Chronic Heartburn

I got my first "shots" of heartburn as a teenager and eventually clued in that it was caused by creamy or buttery food. Heartburn is one of life's unpleasant surprises. Most of us get it at one time or another.

Unfortunately, one in every seven Americans suffers from chronic heartburn. 

This is usually identified as severe heartburn occurring three or more times per week, and if this is you, please go and see your doctor.

Heartburn also goes by acid reflux or gastro esophageal reflux disease or simply as GERD.

Heartburn pain begins near the breast bone (hence the "heart" in heartburn) before rushing up the throat, burning as it goes along.

The symptoms of chronic heartburn include burning sensations in the chest or throat, inability to lie flat at rest, vomiting or belching up food or liquid as well as food getting stuck in the throat and finally, difficulty or pain while swallowing. One would thus need to visit medical care centers that are properly equipped to deal with severe heartburn and ensure that the condition does not get worse.

Some of the more widely used treatments given for severe heartburn symptoms include minimally-invasive videoscopic surgery that uses few small incisions as well as produces less scarring, shorter hospital stays and a quick return to normalcy than does traditional surgical methods.

The patient of chronic heartburn may also get treated with the help of a small endoscopic device that permits the physician to place sutures in the muscles that control the stomach valve and, thus tighten as well as improve stomach valve functioning. These treatments help patients to reduce or completely do away with chronic heartburn medication.

Chronic heartburn is often treated by doctors with the help of prescription medications as well as changes in lifestyle. There are two common approaches used in heartburn medication.

1. Reducing acid produced by the stomach: Proton pump inhibitors are used to shut off the "pump" that secretes acid into the stomach, and histamine blockers switch off certain receptors within the stomach to reduce acid production. The rationale is that less acid in the stomach will reduce the likelihood or amount of stomach acid, and therfore reduce heartburn.

2. Increase the acid in the stomach: at first, this seems counterintuitive. However, a certain amount of acid is required to help digest food. Without sufficient acid, food putrefies in the stomach - you can just imagine it - and this canalso result in heartburn. This scenario is handled by hydrochloric acid supplements (HCL for heartburn).

If you have severe heartburn symptoms go and see your doctor.  There's no reason not to get chornic heartburn treated with the medicine available today.