Heartburn as an agonizing pain

Heartburn is one of the most unpleasant diseases at all. The severe pain in the stomach area is an agonizing burden and limitation of general performance. Particularly unpleasant is the long duration of the disease.

Because heartburn is associated with chronic overproduction of stomach acid and/or dysfunction of the stomach sphincter, attacks are usually long-lasting.

The patient’s own stomach is overly sensitive, so that even the smallest amounts of food that would not otherwise strain the esophagus are enough to trigger the attack. However, food choices are not the only trigger for heartburn.

How does heartburn develop?

The gastric acid that the stomach needs for digestion is so aggressive that the stomach would digest itself if it were not protected by a protective mucus layer of hydrochloric acid.

But this protective layer stops with the stomach sphincter, so that if there is an overproduction of stomach acid and/or a dysfunction of the stomach sphincter, it can now enter the esophagus, irritating the mucous membranes and triggering the stabbing pain.

Heartburn can also be triggered when the esophageal muscles are too weak to return the gastric acid back into the stomach. Thus heartburn is a reflux disorder (reflux disease).

In this blog can be informed in detail about the causes of heartburn.

Food as risk factors

When the disease is triggered or. their reinforcement, dietary habits play a decisive role. Especially fatty, sweet and caffeinated food stimulates the production of gastric acid and can trigger or intensify heartburn.

Cola is particularly aggressive towards the esophagus because the soft drink contains both caffeine and an extreme amount of sugar.

Alcoholic beverages should also be avoided when suffering from heartburn. Eating and drinking too hastily or excessively can also trigger heartburn. In this respect, meals should be taken calmly and a feeling of fullness should be avoided.

Other risk factors

Stress is considered an important risk factor, so heartburn can also manifest itself psychosomatically.

Stress leads to a cramping of the stomach and thus to an increased output of gastric acid. Certain medications and pregnancy are also among the risk factors.

During pregnancy, the excessive production of the hormones progesterone and estrogen causes the stomach sphincter to slacken, which is additionally attacked by the increased pressure on the abdominal cavity.

Nicotine is also likely to trigger the stabbing pain in the esophagus.

What to do against heartburn?

Traditional methods

The constant pain is not a blow of fate, which each concerning is condemned to endure. On the contrary, heartburn can be treated very well this way. Usual are beside a change of the nourishing habits and stress avoidance gastric juice damming medicines, which unfold their effect after a few days.

The stomach acid can thus no longer penetrate the gastric sphincter and attack the mucous membranes of the esophagus, so that the pain comes to a halt.

Alternative remedies for heartburn

Of course, there are also homeopathic remedies that work very well against the pain. White cabbage press juice, potato press juice as well as flaxseed mucilage are good at repressing the flooding stomach acid.

Melissa tea, chamomile tea and fennel tea also relieve the cramps in the stomach and lead to a reduction in inflammation caused by the attack of stomach acid on the unprotected mucous membranes of the esophagus.

Licorice root and angelica can even reduce the production of stomach acid to a reasonable level.

The meadowsweet – a medicinal plant – basically counteracts hyperacidity in the stomach, while a few slices of ginger in hot tea have a calming and antispasmodic effect.

As a secret recipe, the combination of certain active ingredients in tea helps against heartburn especially. These are on the one hand the combination of chamomile, mallow and marshmallow, on the other hand of fennel, caraway and anise as well as chamomile, fennel and licorice root.

Iberogast”, a well-known over-the-counter drug available in pharmacies, is a powerful remedy in this context, owing its soothing effect on the nauseous stomach to the synergistic effects of its successful herbal combination.