Overview Of Acid Reflux
Contents
Acid reflux is a prevalent disease that happens when the acid produced by the gastric glands in your stomach makes its way back to the food pipe (esophagus). In this problem, no test is required, and the problem sorts out in a few months if proper care and precautions are taken. By changing your lifestyle, one can quickly get relief from the symptoms of acid reflux. The problem of acid reflux is also known as heartburn due to the burning sensation only; it has nothing to do with the heart.
Cause of acid reflux
It is a self-identifiable chronic disease that occurs because there is a cap-like structure present at your stomach entrance; known as the lower sphincter of the esophagus. It opens when the food is engulfed, and after that, it closed, but if it begins too perpetually, the acid starts to irritate the lining of our food pipe. When this situation happens, a person feels a burning sensation in the lower side of the chest area. If you are experiencing the acid reflux more than two times in a week, then there are chances that you are suffering from GERD that is the Gastroesophageal Disease.
Let’s see what the risk factors that cause the acid reflux are:
- Obesity
- Engulfing a large meal at one time and most crucial lying on the back straight is one of the worst habits.
- Eating snacks at night
- Smoking
- In pregnancy, the acid refluxes are quite usual to happen due to an added load on the internal organs of a mother’s body.
Apart from all the above factors, some bad habits cause acid reflux problem such as eating foods containing citric acid, chocolates, mint, onion, garlic, etc. Furthermore, drinking beverages like drinks containing caffeine and alcohol often are the leading causes of acid reflux.
Symptoms Of Acid Reflux
Moving on to the symptoms of acid reflux, the symptoms usually last for a few hours. Let’s see what the symptoms of acid reflux are:
- Heartburn– as mentioned that heartburn is the main symptom that occurs first. Sometimes, it becomes worse and causes burning pain that may even rise to your abdomen and chest area.
- Regurgitation-When the burning sensation rise towards the throat, it is known as regurgitation in which one experience bitter taste that happens because the acidic fluids reach up to your throat and it causes a sour taste in the last of your mouth.
- Bloating and sour burps are other indications of this disease.
- Dark feces.
- Hiccups that don’t come to a halt.
- Nausea, chronic sore throat, bad breath, etc.
Best Ways to Get Rid of Acid Reflux
Here I have recapitulated some of the best ways to get rid of acid reflux. I have divided all the ways into three sections, and that is:
- How can you avoid the triggers of Acid Reflux?
- Stay physically active: Being physically active will help in your weight reduction, which will, in turn, alleviate the triggers of acid reflux. Also, exercising will prevent you from any other chronic disease.
- Avoid having meals in late night: save your heavy and large meals for day time only, as eating heavy meals in the night increases the symptoms of acid reflux. Therefore in the night, you should have light and small meals for your dinner.
- Avoid your smoking and drinking habits: Nicotine is very harmful to a human body; it tends to weaken the muscles of our alimentary canal, especially that of our stomach and food pipe. Therefore, one should stop smoking if they do as it can make the symptom even worse. Also, it is better to stop the consumption of alcohol as it also causes the acid reflux to happen.
- What should you avoid and what to consume while having your meals
- You should not take the water substitutes such as soda and juices of citrus fruits such as tomato, orange, lemon, grapefruit, etc. The citrus fruits intend to increases the secretion of aid in our stomach by gastric glands. Try to consume more water.
- Fatty acid containing foods such as Chess, chips, fast food, etc. should be avoided.
- Take small meals at one time rather than swallowing up one large meal at once.
- Onion and garlic, as mentioned above, can worsen the heartburn, that’s why try to reduce their intake.
- Reduce drinking coffee or any drink that contains caffeine. Also, carbonated drinks should be avoided.
- After having your meal must’s
- Avoid any physical exercise.
- Miss out any peppermint containing substances after the meal.
- Avoid sleeping after having food
It is evident that after eating food, our body generates an urge to sleep, but one should avoid sleeping for 3 hours after having your meal.
Acid Reflux Medication
Many safe and effective medicines are available in the market to get rid of acid reflux symptoms such as Alginate drugs that includes Gaviscon, Hydrogen blockers such as cimetidine, and the PPls such as rabeprazole. These are some conventional effective medicines that help in decreasing the symptoms of acid blockers. But these should not be consumed without consulting with a doctor, as these can lead to a decrease in the absorption of nutrients.
Best Natural Remedies for Acid Reflux
The burning sensation can sometimes become worse and can lead to pain in the chest area. The medications that are available on the pharmaceutical stores are not convenient for everyone. That’s why it is better to try these natural remedies first that can help in mitigating the heartburn. Here some natural resources are listed below that you can try by yourself at your home.
- Add one tablespoon of baking soda in 240 ml of water. Drink this whenever you feel like having those heartburns. But keep in mind not to exceed seven doses in a day.
- Banana is an excellent antacid; consuming one ripened banana will reduce the burn.
- Ginger tea is another most effective remedy for any stomach issue. It also helps in reducing the symptoms of acid reflux.
- One can also try having the chamomile tea 30 minutes before sleeping. It will not only relief you from heartburns but also will help to alleviate all the stress and anxiety.
Acid refluxes are very common to trigger in the person of any age group, but one needs to take care if one experiences it more often in a week as it can lead to serious health issues. Make a change in your lifestyle to prevent them from happening and to stay healthy.