Causes and Home Remedies for Heartburn

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Heartburn

Also known as cardialgia or pyrosis, heartburn is a burning sensation in your chest behind the sternum. It affects approximately sixty million Americans once every month. Most people reduce heart burn symptoms or manage them with lifestyle changes and using over-the-counter meds, but for some of them, it is more serious. 

Causes of Heartburn

When the acid in your stomach backs up into the food pipe or esophagus, leading to a burning sensation called heartburn. When you eat something, the esophageal sphincter relaxes to allow the passage of food into the stomach, where highly acidic fluid will begin its break down. But, when this muscle band doesn’t stay closed properly or tightens, the acid in the stomach flows back into the esophagus. Since the esophagus doesn’t have a protective lining, the acid there results in heartburn. 

Following are the things that can trigger heartburn symptoms:

  • Obesity
  • Smoking
  • Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease
  • Pregnancy
  • Taking certain medications like Aspirin
  • Consuming alcohol
  • Lying down after eating 
  • Coffee intake
  • Eating spicy foods or citrus fruits 

One of the most common symptoms of heartburn is a burning sensation in the chest. In serious cases, the pain is often confused with the heart attack symptoms. Even experienced doctors find it difficult at times to tell the difference without running some tests. 

The feeling can last between a few minutes to a few hours, depending upon the cause. If a recent meal or some food triggered it, you would feel relief once the meal is digested. Besides, it is possible that heartburn disappears for a short period and then reappears when you bend over or lay down. Lying flat or bending over can trigger heartburn as the gravity doesn’t work in your favor to keep the stomach acid in place. In case of extreme heart burn due to an underlying condition, you may require medical treatment. 

Home Remedies for Heartburn

Include Ginger into Your Diet

Ginger has been touted versatile and quite effective herbal ingredient in eastern medicine for centuries now. Studies even suggest that ginger is petty effective in treating heartburn. You can add ginger to your morning tea or other drink of your choice. Besides, you can add ginger to your daily meals or soups. 

Avoid Late Meals

Your stomach starts to digest the food the moment you eat, which means it starts producing acid to break it down. So, when you eat late at night and immediately lay down, you increase the probability of acid flowing back into the esophagus resulting in symptoms of heartburn. 

So, avoid eating late meals. You must eat at least two to three hours before bedtime. Avoid anything spicy or high in saturated fats if you want to have snacks. 

Lose Extra Pounds

Overweight individuals often suffer from heartburn. Excess weight around the belly tends to increase the pressure on the abdomen and stomach, which in turn increases the probability of acid reflux into the esophagus. Change your lifestyle by adding thirty minutes of workout, avoiding food with high saturated fats, and others. These little changes can relieve you from recurring heartburn. 

Sleep at an Angle

Most individuals suffer from heartburn when they try to lay down to sleep. If you sleep at an angle from the waist up while sleeping using an adjustable bed, gravity will help keep the stomach acid in place, reducing the heart burn symptoms. You can use something more than pillows for the creation of the angle. 

Avoid Smoking

In order to reduce the heartburn symptoms avoid smoking and other products containing nicotine. Tobacco contains nicotine that relaxes the muscles in the lower esophagus. These muscles prevent the backflow of acid from the stomach into the esophagus, causing heartburn in the first place. By minimizing or completely quitting the usage of this product, you reduce the chance of recurring heartburn. 

Heartburn Medication

In addition to home remedies, several over-the-counter and other medicines are available to relieve heartburn. Antacids are the most common and easily accessible medication, and they don’t need a prescription. This helps neutralize the acid in the stomach, offering quick relief in mild cases. Also, proton pump inhibitors and H-2-receptor antagonists are available, among other treatment options. Medomand delivers all the medicines for heartburn to your doorstep within an hour. 

Discuss with your healthcare provider the heartburn symptoms you are experiencing and its frequency to find out the best option for yourself.