When some people are suffering from heartburn, the last thing they tend to reach for is a glass of water, especially when we’re talking about severe heartburn pain. However, water can often be a very effective way to resolve heartburn.

Heartburn happens when stomach acids are allowed to escape the stomach and make their way into the esophagus. This causes pain and discomfort that often radiates from the stomach or mid chest area through the neck. It can be accompanied by burping, reflux (which means acid makes its way all the way into the mouth), and hiccuping.

Heartburn’s Causes

Heartburn has a number of causes, ranging from foods to clothing and stress.

Everyone has their own food triggers for heartburn, and frequent heartburn sufferers might want to keep a log of what they eat in order to identify their specific triggers. However, some common heartburn instigators are caffeine, alcohol, garlic and citrus fruits.

Your daily habits can also cause heartburn. If you go to bed right after eating, stomach acid can creep up into your esophagus, causing heartburn. To avoid this, try sleeping propped up a bit, or just don’t eat less than 2 hours before bed. Additionally, don’t overeat. Large meals are more difficult for the body to digest, and can cause acid to back up. Smaller, more frequent meals are an excellent way to prevent heartburn before it happens.

Don’t wear clothes that are too tight for you. Constraints on the stomach can force stomach acid into the esophagus even if you’re eating all the right foods.

Smoking also causes heartburn, in addition to all the other potentially fatal health problems it causes.

Stress can easily cause the body to go into overdrive when it comes to acid production, so try to stay as calm as possible to avoid feeling the burn later in the day. Take deep breaths, listen to soothing music, try some yoga, count to 10, do whatever you need to in order to keep stress at bay.

Pouring Water on the Fire

Staying properly hydrated is a constant battle for many people. Recommended portions of water continuously change, and vary from person to person. Generally speaking though, you should drink 8 to 10 glasses of water every day. Practicing this technique can help keep a number of conditions at bay, including heartburn. It works by keeping toxins out of your body by diluting them or flushing them away.

This also applies to stomach acid. When it comes to heartburn, drinking a large glass of water can help to wash stomach acids that are causing pain and discomfort away. It’s such a simple solution most people overlook in favor of popping an antacid.

However, depending on the cause of your heartburn an antacid may not always work, especially if your heartburn is due to dehydration. Occasionally, your body will signal dehydration with heartburn, and if you simply pop an antacid your problem won?t be solved and most likely your symptoms won’t be relieved.

When it comes to relief, heartburn and water go hand in hand. For more tips on relieving heartburn naturally, read The Reflux Remedy Report 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.

Gastric ulcers can be painful, and sometimes fatal if the symptoms are ignored. An ulcer occurs when the lining of the digestive tract becomes damaged, and a hole or tear occurs due to injury or trauma. An ulcer can happen anywhere in the body’s digestive system, but when it happens in the stomach, it’s labeled as a gastric ulcer.

Gastric ulcer symptoms are slightly different than ulcer symptoms located in other portions of the body. For example, eating doesn’t generally relieve pain as it might with other ulcers. In fact, eating may cause pain. The pain can be a dull ache located in the upper chest area, possibly below the breastbone.

Other symptoms of a gastric ulcer include:

• Heartburn or acid reflux
• Nausea
• Loss of appetite
• Weight loss that wasn’t part of a planned diet program
• Waking up in the night with pain. Only about 3 out of every 10 people with a gastric ulcer will experience this symptom, and it generally occurs 3 or 4 hours after dinner. Eating late meals will exacerbate it.
• Vomiting, and vomiting blood, which may look like coffee grounds
• Blood in the stool, which would look like a black or tarry substance
• Some people may not have any symptoms at all

Causes

Gastric ulcers have a few causes, but one thing in particular is pointed to as the main cause, Helicobacter pylori. H. pylori is a corkscrew shaped bacteria found in most everyone. It’s unknown why it causes problems in some people and not others. An H. pylori infection occurs when the bacteria grows in the lining of the stomach, causing it to be easily damaged by stomach acids and other digestive enzymes. An H. pylori infection is generally cleared by a course of antibiotics, followed by additional testing to make sure the infection has been eradicated.

