro-nutrients to be distributed throughout the body. But if the protective valve of the stomach, called lower esophageal sphincter, is weakened or does not close when it should, the food and acid in your stomach may reflux or move up to the esophagus. This results to the burning sensation you feel or the food lump in your throat. Applying the right help with heartburn will mitigate the discomfort of the symptoms.
Acid reflux or heartburn may be a temporary problem and may happen once in a while without any serious outcome, especially if you diligently use techniques that help with heartburn. However, if this condition recurs frequently, then you need to attend to it without delay and possibly get medical help. Recurring heartburn may cause damage to the esophagus as the acid tends to erode the linings of the organ. It can also disrupt your eating pattern which may cause other disorders. Without the the correct help, the condition may lead to esophageal cancer. It is imperative that once you experience acid reflux, you immediately apply some form of treatment before it gets worse.
Symptoms of Acid Reflux
Common warnings of acid reflux which can be easily treated are the burning sensation in chest area, neck and throat accompanied by bitterness or sourness in the palate. This is brought about by the food and acid coming back up from the stomach to your throat. This eventually leads to trouble in swallowing, huskiness of your voice, and even dental complications. For each of these consequences, suitable help with heartburn must be utilized.
Anyone can suffer from heartburn at any time in their lives, but there are people who are more prone to the disease than others. Smokers, alcoholics and obese persons are more susceptible to acid reflux. An expectant mother may also be more predisposed to acid reflux during pregnancy, but may not have any symptoms after child delivery. If you are in any of these groups, always make sure that you make use of natural methods to help eliminate heartburn. Antacids are a quick fix but they are temporary and not good to take for a long period.
Heartburn Treatment
Initial symptoms of acid reflux may be eased by over-the-counter or prescription medicines. Recurrence of heartburn, however, can be managed by simply using many natural foods and methods that help with heartburn. One easy method includes taking control of the things which may contribute to heartburn like over-eating, smoking, too much alcohol intake, frequent popping of aspirin or ibuprofen, and obesity. Bad habits like lying down after eating must be strictly avoided. Choosing the right kind of food is also important. There are certain foodstuffs which exacerbate acid reflux. Hot and spicy foods must not be part of your staple diet. Just enjoy them once in a while. Coffee and alcoholic beverage must also be taken less frequently or else you’ll most likely have recurring incidence of heartburn. Although good for the body as source of vitamin C, citrus fruits must also be eaten with restraint. These fruits are naturally acidic and over-indulging may cause abnormal spike in stomach acidity which may produce an attack of heartburn.
Now, if your condition continues to worsen, by no means should you hesitate to go to your doctor for more help with heartburn. Never take your heartburn for granted as it may lead to other ill-fated circumstance you may not like. But by simply applying some tweaking in your day-to-day activities, you can put acid reflux well within control. A change in diet and way of life may work a long way in keeping heartburn in check.
