It's no fun suffering from acid reflux disease! The burning sensation in your throat or chest is something you really don't want to experience. Most people turn to antacids when they experience symptoms of heartburn, but that's really not the best way to get relief since it's not a long-term solution. It's only a short-term solution.
If you suffer from acid reflux disease, you should first get medical advice from your doctor.
Here are 10 tips to help you fight acid indigestion:
1. Many people suffering from acid reflux disease feel worse at night when they go to sleep. That's because gravity usually keeps stomach acids during the day in their stomachs, but at night gravity isn't helping -- so stomach acid can travel back up into the esophagus.
Help yourself out by raising the top of your bed with blocks. You can also buy special pillows designed for sufferers of acid reflux disease.
2. Start and stick with a regular exercise program since studies have shown that regular exercise can help acid reflux disease sufferers. Not only will you feel better, regular exercise will help your health in numerous ways.
3. Eating enough fiber in your meals will help you digest your food better and help you avoid acid reflux attacks.
4. Gorging yourself on huge meals can aggravate acid reflux disease. So don't eat too much at one time or you may be asking for heartburn.
5. Fatty foods and fried foods can bring on acid reflux attacks. So think twice before eating a whole platter of fried onion rings -- as delicious as they are!
6. Your local health food store can help you if you suffer from heartburn. They offer herbs and digestive enzymes that could help you. Natural remedies are better as long-term solutions instead of a short-term fix. For example, consider purchasing ginger tea. It has a reputation of calming acid reflux disease. You might also want to try some aloe vera juice since it also has a reputation of helping heartburn sufferers.
7. Stress can be a killer -- especially if you're suffering from acid reflux disease. So don't be a workaholic if you want to feel better and give yourself breaks from stressful situations.
8. Did you know that if you are overweight, your acid reflux disease could get a lot worse? So do yourself a big health favor and try to shed excess pounds.
9. Keep a journal of foods that irritate your digestive system and stay away from them as much as possible.
10. Don't eat too fast even though it is tempting when you're hungry to eat as quickly as possible. Eating too quickly can really aggravate acid reflux symptoms. Instead, relax while you're eating and chew your food slowly.
If you put these tips into practice, youll probably start feeling a lot better and have far fewer acid reflux attacks in the future.
Acid reflux may not be as common as influenza, but to sufferers, this is more than just an inconvenient little situation. Often, people with acid reflux have to undergo chest pains, heart burns and even nausea. In extreme cases, this medical condition can lead to laryngopharyngeal reflux disease (gastric gas build-up in the throat) and even to esophageal cancer.
What is acid reflux?
Also known as GERD / GORD or gastroesophageal reflux disease, this medical condition is characterized by repetitive and painful symptoms, plus damage to the mucus lining of organs brought on by the abnormal reflux (accumulation or backing up) of gastric gas in the esophagus. You see, when our body breaks down food, gas usually builds up in the digestive system. Normally, this gas should then pass out of our system either through burping, or passing of gas through the rectal area.
Unfortunately, in the case of GERD, the gastric gas remains in the esophagus for long periods of time. This gas build-up causes permanent damage to the mucus lining in the esophageal area. The actual process is akin to acidic steam burning a hole into the roof of the esophagus.
What are the acid reflux symptoms?
Symptoms vary from one person to the other, dependent on both the age of the sufferer and his or her prior medical condition. However, here are the most telling signs of acid reflux.
For adults, heartburn or pyrosis is the most common symptom. The person usually experiences a painful burning sensation in the chest, esophagus, neck throat and even parts of the jaw. This condition very often leads to chronic coughing as well.
Other tell-tale symptoms include: chronic chest pains; chronic ear aches; difficulty in swallowing (dysphagia); hoarseness; nausea; repetitive bouts of coughing; and voice changes.
Children's conditions are more difficult to diagnose. However, some of these symptoms might exhibit themselves if the young ones do have GERD: bad breath; coughing; failure to gain weight; hosts of respiratory problems; inconsolable crying; repetitive vomiting, and even refusing food.
Is there acid reflux cure?
Fortunately enough, medical practitioners are saying "Yes," to this question. There are actually three ways to do so.
One: For mild to moderate cases, there is diet and life style modification. There are certain kinds of food to avoid (especially a couple of hours before bedtime) like: alcoholic drinks, broccolis, Brussels sprouts, carbonated soft drinks, cauliflowers, chocolates, coffee, foods high in fats, milk (and all milk-based products containing large volumes of calcium and fats,) onions, oranges, peppermints, spinach, and tomatoes.
Lifestyle modification means cutting down on (or better yet, eliminating altogether) smoking and reducing weight. Also, a person with GERD is recommended not to eat at least 2-3 hours before bedtime. Smaller meals are recommended as well.
GERD patients should really seek consultations with a doctor before taking any form of drugs. There is no single medication that can cure GERD. Usually, doctors prescribe a combination of drugs to ease the symptoms only. Some of these medications include: Gaviscon; famotidine or ranitidine; proton pump inhibitors; and sucralfate or carafate. Antacids should only be taken when the doctor prescribes it, and only in very limited amounts. Excessive intake of Vitamin C is also not encouraged.
Two: There is also positional therapy where people with GERD are recommended to sleep on their left sides. Evidently, this drastically reduces bouts of night time reflux episodes in most people. An acid reflux pillow can also help, since there are evidences that elevating the head of the bed while sleeping can reduce gastric build-up. Also, it seems that constant slouching can cause gastric build-up.
Three: Surgical treatments should be the last option. Some of these procedures include: Endocinch, NDO Surgical Plicator and Stretta Procedure through endoscopy; Enteryx through endoscopic injections; and Nissen fundoplication through laparosscopically.
Both Patricia Wagner & Robert Melkonyan are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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