How to Handle Heartburn: Heartburn Management Tips

After enjoying a big dinner with your family and friends, you decided to go to bed early. However, something happened that you didn’t expect. You suddenly felt a burning sensation building up in your upper abdomen and the pain and the burning sensation is steadily working its way up just behind the breastbone. You also feel it in your throat and it was accompanied by a sour taste. You felt like vomiting but when you gagged, nothing went out.

If all these seem familiar to you, then you are suffering from heartburn.

Although heartburn may suggest a form of heart disease, it really doesn’t have anything to do with the heart. Heartburn is basically a digestive problem, which occurs when the acid inside our stomach comes in contact with the esophagus lining. This causes irritation, which ultimately causes heartburn.

A lot of people suffer from heartburn and it usually happens right after a big meal.

Some people experiences heartburn once a month, which is a mild case of heartburn and others experience it almost every day, which is a chronic case of heartburn.

Mild heartburn is not that serious and you may even consider it more of a nuisance than an actual condition that should be taken seriously. However, if you are suffering from a chronic heartburn, you may want to take this more seriously as this can cause severe complications that can really have a devastating effect on your body.

If you have been diagnosed with GERD or Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, the heartburn you will experience will be chronic and severe. This can cause scarring in your esophagus, which will make it difficult for you to swallow food or even liquids.

Chronic heartburn can also lead to Barrett’s esophagus, which is a condition where cells that resemble those of the stomach lining will start to develop. This kind of damage to the esophagus can increase your risk in developing cancer of the esophagus, which is very hard to detect and very hard to treat.

If you experience moderate to severe heartburn, you may want to keep these heartburn management tips in mind. Doing so will enable you to lessen the frequency of heartburn and also provide you with partial or temporary relief.

The first is to eat more meals a day but in smaller servings rather than having 3 large meals a day. This will help in preventing the body to produce excessive stomach acid, which is one of the main causes of heartburn.

Eating slowly will also help in managing heartburn. Try to put your eating utensils down between bites and chew your food at least 14 times.

For dinner, don’t eat too much and never go to bed right after a meal. You have to stay awake at least 3 hours after you eat dinner. This will give the acid levels a chance to decrease before you lie down, which is basically the perfect position for heartburn to occur.

You should also avoid foods that trigger heartburn. This means that you have to avoid ingesting coffee, fatty foods, alcohol, and acidic fruits, such as oranges and other citrus fruits. Chocolates should also be avoided as well as peppermint and onions.

Wearing loose-fitting clothes can also help prevent heartburn. Tight clothing can squeeze the midsection of your body, which will push the stomach content upward.

These are some of the ways on how you can manage heartburn. By following these tips, you can be sure that you will be able to prevent or at least manage heartburn.