How to deal with heartburn at home

Many people, emphasizing the strength of their excellent health, say that there is no medicine in their house, except for headaches and heartburn. Indeed, heartburn is so common that you can talk about it disparagingly, without even giving the symptom special significance. Is heartburn safe and harmless? Are its manifestations always talking about overeating, or is it a sign of more serious diseases? Today we’ll talk about heartburn, its manifestations, as well as ways to eliminate this symptom - medicinal and folk.

What is heartburn and how does it manifest

Heartburn is an unbearable burning sensation and a feeling of fire behind the sternum. As a rule, almost every person experienced the feeling of heartburn. This burning sensation is due to the discharge of gastric juice towards the esophagus. Heartburn occurs most often after a heavy meal and worsens if you are lying down.

Heartburn is a rather controversial symptom. It can occur against the background of overeating and the characteristic features of food or be a sign of some gastroenterological diseases. If heartburn bothers you more than twice a week and may not be related to the amount of food eaten, be sure to consult a doctor. What can cause heartburn and how it develops, let's try to figure it out.

Causes of Heartburn

Here are some changes in the body that can lead to reflux discharge of gastric juice into the esophagus.

1. Often the source of heartburn is a change in the acidity of the gastric juice. As a rule, heartburn develops from high acidity, but can occur against a background of low acidity, if the mucous membrane of the esophagus is very sensitive.
2. Smoking and alcohol also contribute to heartburn.
3. Abundant food intake, especially fatty, salty, fried and smoked foods can also contribute to the development of heartburn. In this case, the stomach is stretched and a greater amount of gastric juice is produced, the esophagus sphincter relaxes and acid is released.
4. If you go to bed after a heavy meal, the horizontal position of the body creates a greater likelihood of throwing out gastric juice.
5. Another cause of heartburn is an unstable nervous state. Fear, depression, stress, anxiety can lead to heartburn, especially after eating.
6. Very often, heartburn occurs during pregnancy. In this case, the fetus simply squeezes the stomach, forcing it to throw out the gastric juice even with moderate meals.
7. Additional pressure on the stomach can be created by tight belts, corsets, overweight and even weight lifting.
8. Some drugs can increase the production of gastric juice and provoke their release into the esophagus. Among them are ibuprofen, orthophene, aspirin.
9. Heartburn can be provoked by such types of products as tomatoes, flour and yeast products, citrus fruits, coffee, marinades and pickles, mint, chocolate, strong tea, soda drinks.

These are the main reasons that can become a trigger for the development of heartburn. But often, heartburn occurs not only against the background of overeating and eating junk food. If heartburn develops after each meal, it is most likely a problem with the gastrointestinal tract.

What diseases causes heartburn?

It is clear that with frequent and debilitating heartburn, you need to go to a gastroenterologist and find out the cause of this condition. However, in some cases, the disease can be recognized by its symptoms even before going to the doctor.

1. Most often, heartburn develops with gastritis with high acidity.
2. Heartburn can be a symptom of duodenitis, pancreatitis, stomach ulcers, or duodenal ulcers. With such diagnoses, pain in the stomach and heartburn develops a couple of hours after eating and increases with the use of fatty foods.
3. Often, heartburn is a consequence of reflux disease, in which the lower sphincter weakens and does not protect the esophagus from the ingestion of gastric juice. In this case, heartburn manifests itself especially strongly when the body is tilted.
4. Frequent heartburn develops against the background of obesity, when visceral fat, enveloping the internal organs, literally squeezes the stomach, contributing to the release of gastric juice into the esophagus.
5. Constant heartburn occurs after surgery, when the volume of the stomach or duodenum decreases due to surgical excision.
6. Sometimes angina pectoris is taken for burning and severe pain behind the sternum.

To determine the diagnosis, you need to see a doctor, if necessary, pass tests and conduct a probe procedure. Listen to your body and its symptoms so that the doctor can make an accurate diagnosis.

Pharmaceuticals against heartburn

Pharmaceutical companies cite statistics that say that heartburn medications are some of the most popular over-the-counter medicines. Indeed, every person is familiar with heartburn and everyone is trying to cope with it on their own. What tools are highly effective and safe?

