No one enjoys the painful burning, belching, coughing and other unpleasant symptoms caused by acid reflux. Depending on how severe your symptoms are, you have several choices of treatment you can follow. From over-the-counter antacids, to prescription drugs, to natural remedies and folk medicine, you should be able to find something to bring relief and reduce heartburn symptoms to merely a memory.
Lifestyle and Dietary Changes
Lifestyle and dietary adjustments are an important treatment recommended to manage symptoms of acid reflux, explains the Mayo Clinic. Write down everything you eat so you know what causes pain and what doesn't after eating. Eat smaller, more frequent meals to reduce pressure on your stomach from excess food. Loosen clothing during and after eating to further avoid pressure from a full stomach. Avoid bending over or lifting heavy objects for an hour or more after eating to limit any chance of a hiatal hernia.
Over-the-Counter Medicines
Antacids help neutralize the action of acids on the stomach lining, reducing burning pains. Rebound can occur from antacids, which aggravates the reflux condition initially. H2 blockers like Tagamet and Pepcid prevent acid secretions during digestion. Proton pump inhibitors such as Prilosec and Nexium block the secretion of acids and resolve many people's acid reflux symptoms, but they, too, have side effects that may be troubling long term. One worrisome effect is that they can inhibit the absorption of vitamin B12, says LifeExtension.org.
Herbal Remedies
Certain herbal remedies are known to reduce acid reflux symptoms and protect the lining of the stomach and esophagus. Licorice root creates a mucosal barrier to protect the digestive tract lining. Extract of radish has been shown effective in speeding up digestion to move food and acids more quickly through the digestive tract, eliminating occurrences of reflux, explains LifeExtension.org. Licorice root and extract of radish are available at health food stores. An herbal specialist should be able to help with directions for dosing, or you can contact a medical practitioner.
Medicinal Foods
A variety of foods, spices and condiments used in our daily diets are known to have medicinal action to soothe and reduce reflux symptoms. Ginger in all of its forms--dried, raw and candied--is a wonderful heartburn remedy. Use it as a tea or cook with it, take powdered ginger capsules or drink ginger ale, as long as there is real ginger in it, recommend the Robert and Shelley Young in their book "The pH Miracle". Try raw honey to treat acid reflux, says Dr. Theodore A. Baroody, in "Alkalinize or Die," his book about pH and foods used for medicinal purposes. Take 1 tsp. of raw organic honey, straight, to eliminate heartburn symptoms on the spot.
Homeopathic Remedies
Using certain homeopathic remedies to relieve acid reflux is very effective, reports Franz Vermeullen in his book "Materia Medica I." Use Nux Vomica for burning pains and pressure in the chest and stomach due to overeating, eating very spicy, rich foods or from drinking too much alcohol. Try Arsenicum Album if you have burning pains in the stomach or chest improved by drinking hot drinks. Homeopathic remedies are available in health food stores. Speak to a homeopathic practitioner or a specialist at the health food store for directions and information on dosing.
References
- "The pH Miracle, Balance Your Diet, Reclaim Your Health", Robert O. Young Ph.D. and Shelley Redford Young, 2002
- "Alkalinize or Die", Dr. Theodore A. Baroody, 1991
- Mayo Clinic: Heartburn
