Acid Reflux Disease or gastro-esophageal reflux is where the lower esophageal sphincter, located at the entrance of your stomach, does not close all the way, or it opens too often. This can cause the acid from your stomach to move up into your esophagus causing damage and heartburn.

Symptoms of acid reflux disease include:

• heartburn
• bloating
• dysphagia or narrowing of the esophagus
• bloody vomit or stool
• unexplained weight loss.

Frequent heartburn is a good indicator that you may have acid reflux. It is important to talk to your doctor if you experience any of these symptoms for more than two weeks.

Some of the contributing factors to reflux include: being obese or overweight, eating large meals before bed, pregnancy, drinking alcohol, coffee, tea, or eating foods like tomato, chocolate, mint, garlic, onions, spicy or fatty foods, smoking, and some medications can even be the cause of your acid reflux symptoms. Understanding what contributes too, and what the symptoms are will help you manage your disease.

Along with education, natural remedies also exist to help you with reflux, some of these include:

• Milk and 7-up: The alkaline nature of the milk neutralizes the acid in the stomach and the carbonation of the 7-up helps release excess gas build-up. You would drink this tonic as often as necessary for immediate relief.
• Baking Soda and water: Three teaspoons combined in a half-glass of water will help keep the acid already in your esophagus to a minimum. Secondly, they provide a great cleansing action to help coat and protect the lining of your stomach, gut, and intestinal tracts. Persons who suffer not only from reflux, but upset stomach will also receive relief from this remedy.

Maintenance is also a critical factor in controlling your acid reflux disease:

• Herbal Teas: Teas not including caffeine or citrus will help regulate the amount of water, nutrients and natural antibiotics in your body. This is one of the first steps to long term maintenance of acid reflux disease.
• Apple Cider Vinegar: This cider is used for long term maintenance of acid reflux disease, and shouldn?t be taken if you are currently experiencing an episode of reflux. Cider should be drank pure, or mixed with water to tolerate, and should be consumed before bed, before meals, or anytime in which you are not having an episode In the long run, the apple cider can help reduce the level of hydrochloric acid in your stomach, and will also help it breakdown foods and foodstuffs you consume.

Acid reflux disease is quite painful and often disrupts your life. The natural remedies mentioned above are only a temporary relief and should be discussed with your doctor prior to use. One should consider other mundane and physical conditions that can also prompt acid reflux, such as trigger foods, high stress environments, and eating proper portions of food. Acid reflux, like any other disease requires a maintenance plan, and is something that your doctor, dietitian or naturopath consultant should go over with you. For more information on ways to remedy your indigestion be sure to visit Reflux Remedy at refluxremedy.com today!

If you are someone who hasn’t ever had heartburn, or are experiencing heartburn for the first time, you may be asking, where does heartburn hurt? Generally, heartburn sufferers feel pain in the upper chest area, which can radiate upwards toward the neck.

Heartburn happens when stomach acids are allowed to escape the stomach, and enter the esophagus, which causes pain, and a burning sensation. The lower esophageal sphincter is a sort of one way valve meant to let food into the stomach, and keep it there, along with all the acids and enzymes meant to aid in the digestion process. If this muscle relaxes too much, or is damaged in some way, those acids can make their way up into areas they were never meant to be in, resulting in heartburn.

Heartburn pain can vary from mild to severe, and can be accompanied by burping, reflux, which just means the acids made their way all the way up to the mouth, hiccups and general indigestion.

Heartburn has a wide range of causes, and targeting some of them can keep heartburn at bay for most people. First of all, a simple lifestyle change can help eliminate heartburn pain quickly. Eating large meals can cause heartburn by putting too much pressure on your stomach, which causes it to overproduce acid. So, rather than eating two big meals every day, try four or five smaller meals to help your body digest a little easier. Additionally, don’t eat too close to bed time. Laying down allows acids to easily migrate out of the stomach, so stay upright after eating for as long as possible to let gravity help your body keep digestive fluids where they belong. Also, try changing your fashion habits. Wearing clothes that are tight fitting can constrict your stomach, putting pressure on sensitive areas, which leads to heartburn.