Pain killers are another main cause of gastric ulcers. Pain killers stop the body’s production of an enzyme that protects the stomach lining, making it more susceptible to damage. NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) like Aleve and Ibuprofen as well as Aspirin and prescription pain killers can all be pointed to as causes of gastric ulcers.

Another thing thought to cause gastric ulcers is smoking. The nicotine found in cigarettes is thought to increase the presence of acids in the stomach, making the lining more susceptible to damages. Smoking also slows the body’s natural healing process, making it difficult to recover from an existing ulcer.

Alcohol can also erode the stomach lining. Although, it’s unclear if alcohol will actually go so far as to cause an ulcer, or just worsen an existing ulcer, it should generally be used in moderation.

Stress is another thing that can’t be pointed directly to as a certain cause for ulcers, but it will definitely worsen an existing ulcer. Stress is thought to be the cause of a wide range of health problems, so whether it caused your ulcer or not, it’s beneficial to try and get your stress levels under control. Reduce your stress by putting some instrumental or calming music on in the background at work, or enrolling in a meditation class. These techniques will help you relax and allow your body to heal much faster.

For more information on gastric ulcer symptoms, check out The Reflux Remedy Report at www.refluxremedy.com.

Gallbladder disease can have very similar symptoms to heartburn, and although the gallbladder is connected to the digestive system, no genuine link has been found yet between the gallbladder and heartburn.

The Gallbladder

The reason people think they’re experiencing heartburn when they have a gallbladder issue is the pain is extremely similar and located in the same place that heartburn would be. The symptoms of gallstones and gallbladder disease include pain in the upper abdomen, belching, indigestion and nausea.

The gallbladder is used to store bile that then helps aid in the digestive process. After eating, the body signals the gallbladder to release the bile to help break down food in the small intestine.

For people who have problems with their gallbladder, antibiotics and surgery are generally the best options.

Heartburn

Heartburn is the result of too much acid in the stomach. This acid is then allowed to escape the stomach into the esophagus, resulting in pain that often radiates through the chest and into the neck as a burning sensation. Like a gallbladder problem, heartburn can also result in belching, indigestion and hiccups.

Heartburn has a number of causes. Food is one main cause. Things like spicy foods, onions, garlic, alcohol, caffeine and acidic citrus fruits can all cause heartburn, although many people have their own unique food triggers.

A person’s lifestyle can also stir up trouble in the heartburn department. For example, eating large meals can lead to heartburn. The influx of food in the stomach causes pressure to build and excess acid to be produced which irritates the esophagus. To solve this problem eat smaller meals more often. That helps the stomach digest foods more easily and keeps heartburn at bay.

Additionally, don’t eat right before bed, no matter how small the meal is. If you remain upright after eating, gravity helps keep food and acids down in your stomach, but if you lie down they can easily creep into your esophagus and cause pain and irritation.

Smoking can also cause heartburn, so if you smoke, don’t. It’s thought to increase the body’s acid production, leading to heartburn. It also slows the body’s ability to heal, so any damage done from excess acid takes much longer to be repaired.

Similarly, stress causes an influx of acid production in the stomach. So, try to keep stress out of your life as much as possible. Meditate, take deep breaths, count to 10, put on some soothing music, or even add a light exercise routine to your day. All these things can help you achieve a calmer mindset and prevent heartburn pain.

Heartburn pain can be relieved in a number of ways. Drinking a large glass of water is one simple way to reduce toxins in the stomach and wash acids through the system, relieving pain. Antacids can also help, although you should avoid becoming a pill popper if you have frequent heartburn. For more natural relief, try ginger. Whether candied or taken in tea form, it can help with all kinds of stomach indigestion problems.

For more natural tips and tricks for relieving heartburn, visit refluxremedy.com.

Although it’s easy to mistake a gallbladder issue with heartburn, the two so far have not been connected. Make sure you stay in tune with your body so that you can distinguish between the two health problems.