The human stomach can be a fickle organ. It can be as healthy as an ox today and yet as troublesome as a herd of ox gone amok tomorrow, no thanks to the symptoms of chronic heartburn. The worst thing is that such a see-sawing state of digestive system health has been going on for years despite your best efforts to maintain its health.
The stomach discomfort would have been tolerable if only the other symptoms of heartburn were not present. You also experience pain in the chest and throat coupled with difficulty in breathing, all of which adversely affect your quality of life day in and day out. You will want to find the best treatment options for your case of heartburn, of course, especially when you know that it can lead to cancer of the esophagus.
Don’t fall into despair as there are effective treatments for chronic heartburn. Keep in mind that these treatments must be approached with a holistic mindset in that lifestyle changes must be combined with the proper medications. You should then be able to free yourself from the pains of heartburn
Look at Your Diet
Since the problem of heartburn starts with the stomach, it is only logical that the first organ we look after is the stomach itself. Look at the kinds of food and drinks that you consume on a daily basis. List them down and determine which of these food and drinks are causing your frequent heartburn.
Take note that each individual will have specific triggers for his/her chronic heartburn. For example, you may react badly to chocolate, caffeine and alcohol but another person may tolerate these food items. Or you may tolerate tomato juice but not citrus fruits. Other possible triggers of heartburn include fried food, spices and seasonings, and carbonated drinks.
And while you are looking at your diet, you should also adopt healthy eating habits. We are talking about eating smaller meals, avoiding eating meals so close to bedtime, and walking around for a few minutes after eating so as to give the stomach exercise time, in a manner of speaking.
Take Medicines
But changing your diet is often insufficient to treat chronic heartburn over the long-term period. Your doctor will recommend over-the-counter antacids like Maalox, Rolaids and Tums although these medications may not be as effective as their prescription counterparts. Ask your doctor about these medications as too much of a good thing can take their edge off in the treatment of the heartburn symptoms.
Basically, antacids contain the essential substances that help the stomach perform its digestive functions in a more efficient way. These minerals include calcium, magnesium and aluminum, which neutralize the acid production in the stomach.
You can also take acid blockers that control the quantity of acid produced in the stomach. We have to emphasize that these medicines work slower than the antacids in giving relief from heartburn but their effects usually last longer.
In all of these recommended treatments for chronic heartburn, you must coordinate with your doctor to facilitate true healing.
Learn about Chronic Heartburn
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