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!

If you have recently been diagnosed with an ulcer, you may be searching for home remedies to help heal it. While there isn?t a sure fire way to cure it, home remedies for a stomach ulcer are often simple to execute and can help your body heal itself, which is often the best way to treat an ulcer.

The only case where home remedies for a stomach ulcer wouldn?t be appropriate as a first course of action is if the ulcer is caused by a bacterium called H. pylori. H. pylori is a fairly common corkscrew shaped bacteria, and is actually the number one cause of ulcers, not stress or fatty diets as was once commonly thought. So, if H. pylori is blamed for your ulcer your doctor will most likely prescribe a course of antibiotics to help kill the bacteria. However, these home remedies can be practiced in conjunction with antibiotics, to help the ulcer heal once the bacteria are gone.

First of all, monitor how much food you take in. Overwhelming your stomach with large meals can often aggravate an ulcer as the stomach tries desperately to break down such a huge quantity of food. Smaller, more frequent meals are the solution to this. It promotes healthy digestion, helps prevent heartburn and will help give your ulcer the space it needs to heal.

Second, watch what you eat. Fatty foods, extremely spicy foods, and foods that are known to cause heartburn or indigestion for you should all be avoided. Things like fast food, whole milk and creams, onions, garlic, caffeine and acidic fruits like citrus should be used in moderation when you?re trying to heal from an ulcer. Foods that should be targeted are whole grain breads, lean meats, fish, and foods that are high in antioxidants that will help the healing process ? like blueberries.

It?s important to focus on a healthy diet and outlook when your body has experienced a trauma, like an ulcer. Providing your body with proper nutrition will help it naturally heal. This means a balanced diet and maybe even regular, light exercise to get your blood pumping. Providing the area with a supply of oxygen rich blood will help speed the healing process.

Third, avoid pain killers like the plague. Over the counter and prescription pain killers are known to cause ulcers, so when you?re trying to heal from one, they can be counterproductive. If you experience joint pain, a headache, or back pain when you have an ulcer, reach for something other than pain killers to help get rid of it. Try a hot or cold compress, relax with a warm bath, get a massage, lie down in the dark, anything but putting a pain killer in your already sensitive stomach.

Fourth, stop smoking. Smoking is extremely detrimental to your health, and ulcers are quite frankly one of the minor side effects of the habit. Smoking also slows the healing process dramatically. Quitting will help your body heal the way it should, and prevent ulcers from recurring in the future.

Clearly simple lifestyle changes are some of the best home remedies for a stomach ulcer. For more tips and tricks to help deal with an ulcer, visit www.refluxremedy.com today!

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.

Acid reflux is a problem that plagues millions of people in the world today.? When it occurs frequently, like twice a week or more, it can be characterized as Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, or GERD.

GERD happens when a muscle in the digestive system called the lower esophageal sphincter malfunctions for one reason or another.? When operating properly, the sphincter allows food to flow one direction ? into the stomach ? and keeps acid down where it belongs.? When it becomes too relaxed acid can get into the esophagus which causes pain and irritation for the sufferer.

Symptoms of GERD include heartburn ? characterized as a burning sensation in your throat or chest, difficulty swallowing, cough, regurgitation of food or sour liquid ? characterized as acid reflux, and the feeling of a lump in your chest or throat.? When these symptoms occur frequently, GERD is generally to blame.

Some people have been shown to be more susceptible to GERD than others.? Pregnant women often struggle with GERD as a result of extra pressure on the stomach.? Some people with Diabetes struggle with a disease that slows the digestion process, keeping food in their stomachs too long, which causes excess acid production and can lead to GERD.? Smokers also seem to have a higher occurrence of GERD, as do those who are overweight.

Symptoms of GERD can be resolved in a number of ways.? In extreme cases, surgical intervention is necessary.? It involves tightening the lower esophageal sphincter to prevent acid from escaping the stomach.? However, this is often a last resort, as there are many other options for alleviating GERD.

Medications are one option, though they may not be the best option either.? While they can help to target the specific cause of acid reflux by neutralizing acids or stopping acid production all together, they are an expensive and inconvenient solution that results in several trips to the doctor and pharmacy.? Additionally, over the counter medications are not meant to be taken for more than two weeks at a time.

For those searching for more natural solutions, there are many options out there.? Simple things like tracking what you eat, and avoiding foods that set you off is one way.? Certain foods such as caffeine, garlic, onions and citrus are common triggers among GERD sufferers.? Even changes in habits can help, like eating smaller meals more often.? This technique prevents an onslaught of food from entering your stomach, which then prevents pressure build up and overproduction of acid.? Also, GERD sufferers should avoid eating less than two hours before bed.? This helps gravity keep acid in your stomach where it belongs.

There are a host of natural foods that may help relieve symptoms of acid reflux for GERD sufferers as well.? Just eating an apple can help absorb extra acid.? Drinking a glass of water can help flush acid through the digestive system faster.? Ginger, a well known herbal cure for all kinds of stomach ailments, can also help neutralize stomach acid.

For more information on GERD and relieving its symptoms naturally, please check out The Reflux Remedy Report at www.refluxremedy.com today!