Long-Term Treatment for Acid Reflux

People suffer from acid reflux for a variety of reasons, such as the inability of the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) to close properly, which, in turn, allows stomach acid and even bits of food to rise back up the digestive tract. The presence of stomach acid against the esophagus leads to the sensation known as heartburn. People who suffer frequent episodes of heartburn and acid reflux have a condition called gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Left untreated, GERD may lead to more serious complications, including esophageal cancer.

Symptoms

• The most common symptom of GERD is frequent heartburn. Despite its name, heartburn does not affect the heart. Rather, when stomach acid hits the esophagus, people feel pain, burning or discomfort. Some people experience heartburn below their chest, and others detect it as far up the body as the neck. Heartburn usually intensifies after meals, especially meals that include acidic foods such as tomatoes. Spicy foods, fatty foods, alcohol and caffeine may also lead to more frequent bouts of heartburn. Other symptoms of GERD include regurgitation of food, nausea and a dry cough.

Prevention/Solution

• Do not ignore frequent bouts of heartburn. Perpetual or reoccurring heartburn is a serious medical condition. Visit a doctor for evaluation and, if necessary, get an upper endoscopy to ensure that your esophagus does not have any damage yet. Your doctor will recommend a combination of lifestyle/diet changes and medicines designed to treat and prevent GERD. If you suffer from GERD, awareness of your condition and the foods or drinks that exacerbate it will help you control the severity of your acid reflux.

Diet and Lifestyle Changes

• Spicy foods such as chili and hot chicken wings flare up many people's acid reflux. Others are sensitive to garlic, onions, citrus fruits or chocolate. If there is a single food that causes heartburn every time you eat it, cut it from your diet. In general, limit your intake of foods that produce greater amounts of stomach acid. While a few days away from acidic foods may produce results, do not think that means you should immediately start eating pasta sauce every night once your symptoms subside. GERD comes in waves. According to Medicine Net, GERD may go underground, only to return a few weeks later. Thus, for effective long-term acid reflux treatment, watch your diet year-round.

  Cigarettes and alcohol irritate the esophagus and make the symptoms of GERD worse in many sufferers. If you smoke, try to quit. People who drink should limit their alcohol intake to no more than two drinks a day for men and one drink a day for women. More potent alcohols such as gin and whiskey affect some people more severely. Everyone is different. Know how your body reacts to different alcoholic beverages. Above all else, exercise restraint when you drink.

Medicine

• People with mild GERD may respond well to antacids such as Tums. Antacids help to neutralize the body's stomach acids. If antacids don't help, consider H2 blockers like Zantac. H2 blockers impede the production of stomach acid.

  More advanced or frequent acid reflux may require proton pump inhibitors or prokinetics. A proton pump inhibitor prevents stomach acid accumulation and also helps to repair damage to the esophagus. Proton pump inhibitors include Nexium and Prevacid. Prokinetics help to speed up your stomach's emptying process, which thus rids your body of stomach acid. In addition, prokinetics strengthen the LES so it works more effectively.

Surgery

• Some people do not respond to lifestyle changes and medicine alone and require surgical procedures. Minor procedures take place during an upper endoscopy. These include sewing parts of the esophagus/upper digestive tract, radiofrequency burning and medicinal injections to ease GERD. If a patient's GERD continues over a long period of time, doctors may opt for laparoscopic surgery. During laparoscopic surgery, hernias within the upper digestive tract are repaired with minimally invasive incisions. In addition, your surgeon may create a false LES by wrapping the upper stomach region around the esophagus.