Another habit that can lead to heartburn pain is smoking. The nicotine in tobacco is shown to cause the body to overproduce stomach acids. If you have too much acid in your stomach, it can easily escape into areas that will cause pain. Smoking also inhibits your body’s ability to heal, so any damage done by excess stomach acids won’t heal as quickly.

Stress can also lead to heartburn pain in the chest and neck areas. Similar to nicotine, stress causes an overproduction of stomach acids. To combat this, calm down. Try some deep breathing, take a meditation course, count to ten, put on some relaxing music, add some light exercise to your daily routine, whatever it takes to de-stress your life. If you feel yourself getting stressed out, something as simple as taking a deep breath can save you from pain later.

Food is another common cause of heartburn pain. Everyone has different triggers, but in general spicy foods, onion, garlic, caffeine, alcohol and citrus fruits are a few common ones. Try tracking what causes your pain and avoiding those foods if necessary.

Heartburn pain is an uncomfortable problem for millions of people. To find out more about where heartburn hurts and the causes of heartburn pain, visit www.refluxremedy.com today.

Hiatal Hernia & bleeding tend to only go together if the hernia is severe, or has gone untreated for far too long. The bleeding occurs as a result of damages done to the esophagus. It?s important to catch a Hiatal Hernia before it reaches this point, and treat it accordingly.

Normal Symptoms

Normal symptoms of a Hiatal Hernia can mimic heartburn pretty closely. However, it would be a sudden onset of frequent heartburn for those who don?t normally suffer from the problem. These symptoms can include acid reflux (or burping up stomach acids), heartburn pain, general indigestion, burping and hiccups.

Additionally chest pain can sometimes accompany a Hiatal Hernia. However, it?s important to distinguish between Hiatal Hernia chest pain and chest pain from a heart attack. Hernia pain can be caused by spasms in the stomach and chest area due to the stomach being displaced. It is not generally accompanied by anything other than heartburn symptoms. Chest pain due to a heart attack will be accompanied by shortness of breath and numbness in one of your arms. If you experience these symptoms, seek medical treatment right away!

It?s important to be aware of the normal symptoms of a Hiatal Hernia if you suspect you might have one, so that you can keep it from escalating to a state of bleeding.

What can you do?

A Hiatal Hernia is rarely life threatening and, when caught in normal stages can be treated with simple lifestyle changes. It?s important to keep in mind when dealing with a Hiatal Hernia that your body just needs time to heal and de-stress. Therefore, making the digestive process easier for your stomach is often the best way to help a hernia, and keep it from coming back.

For example, eat smaller meals more often. That way you prevent the onslaught of food that your stomach has difficulty dealing with. If you eat too much, it causes pressure to build and excess stomach acids to accumulate. This causes irritation and can further aggravate your hernia. Eating smaller meals provides your stomach with a more steady flow of food, keeping it from getting too stressed out.

Additionally, try not to eat right before bed. In fact, you shouldn?t eat about 2 hours before you lie down, even if it?s just for a nap. You see, gravity naturally helps food progress down through your digestive tract, and if you lie down immediately after eating, gravity can?t do its job and food and acids can put pressure on an already upset stomach. So, while it may be tempting to lie down on the couch after that huge holiday feast, don?t do it! Relax by sitting up, and rest your head on a pillow. Stay upright for as long as you can, and your stomach will thank you.

Try doing things like quitting smoking and removing stress from your life. This will prevent the overproduction of stomach acids, which can irritate your sensitive stomach. Plus, smoking slows the body?s natural ability to heal, so quitting will help your body heal that much faster.

With all these techniques in place, you should be able to prevent Hiatal Hernia & bleeding from becoming a problem.

For more tips and tricks for treating a Hiatal Hernia, visit www.refluxremedy.com today!