Acid reflux can strike at any time, with symptoms, such as heartburn usually occurring shortly after eating large meals or when lying down. However, did you know that approximately 8 out of 10 heartburn suffers will experience nighttime symptoms? Therefore, if you suffer from bedtime heartburn, you need to know what to do for acid reflux to help prevent symptoms from occurring.
First of all, you may be wondering why heartburn occurs at night. There are many reasons why acid reflux is more likely to occur while you sleep, such as:
- Relaxed lower esophageal sphincter (LES) ? when you sleep all of the muscles in your body naturally relax, which can encourage acid to leak into your esophagus.
- Absence of swallowing ? During sleep, the swallowing reflex is inhibited. Swallowing allows saliva to neutralize any digestive fluids that may be in the esophagus lining.
- Laying flat ? laying flat in your bed enables stomach acid to easily flow into the esophagus and remain in the esophagus for a longer period of time, which can lead to heartburn.
To stop nighttime heartburn flare ups from causing damage to your esophagus, and interrupting your sleep, here's what you can do for acid reflux relief:
1. Eat 3 hours before bedtime and eliminate foods from your diet that trigger acid reflux. Avoid foods and beverages that are known to trigger acid reflux (I.E. high fat foods, citrus fruits, caffeinated beverages, alcohol, etc.) Do not indulge in late night snacking and make sure the last meal you eat is one of a moderate portion. If you must have a large meal, eat a more substantial serving of food at lunchtime. Furthermore, limit your liquid intake to water before bed.
2. Sleep on an incline. Prop your head and shoulders up with a few pillows or a wedge pillow so that you are not lying flat on your back. The slight slope you create with your body helps to prevent acid from traveling further up your esophagus and remaining there to initiate heartburn.
3. Sleep on your left side. Some studies have found that sleeping on the left side can aid acid reflux nighttime prevention, as this position appears to help remove stomach acid from the esophagus. On the other hand, sleeping on the right side has shown to make heartburn worse.
4. Sleep in loose fitting pajamas or clothes. Clothing that is constricting around your torso, especially your abdomen or waist, such as tight elastic pants, places pressure on the stomach which can force digestive contents and fluids against the LES and up into the esophagus.
5. Take an antacid before going to bed. Although your first ?what to do for acid reflux? instinct shouldn't be to take medications, if your nighttime heartburn is exceptionally bothersome, taking an antacid or two before bed will work to quickly neutralize acid and treat your symptoms or prevent an episode from occurring. If longer relief is necessary, an H2 blocker may be more effective.
Finally, if you are finding that the above techniques are not helping in alleviating heartburn, what to do for acid reflux at this point, is visit your health care provider for a proper diagnosis and a new treatment plan. You may find that you are suffering from a more serious condition such as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a peptic ulcer, or a hiatal hernia.
Acid reflux, also known as gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD), occurs when the sphincter that is positioned at the bottom of the esophagus stops functioning properly. This will allow food in the stomach to come back up through the sphincter into the esophagus and sometimes even into the mouth, resulting in a painful heartburn (a burning sensation in the chest and throat) or even permanent damage to the esophagus if no proper acid reflux treatment is sought.
Acid reflux treatment varies among individual upon diagnosis. To some, lifestyle changes will be necessary to reduce the pain and discomfort of the disease. One such change is to avoid foods that trigger the symptoms. Foods that give rise to Acid Reflux are aplenty and obtaining a list of them is a good place to start. Yet, a food that cause problem for one may be perfectly fine for another. Therefore, patients are regularly advised to keep their own diet diary, so that offensive foods can be identified and avoided.
Those diagnosed with Acid Reflux should also avoid overeating, alcohol, coffee and smoking. A person who is obese may be advised to loss some weight as part of an acid reflux treatment plan. Since symptoms can get worse after a night of lying flat, one might find relief in the morning by elevating the upper body by about eight inches during sleep.
Acid Reflux Drugs Are Very Effective
If lifestyle changes are not able to provide the desired relief, one can then consider taking Acid Reflux drugs. Sometimes readily available antacids will do. In other cases, a prescription drug might be required. A point to note is that this form of treatment will have to be taken regularly and continued indefinitely
The good news is that the treatment is not difficult to administer for acid reflux in adults and children. It is rather excellent and extremely fast in relieving most, if not all of the symptoms of the person suffering for quite some time.
Are The Acid Reflux Drugs Good Or Bad To Treat The Acid Reflux
The acid reflux drugs are highly capable of getting rid of all the symptoms within a day or two from the start of the treatment. They will be free of chest pain, heartburn, and etc. These treatments are simple and direct which include one of two main acid reflux drugs.
If you do not like too many drugs, you can consider using herbs and other alternatives which can be just as effectively.
Understanding Acid Reflux Surgery
For those who do not wish to continue with medication forever or the medication is ineffective, they can consider surgery.
It is important to understand the surgical process and the complications involved if you are considering it as an option for your suffering. This is a grave matter that deserves serious consideration in terms of your options. Unless all your natural options are unsuccessful and you cannot find effective relief in either a dietary or a lifestyle change, then you can consider surgery as a solution for your recovery. You will thus have to consider the plus and minus of the surgery before deciding.
The Surgical Procedure
One procedural option for acid reflux surgery is called laparoscopy. This is a technique that is similar to tying the Fallopian tubes in females. The same principle applies and the surgeon would fold the upper stomach. It is wrapped and sutured to the esophagus from this point, wrapped around both sides of the food tube. This technique aims to restore the typical amount of pressure on the sphincter and, thus, creates a normal operation procedure that allows the correct quantity of acid to flow to the right places.
An alternative to the surgical procedure is to reduce the amount of stomach acid through medication. This is preferred to acid reflux surgery only if the surgery is deemed too dangerous for the patient or if it is not thought to work with the patient's biochemical reactions.
The choice of treatment lies with the individual whether surgical or non-surgical procedure is used to eliminate the pervasive problem of acid reflux.
The Cure And The Suffering
The cure for acid reflux actually lies in your hands. It is not about the medicine, drugs and surgery available to cure Acid Reflux. It is about having the right diet to combat the symptoms. For someone suffering from acute acidity and acid reflux, their diet should be specially designed and they should make sure that they are never caught hungry.
People who skip breakfast or spend two hours eating lunch/dinner would never get their health back. When the stomach stays hungry for prolong period, a lot of acid is created, and it is possible for the stomach to 'fight back' and force it up towards the mouth. This is when you get a sour taste in the mouth.
Visit a doctor if you suspect that you are suffering from acidity. If treatment is delayed, the danger of getting esophageal ulcers will be greater. This might lead to cancer at a later stage. Always remember, "Prevention is always better than cure."
Both Kathryn Whittaker & Cindy Heller 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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