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January 3, 2011

Where Does Your Heartburn Hurt?

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.

 

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December 16, 2010

Can You Tell the Difference Between Heartburn and Angina?

Chest pain can be a very worrisome symptom, and rightfully so. It?s a symptom of a whole host of medical conditions, a few of which can be fatal if it?s ignored. However, some conditions associated with chest pain are pretty benign. For example, heartburn and angina both involve chest pain, but leaving one of them untreated can be a fatal mistake. So, what is the difference between heartburn and angina, and how can you tell which one you?re suffering from?

Similarities and differences

Both heartburn and angina (a heart attack) present with chest pain, but that?s pretty much where the similarities end.

Heartburn pain is generally described as a burning sensation that radiates from the chest up into the neck. It can sometimes be accompanied by reflux, or the feeling of food or liquid in your throat or mouth, a bitter taste in your mouth, burping, hiccupping and just a general feeling of indigestion. These feelings increase after eating, or after lying down.

Angina pain is more of a pressure or feeling of heaviness in your chest, associated with a whole host of other symptoms. The symptoms often come on very suddenly. They include:

? Shortness of breath

? The pain or a numbing sensation may spread to your shoulders or arm

? Fatigue

? Sweating

? Lightheadedness

When dealing with these two very different conditions, it?s important to listen to, and understand your body?s signals so that you can respond accordingly. Heartburn is nothing that you need to rush to the emergency room for, but angina is.

Treatments

If you think you are experiencing angina, walk away from the computer right now! Go to the hospital immediately! Immediate medical attention is the only thing that can help relieve chest pain due to angina.

Heartburn pain is a little easier to deal with. It can be treated naturally and dealt with fairly quickly to minimize discomfort. For example:

? Something as simple as drinking a large glass of water can often help soothe heartburn pain. It works by flushing acids out of the stomach, keeping them from doing further damage and causing irritation. Additionally, mixing the water with a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar can help speed pain relief to the area.

? Some people have even found relief from just eating an apple during a heartburn attack.

? Various teas like ginger, chamomile and fennel have also been shown to settle acid indigestion and help soothe fiery stomachs.

? To prevent heartburn attacks, avoid foods you?ve noticed that upset your stomach. Common ones include garlic, onions, caffeine, alcohol and citrus fruits that are full of natural acids.

? Try eating smaller meals, but more often, rather than just a few large meals every day. This helps prevent your stomach from overproducing acid to try to digest the massive amount of food you just threw at it.

Hopefully you?re now armed with information and can respond accordingly if you ever experience chest pain due to one of these two medical problems. However, there?s defiantly more to it than what?s provided in this small article, so for more information please visit www.refluxremedy.com and find out more!

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December 13, 2010

Lifestyle Changes to Prevent Heartburn

If you suffer from frequent heartburn, you may want to consider lifestyle changes to prevent heartburn.

Before we get too far into that though, let?s look at heartburn a bit more closely. Heartburn happens when acid in the stomach that?s meant to help break down food escapes into the esophagus, causing irritation and pain. Symptoms of heartburn often include a burning sensation that can surge up into the neck, burping, hiccups, and indigestion. Frequent heartburn can be very damaging to the esophagus, and steps should be taken to alleviate it, and allow the body to heal.

This will change your life

The first thing, and possibly the easiest, lifestyle change you can do to prevent heartburn is to stop eating large meals. Consuming less food more often can help the stomach more easily digest meals, and absorb all the nutrients it needs to heal damaged areas. Large meals can result in a buildup of pressure and acid, which produces heartburn pain.

Next, pay close attention to what you eat. Keep a log of what foods you consume, and particularly what foods cause heartburn. Then, simply avoid those foods. Everyone has their own irritants, but some common triggers for heartburn include garlic, caffeine, onions, citrus fruits and alcohol. Eliminating these foods, or consuming them in extreme moderation, can often help stem the frequency of heartburn.

Then, pay attention to when you eat. Eating too close to bedtime, or right before a nap can bring heartburn on like there?s no tomorrow. This is because gravity is your ally when it comes to keeping stomach acids down. When you lie down, gravity can no longer help you, so acids and food can creep up into the esophagus with little resistance. To avoid this scenario, don?t eat less than 2 hours before you want to lie down. This is especially important after a big holiday meal. It may be tradition for you to take a nap on the couch immediately following an overdose of tryptophan, but you?ll regret not breaking that tradition later.

If you do decide you want to lie down right after a meal, or you just have to have that evening snack right before bed, prop yourself up to help keep your esophagus above your stomach. Just one extra pillow under your head can sometimes be all your body needs to help it keep stomach acids where they belong.

You should also avoid tight clothing and anything that puts pressure on your abdomen. Wearing a belt too tightly can often force acid into the esophagus, which results in heartburn. So, buy clothes that fit you correctly to avoid this problem.

Additionally, if you?re overweight try losing some of it. Along the same lines of wearing clothes that are too tight, added weight on the abdomen places unnecessary pressure on the stomach, making it difficult to digest foods properly and easily allowing acid to be overproduced and escape.

There are a number of lifestyle changes to prevent heartburn you can try ? these are only a few of them. To find out more, visit www.refluxremedy.com and read The Reflux Remedy Report.

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November 19, 2010

Alkaline Foods and Acidic Foods

If? you are one of the millions of American’s who suffer from acid reflux? disease, it is not news to you that a diet high in acidic foods will only irritate your condition and cause your symptoms to be more severe. There are many natural ways to help alleviate the symptoms that accompany this condition, and changing your diet is one of them. Knowing the difference between alkaline and acidic foods is a great way to help incorporate nutritional foods into your diet and a great resource for self managing your acid reflux.

An alkaline food is technically any food which is not acidic and whose pH level is greater than seven. Basically it?s any food low in acid. Not only do these foods help to neutralize some of the natural acids in your system, but they also have some other great health benefits for you to consider. Alkaline foods include almonds, grapes, cantaloupe and mangos among others.? Maintaining a diet that is roughly eighty percent alkaline based foods and only twenty percent acidic will help your body to better process the raw nutrients that are found in the foods you eat.

Maintaining a balanced diet can also increase function in your muscles and joints as well as improving oxygen levels. You may also see improvement in the regulation of blood sugar and this diet change can also help those suffering from high blood pressure. There are plenty of foods in this category that you can eat freely without worries of excess acids. These foods include most types of meats, most vegetables and leafy greens. Also, most foods that are high in fats such as seeds and oils are low in acid, and when part of a balanced diet can help manage acid reflux..

Acidic foods, although more condition-irritating than alkaline based foods, are still necessary for our body’s proper function. Essential fatty acids and other beneficial types of acids can be found in some foods and are helpful to the body. Overall however a diet that is high in acidic foods (these are any foods with a pH level lower than seven) can wreak major havoc on the body and can consistently irritate acid reflux.

Some of the more dangerous foods include citrus fruits, anything with caffeine and alcohol.. Most dairy products are also considered acidic and should be consumed sparingly. Also, with pH levels higher than twelve, condiments such as mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup are also considered mostly basic despite their slightly acidic taste. They are safe to use sparingly. You can never have enough resources when it comes to managing your problems with acid indigestion and heartburn. Knowing the difference between alkaline foods and acidic foods is just one of these methods. If you would like to learn more techniques for managing this condition naturally and safely you may want to consider reading Bob Barton’s Reflux Remedy Report. It is full of valuable information for managing your indigestion symptoms in safe and natural ways.

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