Heartburn facts
What is the definition of heartburn?
Heartburn is a sensation of burning in the chest caused by stomach acid backing up into the esophagus (food pipe). The burning is usually in the upper and central part of the chest, just behind the sternum (breast bone). The burning can worsen or can be brought on by lying flat or on the right side. Pregnancy tends to aggravate heartburn.
Many people experience heartburn and there are a large number of over-the-counter (OTC) medications and home remedies available to treat heartburn or the symptoms of heartburn.
In most cases you will not need to see a health-care professional, except if the symptoms are frequent (several times a week) or severe.
If heartburn is severe or the pain is accompanied with additional symptoms such as shortness of breath, radiation into your arms or neck, you will need to see a doctor to distinguish these symptoms from more serious medical conditions such as a heart attack.
GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux disease) is a chronic and more serious form of heartburn.
If your heartburn symptoms occur more than twice a week you should see your health-care professional to make sure no serious problems are present.
What causes heartburn?
The esophagus (the tube that connects your mouth to the stomach) has a tight band of muscles at the lower end (lower esophageal sphincter [LES]) that closes after the food enters the stomach and prevents the stomach contents to reenter the esophagus. If this sphincter weakens or relaxes at the wrong time, stomach acid can back up into the esophagus, causing heartburn.
What does acid reflux look like?
Acid reflux or GERD
Picture of GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease, heartburn)
What are the symptoms of heartburn?
The usual symptom of heartburn is a burning sensation in the chest. It can be accompanied by:
A person needs to be evaluated by a health-care professional as soon as possible if he or she has heartburn symptoms that are accompanied with:
Foods and beverages to avoid
Every person reacts somewhat differently to specific food groups. To track what foods worsen your symptoms, keep a food journal. In this journal, you should keep track of what you eat, the time you ate, any activity that worsened or made the heartburn better, and indicate which days you have heartburn symptoms. Over time, you will be able to correlate the offending foods with heartburn events. Print this and take this with you to your next doctor's appointment to discuss possible causes of heartburn you may be experiencing.
Heartburn Journal - Week of________________ Day Foods Eaten Heartburn TriggerHow is heartburn diagnosed?
Often all that a health-care professional requires is a thorough history and physical to make the preliminary diagnosis of heartburn. To evaluate if there is any damage and how severe your heartburn is, the doctor my suggest some of the following tests:
What are treatments, relief, and home remedies for heartburn?
Heartburn can be treated with lifestyle changes and medications (over-the-counter and prescription). In rare cases, surgical procedures are available to help with severe and chronic heartburn (GERD).
Lifestyle changes
There are several ways to treat and avoid heartburn with lifestyle changes.
OTC and prescription medications
There are many over-the-counter and prescription medications available. These fall into three major categories:
Note: You should make your health-care professional aware if you take these medications on a chronic basis as there can be interactions with other medications and frequent use will alert your doctor to the severity of symptoms.
What are the symptoms of heartburn?
The usual symptom of heartburn is a burning sensation in the chest. It can be accompanied by:
A person needs to be evaluated by a health-care professional as soon as possible if he or she has heartburn symptoms that are accompanied with:
Foods and beverages to avoid
Every person reacts somewhat differently to specific food groups. To track what foods worsen your symptoms, keep a food journal. In this journal, you should keep track of what you eat, the time you ate, any activity that worsened or made the heartburn better, and indicate which days you have heartburn symptoms. Over time, you will be able to correlate the offending foods with heartburn events. Print this and take this with you to your next doctor's appointment to discuss possible causes of heartburn you may be experiencing.
Heartburn Journal - Week of________________ Day Foods Eaten Heartburn TriggerHow is heartburn diagnosed?
Often all that a health-care professional requires is a thorough history and physical to make the preliminary diagnosis of heartburn. To evaluate if there is any damage and how severe your heartburn is, the doctor my suggest some of the following tests:
What are treatments, relief, and home remedies for heartburn?
Heartburn can be treated with lifestyle changes and medications (over-the-counter and prescription). In rare cases, surgical procedures are available to help with severe and chronic heartburn (GERD).
Lifestyle changes
There are several ways to treat and avoid heartburn with lifestyle changes.
OTC and prescription medications
There are many over-the-counter and prescription medications available. These fall into three major categories:
Note: You should make your health-care professional aware if you take these medications on a chronic basis as there can be interactions with other medications and frequent use will alert your doctor to the severity of symptoms.
Source: http://www.rxlist.com
Source: http://www.rxlist.com
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