Symptoms and Treatment of Acid Reflux Disease

Acid reflux is a painful disease that affects all sorts of people. It doesn't matter how old you are, what your sex or gender is, you are susceptible to acid reflux disease. Acid reflux is a long lasting disease that is often chronic. Most people who contract acid reflux disease will have it their entire lives.

GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) is another name for acid reflux disease. With acid reflux, the liquid in the stomach, which includes acid, pepsin, and sometimes bile, backs up into the esophagus. The acid is the most damaging of the refluxed liquids and can cause painful inflammation and damage the esophagus.

The most common symptom of acid reflux disease is heartburn. The feeling of heartburn is a burning sensation in the chest. Some patients also report feeling the burn in the area of the neck or throat. Heartburn is often the cause of unnecessary visits to the hospital because it can feel like a heart attack. If you are not sure if your chest pain is from acid reflux or from the heart, you must seek immediate medical attention. Some people assume that their pain is just heartburn and refuse to go to the emergency room, and some of those people were wrong. It's better to be safe than sorry.

Some other symptoms of acid reflux, though not so common, are nausea, regurgitation, or vomiting. Nausea happens the most often of the three and can be chronic. When the acid pushes all the way up the esophagus and into the mouth, this is regurgitation. Vomiting is seen most often in the littlest bodies, babies and toddlers, because typically when a baby regurgitates he gags on it and subsequently vomits.

A complication of acid reflux disease is esophageal ulcers. This happens when the regurgitated acids break down the esophageal lining resulting in a tear. Bleeding can be a result of esophageal ulcers, which can prove dangerous if the bleeding is serious.

In order to diagnose acid reflux doctors use hypothesis and trial and error with treatment. If treatment in ineffective the doctor will then use x-ray, endoscopy, biopsy, or esophageal acid testing before ruling out acid reflux disease as a cause for the symptoms.

Treatment for acid reflux disease includes lifestyle changes and changes in diet. Other things that could exacerbate symptoms of acid reflux are smoking, alcohol, caffeine, and foods like peppermint or chocolate. Giving up these things and reducing other food items that you think might be triggering symptoms may be the only treatment needed. Antacids or a prescription can be used to alleviate symptoms of heartburn and pain from ulcer. Anti-nausea medications can help with the nausea and vomiting in adults. A pediatrician should be consulted before giving anything to a baby for acid reflux disease.

If none of the initial attempts at treating acid reflux symptoms, a tablet can be used that is a combination of an antacid and foam that form a barrier over the acid in the stomach, preventing it from coming up. Surgery would be a last resort, but is ultimately an available option. Only you and your physician can decide what the best treatment for your acid reflux is.