Heartburn: How do you get rid of heartburn?

Heartburn is a burning feeling in the chest caused by stomach acid travelling up towards the throat (acid reflux). If it keeps happening, it’s called gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD).

What does heartburn feel like?

Heartburn typically feels like a burning in the center of your chest, behind your breastbone. When you have heartburn, you may also feel symptoms like:

  • A burning feeling in your chest that can last anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours.
  • Pain in your chest when you bend over or lay down.
  • A burning feeling in your throat.
  • A hot, sour, acidic or salty taste in the back of your throat.
  • Difficulty swallowing.

What causes heartburn?

To know why heartburn happens, it can help to understand how your esophagus and stomach work. When you eat, the food passes down a long tube that connects your mouth and stomach. This tube is called the esophagus. At the bottom of the esophagus is a valve, called the esophageal sphincter. This valve opens to let food through and then closes to keep your stomach contents down. Inside your stomach is a very strong acidic mixture that starts the process of breaking down your food (digestion). Your stomach is designed to hold this mixture. However, your esophagus isn’t able to hold this mixture without getting hurt.

Sometimes, the valve that separates your stomach and esophagus doesn’t close properly, and some of the acidic mixture from your stomach goes back up the esophagus. This is called reflux. When you have reflux, you’ll often feel the burning sensation that’s heartburn. There are a few medical conditions that can cause reflux and make you feel heartburn, including:

  • Pregnancy.
  • Hiatal hernia (when the stomach bulges up into the chest).
  • Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
  • Certain medications, especially anti-inflammatory drugs and aspirin.
  • Obesity or overweight.

Heartburn can also be caused by your eating habits — including the foods you eat; how large your meals are and how close to bedtime you eat — and certain lifestyle habits.

How to Relieve Heartburn

Heartburn can be really uncomfortable, but several treatments can help decrease your symptoms. If you regularly experience acid reflux, start by talking to your doctor or a K doctor, who can help diagnose you and recommend medications and home remedies to soothe your discomfort. 

If you are a smoker, you should stop. Here are some of the most common heartburn treatments people try to improve their symptoms.  

Dietary modifications can also significantly help acid reflux. Do not lay back right after eating, avoid citrus, vinegars, BBQ sauces, and other acidic foods. 

10 home remedies for heartburn

If you’re trying to avoid acid reflux or get rid of heartburn fast, here are ten ways to ease — and even prevent — your symptoms:

1. Eat a ripe banana

The high potassium content of a banana makes it a fairly alkaline food. And, according to the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics, this means it may help counteract the stomach acid irritating your esophagus.

However, unripe bananas are less alkaline, starch-heavy and may actually be an acid reflux trigger for some people. So be sure to choose a banana that’s ripe.

Other alkaline foods that may help offset heartburn include melons, cauliflower, fennel and nuts.

2. Chew sugar-free gum

Chewing gum increases saliva production. According to one study, this works to help reduce heartburn since saliva can help promote swallowing — which can help keep acid down — and neutralize the stomach acid that’s refluxed into your esophagus.

3. Keep a food journal and avoid trigger foods

As mentioned, certain foods and drinks can trigger acid reflux and heartburn. You can help identify the specific foods most likely to give you issues by keeping a food and symptom log. Once you do identify them, avoid these foods and drinks whenever possible.

4. Resist the urge to overeat or eat quickly

When it comes to preventing heartburn, watching portion sizes at meals can go a long way. Having a large amount of food in your stomach may put more pressure on the valve that keeps stomach acid out of your esophagus, making acid reflux and heartburn more likely. If you’re prone to heartburn, consider eating smaller meals more frequently. Eating quickly can also be a trigger of heartburn so be sure to slow down and take time to chew food and drink beverages.

5. Avoid late meals, snacking before bed and eating before exercising

Laying down with a stomach full of food can trigger acid reflux and make heartburn symptoms worse. Avoid eating within 3 hours of your bedtime so your stomach has plenty of time to empty. You may also want to wait at least two hours before exercising.

6. Wear loose-fitting clothing

If you’re prone to heartburn, tight-fitting belts and clothing that squeeze your belly may be contributing to your symptoms.

7. Adjust your sleep position

Elevating your head and chest higher than your feet as you sleep can help prevent and ease acid reflux and heartburn. You can do this using a foam wedge placed under the mattress or by raising bedposts using wood blocks. Beware of piling pillows, as this usually isn’t effective and may even make your symptoms worse. Additionally, sleeping on your left side is thought to aid digestion and may work to limit stomach acid reflux.

8. Take steps to lose weight if you are overweight

Excess weight puts extra pressure on your stomach, increasing your risk of acid reflux and heartburn. Eating a well-balanced diet and getting 150 minutes of physical activity per week are the first two steps to maintaining a healthy weight and losing excess weight.

9. Stop smoking if you smoke

Smoking reduces the amount of saliva produced and impacts the effectiveness of the valve that keeps stomach acid from entering the esophagus, both of which make heartburn more likely. Quitting smoking can reduce the frequency and severity of acid reflux and, in some cases, even eliminate it.

10. Reduce stress

Chronic stress takes a physical toll on your body, including slowing digestion and making you more sensitive to pain. The longer food sits in your stomach, the more likely stomach acid is to reflux. Additionally, having an increased sensitivity to pain can make you feel the burning pain of heartburn more intensely. Taking steps to reduce stress may help prevent or ease the effects of acid reflux and heartburn.

Reference: houstonmethodist.org, clevelandclinic.org

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