Treatment of acid reflux

The lower esophageal sphincter (LES) is a ring of muscle that formes a valve at the entrance of the stomach. If  LES function is normal,it closes as soon as food passes through it, but if the LES has problems it doesn't close normally and it opens too often, allowing to the acid produced by the stomach to migrate through the esophagus.

   This can cause a heartburn, a burning chest pain. If that pain happens more than twice a week, it seems you have that disease called GERD ( gastroesophageal reflux disease) or in a most common name, acid reflux. Causes of acid reflux might be eating certain foods, such as citrus, tomato, chocolate, mint, garlic, onions, or spicy or fatty foods,smoking, drinking beverages such as alcohol, carbonated drinks, coffee, or tea, being pregnant, being so stressed person, taking aspirin, ibuprofen, certain muscle relaxers, or blood pressure medications.

    Another risk factor that can cause acid reflux attack is a stomach abnormality called a hiatal hernia.This happens when a part of the stomach and the LES move above the diaphragm, a muscle that helps keep acid in our stomach.
The main symptoms of acid reflux are: the heartburn that I talked before and regurgitation: a sour or bitter-tasting acid backing up into your throat or mouth. These symptoms might be followed by another ones: Dysphagia -- a narrowing of your esophagus, which creates the sensation of food being stuck in your throat, hiccups that don't let up,wheezing, dry cough, hoarseness, or chronic sore throat, nausea.Acid reflux symptoms can be observed and the patient would complain mainly of discomfort in eating and heartburn.      When it becomes chronic, several other symptoms may be observed such as chronic cough, laryngitis, erosion of dental enamel, dentine hypersensitivity.If lifestyle changes and medications don't bring anyrelief you need to require medical advice.
       Your doctor may order tests to confirm a diagnosis and check for other problems. The tests that you can make are:Barium swallow (esophagram), esophageal manometry,endoscopy and finally a biopsy.
In many cases, lifestyle changes combined with medications are all you need to control the symptoms of acid reflux disease.
First,  eat more frequently throughout the day.Several smaller meals are suggestible than having one or two larger meals in a day. Next, quit smoking and drinking beverages as alcohol,coffee, tea etc. Those must be reduced in your diet.

    Don't eat at least four hours before you are sleeping. After you eat, try to have a walk instead of sleeping. Try sleeping in a chair for daytime naps and put blocks under the head of your bed to raise it at least 4 to 6 inches,a bed similar to the ones used in hospitals would be a great idea. Finally, ask your doctor whether any medication could bring any relief to your acid reflux symptoms.
You need a special prescription for drogs, because most of them have side effects. Antacids, such as Alka-Seltzer, Maalox, Mylanta, Rolaids, or Riopan, can neutralize the acid from your stomach.

   But they may cause diarrhea or constipation, especially if you have a overdose. If antacids don't help, your doctor may try other medications.If medications don't completely resolve your symptoms of acid reflux disease, your doctor might recommend surgery. It is the final step in healing GERD. This procedure called fundoplication  involves wrapping the upper part of the stomach around the LES to strengthen it, prevent acid reflux, and repair a hiatal hernia. But you should not to use this procedure than in extreme cases when nothing else brings results.