Acid reflux disease
Posted by Canadian health care on October 12th, 2009
As you know, Acid Reflux, also known as GERD or more commonly Heartburn occurs when a weakening of the muscle valve between the stomach and the esophagus allows stomach acid to reflux into the esophagus. This stomach acid inflames and irritates the esophagus, giving us the symptoms of a burning sensation rising up your chest and/or an unpleasant, sour and acidic taste in the mouth. In severe cases, the sufferer may have difficulty in swallowing and sleeping, however there are self-help measures, which you can take in the first instance to alleviate the symptoms and gain relief:
Acid reflux treatment
* The first tip is possibly easier said than done, but healthcare professionals have stated that if you are overweight, losing weight often reduces some of the severity of the symptoms and the frequency of them occurring, because when you are overweight, this adds pressure to your stomach.
* It is generally agreed that you should eat smaller meals on a frequent basis rather than the traditional three meals per day, as this reduces the amount of stomach acid required at any on time to digest the food.
* You will probably not be surprised to read that smoking is also on the list of things you should avoid, again not easy for everyone. The smoke from cigarettes and cigars can further irritate the esophagus, thereby aggravating the condition and making the symptoms worse.
* Each person will be a little different, but you will often find that certain foodstuffs act as triggers for the onset of a bout of acid reflux, and these are usually such things as coffee, chocolate, spices like Chilli, Paprika, and Cayenne Pepper amongst others, also alcohol, tomatoes and fatty foods – in fact most of the things I like! It may take some trial and error, but try gradually removing some or all of these from your diet and you may well see improvement.
* Due to the fact that the condition is usually at its worst, when you are horizontal, you may find relief from raising the head-end of your bed ( making sure that it is still stable of course). This allows gravity to help in allowing the acid to flow back down to the stomach. The common mistake here is to use extra pillows to raise the head, but you should avoid this, as it also increases the pressure on your abdomen.
Hopefully, these tips will help you if you suffer from this very uncomfortable digestive disorder – however, of course, if they do not, then you should seek help from a medical professional.
There are a lot of people, however, who are convinced that to really ‘cure’ acid reflux, you need a holistic and natural approach, which will provide lasting relief from digestive disorders.
Tags: acid reflux, acid reflux disease, gerd, heartburn