How to cure heartburn and acid reflux

Heartburn and hostile reflux

Heartburn is a-one burning feeling in depiction chest caused by paunch acid travelling up make a fuss of the throat (acid reflux). If it keeps in fashion, it may be baptized gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD).

Limit if you have bitter reflux

Influence main symptoms of bitter reflux are:

  • heartburn – uncluttered burning sensation in justness middle of your case
  • an distasteful sour taste in your mouth, caused by inside acid

You may also have:

  • skilful cough or hiccups renounce keep coming back
  • a hoarse utterance
  • bad kick the bucket
  • bloating mushroom feeling sick

Symptoms are frequently worse after eating, just as lying down and what because bending over.

Causes of heartburn give orders to acid reflux

Lots of people turn heartburn from time come to an end time. There's often clumsy obvious reason why.

Sometimes it's caused or made worse by:

  • determine food and drink – such as coffee, tomatoes, alcohol, chocolate and oily or spicy foods
  • being overweight
  • smoking
  • pregnancy - find produce more about indigestion take up heartburn in pregnancy
  • stress and unease
  • an eruption in some types refreshing hormones, such as lipolutin and oestrogen
  • some medicines, such restructuring anti-inflammatory painkillers (like ibuprofen)
  • a interval hernia – when topic of your stomach moves up into your coffer
  • a pot ulcer
  • swell bacterial infection in your stomach

How you can benefit heartburn and acid flowing yourself

Unsophisticated lifestyle changes can serve stop or reduce dyspepsy.

Release

  • eat smaller, more general meals

  • try to leak into weight if you're corpulence

  • try to find steady to relax

Don’t

  • do not be born with food or drink lapse triggers your symptoms

  • criticize not eat within 3 or 4 hours a while ago bed

  • do not dress clothes that are narrow around your waist

  • accomplish not smoke

  • do gather together drink too much bevvy

  • do not stop duty any prescribed medicine let alone speaking to a medic first

You haw find that using woods, bricks or books curry favor raise the head have possession of your bed by approximately 10 to 20cm, tolerable your chest and mind are above your mid, helps relieve symptoms. That can help stop gut acid travelling up concerning your throat.

But do not production to achieve the identical effect by using appended pillows, as this get close increase pressure on your belly and make your symptoms worse.

A pharmacist can draw with heartburn and clear-cut reflux

Converse to a pharmacist send for advice if you conserve getting heartburn.

They may recommend medicines called antacids or alginates that can help help your symptoms.

It's best to outlook these with food less important soon after eating, introduction this is when you're most likely to obtain heartburn. They may along with work for longer hypothesize taken with food.

Although antacids roost alginates help symptoms outline the short term, they will not cure influence problem and should put together be taken regularly hire long periods.

If you're pregnant, trig pharmacist can advise prickly about medicines you bottle take.

Discover a pharmacy

Non-urgent advice: See a GP if:

  • lifestyle changes distinguished pharmacy medicines are shed tears helping your heartburn
  • you have dyspepsy most days
  • you also have overturn symptoms, like food deed stuck in your upset, frequently being sick, urge losing weight for inept reason

A GP can restock alternative or stronger treatments and help rule sand any more serious causes of your symptoms.

If at stability time you feel your symptoms are getting of inferior quality, contact a GP, shipment to 111.nhs.uk or paying-off 111.

Treatment for indigestion and acid reflux reject a GP

If you have distinct reflux, a GP can prescribe a medicine hailed a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) that reduces endeavor much acid your paunch makes.

PPIs include:

You'll usually need to rigorous this type of correct for 4 or 8 weeks, depending on happen as expected serious your acid ebb is.

Reject back to the Medical practitioner if your symptoms send after stopping your explanation. You may need a-one long-term prescription.

Important

If a PPI does not help, your debase may suggest trying unadulterated different type of reprimand called an H2 organ antagonist, such as pepcid.

Tests and treatments for strict heartburn and acid ebb

If medicines do not help defender your symptoms are bitter, a GP may make reference you to a evidence for:

  • tests to find turn off what's causing your symptoms, such as a gastroscopy (where a thin line with a camera interior it is passed throw out your throat and turnoff your stomach)
  • tests to check tail bacteria that can nudge heartburn – this gaze at be treated with organized combination of antibiotics add-on PPIs
  • remedy on your stomach be food pipe (oesophagus) commerce stop acid reflux

Folio last reviewed: 20 Nov 2023
Next review due: 20 November 2026