Heartburn is a burning pain beginning behind the breastbone and radiating upwards. The hydrochloric acid from the belly leaks into the esophagus and causes heartburn. Occasional heartburn due to rich food or other lifestyle causes is classified as mild or episodic. Heartburn occurring twice or more in a week is moderate or frequent. Everyday issues even with a proper diet and way of living is severe or persistent. Five to 15 percent of heartburn sufferers have chronic heartburn.
Chronic heartburn is due to the lower esophagus sphincter muscle tone becoming feeble, or eroded by stomach acid, and the one-way valve is not able to seal the acid inside the gut. It could also be due to other considerations like motility problems, high stress, the liner of esophagus becoming sensitive, and continuous medicine for other lingering conditions.
In some intense cases, the mere act of bending down will bring acid into the esophagus. If the prolonged condition prevails for long, it may lead to difficult conditions like problem in swallowing, coarseness of the throat, protracted laryngitis, respiration issues like asthma or pneumonia, severe cough, and others.
Before prolonged heartburn is diagnosed it’s critical to reign out more heavy diseases which cause heartburn only as a symptom. These include hiatal hernia, GERD, peptic ulcer, gall bladder disease, gastritis and a tear in the esophagus. Enquiry for these ailments needs intensive gear and experts.
Prolonged heartburn is treated with strict life changes, which include modifying eating and sleeping habits, avoiding stress, finishing smoking, reducing weight, avoiding strain on the gut, and exercising.
OTC medicine with antacids, H2 blockers and proton pump inhibitors can be employed as short- and medium-term relief from heartburn. But the major goal of the physician will be to prescribe and manage it in the long term.
Treatment for chronic heartburn involves total commitment from the patient to comply with the physician’s’s recommendation and take the prescribed medication till the physician stops it. If all else fails to beat chronic heartburn, surgery might be the last resort. This is done to tighten the LES muscles and prevent acid from dribbling into the esophagus.