1. RENNIE. This is a popular and safe drug that is approved for use even by pregnant women. Rennie aims to neutralize the hydrochloric acid of gastric juice. Available in chewable tablets with different flavors. The effect is achieved almost immediately after taking the medicine.
2. Fasfalugel. This is a good medicine against heartburn and other manifestations of gastritis and ulcers. The gel gently envelops the walls of the stomach and intestines, absorbs fermentation products and toxins, reduces the acidity of the stomach, and eliminates heartburn.
3. Omez. This is an antisecretory drug that has a slightly different principle of action. It does not block the effect of acid, but inhibits the active production of gastric juice. The drug does not act immediately, its activity begins only an hour after administration, but the effect lasts much longer - by 8-10 hours. With regular intake of heartburn occurs much less often.
4. Gaviscon. Another popular anti-heartburn remedy made from a natural seaweed extract. Unlike other drugs, Gaviscon does not completely suppress the acidity of the stomach, which affects the digestion process. The drug simply protects the gastric mucosa from the aggressive effects of acid.
5. Gastracid. A modern drug against heartburn, which is taken during an exacerbation of chronic gastrointestinal diseases, during diet errors, etc. Available in the form of mint tablets.

There are a lot of drugs for heartburn, you need to choose what is right for you. During pregnancy, when heartburn occurs very often, you need to more carefully approach the choice of medicine and read the instructions. There should be indicated the admissibility of taking the drug during pregnancy.

How to deal with heartburn at home

If there are no pharmacy medicines at hand or if you want to deal with heartburn with natural remedies, you need to resort to simple and proven homemade recipes for heartburn.

1. Chamomile. This is an excellent medicinal plant with a pronounced calming property. Chamomile will help to calm fire in the stomach. From the flowers of a pharmaceutical chamomile, a decoction should be prepared - about two tablespoons of the plant per liter of boiling water.Drink chamomile in case of heartburn in half a glass in small sips. You should not take more than a liter a day; an overdose of chamomile can cause nausea and vomiting.
2. Oatmeal jelly. A couple of tablespoons of oat grains should be poured with two glasses of boiling water and allowed to simmer for about half an hour. Then pour the composition into a thermos and let it brew for a couple of hours. Next, the resulting jelly should be filtered and drunk with heartburn in half a glass. Kissel gently envelops the walls of the stomach and esophagus, reduces the aggressive effect of hydrochloric acid.
3. Flax seeds. If there is no time to wait for the preparation of oatmeal jelly, you can get an identical medicine from flax seeds. They should be ground in a coffee grinder or with a rolling pin on a cutting board. Pour crushed seeds with water and let it brew for about 15 minutes. Then you need to strain the composition and drink.
4. Raw potato juice. It perfectly reduces the acidity of the stomach with ulcers and gastritis, quickly relieves pain. Potatoes should be peeled and grated, preferably plastic, otherwise the metal may oxidize the product. After that, you need to squeeze the juice with gauze and drink it. At one time you need to drink about a third of a glass of fresh juice. It is not prepared for the future, just immediately before use, otherwise the potato juice may change color during storage.
5. Anise, dill and fennel. Take a teaspoon of each ingredient and pour into a glass liter jar. Pour boiling water and wrap in a towel. Let the broth brew for 5-6 hours, ideally it should be brewed for the night. With heartburn, you need to take a strained composition in half a glass.
6. Calcium salts. Chalk and eggshells contain calcium salts that neutralize the acid in the stomach. Pure chalk or eggshells should be chopped and taken a teaspoon with heartburn, washed down with plenty of warm water.
7. Chaga birch mushroom. To suppress heartburn, people use an infusion of birch mushroom. This is a drone mushroom in the form of a growth that appears on various trees, but the most useful is the one that grows on birches. Chaga excipients even make medicines. Chaga can be found in mushroom pickers, sorcerers, in phytobars or to grow a mushroom yourself. This is an excellent tool for the treatment of many diseases of the digestive tract.

Very often we are advised to treat soda with heartburn. Do not do this in any case. The fact is that baking soda really extinguishes the acidity of the stomach, but not for long. After some time, the gastric juice will begin to produce hydrochloric acid even more aggressively. If constantly treated with soda, it can lead to peptic ulcer. The same goes for such a popular milk. The fact is that calcium and protein, which are many in milk, provoke the release of gastric juice. An abundant amount of hydrochloric acid leads to the development of heartburn.

You also need to follow simple nutritional rules. You need to eat in small portions, but 5-6 times a day. Eat slowly, chew food thoroughly. In no case do not eat up at night, try not to lie after eating.If this is nevertheless necessary, raise the pillow 10-20 cm above the bed. While eating, drink mineral water (preferably with alkali) - it will wash away the gastric juice from the walls of the esophagus. Try to follow all of the above rules so that heartburn does not bother you. If all efforts fail, and heartburn returns again and again, be sure to consult a doctor. Perhaps this is a sign of another, more serious disease that cannot be started. Be attentive to your body to maintain health for years to come!

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