Heartburn is a painful burning sensation in the esophagus, just below or behind the breastbone. The pain often rises in your chest and may radiate to your neck or throat.
Alternative NamesPyrosis; Non-cardiac chest pain
Common CausesAlmost everyone has occasional heartburn. If you have frequent, ongoing heartburn, you may have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
Normally, when food or liquid enters your stomach, a band of muscle at the end of your esophagus (called the lower esophageal sphincter or LES) closes off the esophagus. If this muscle fails to close tightly enough, stomach contents can back up (reflux) into the esophagus. This partially digested material is usually acidic and can irritate the esophagus, causing heartburn and other symptoms.
Heartburn is more likely to occur if you have a hiatal hernia, which is when the top part of the stomach protrudes upward into the chest cavity. This weakens the LES and makes it easier for acid to reflux from the stomach into the esophagus.
Heartburn can be brought on or worsened by pregnancy and by many different medications.
Such drugs include:
If you suspect that one of your medications may be causing heartburn, talk to your doctor. NEVER change or stop medication you take regularly without talking to your doctor.
Home CarePay attention to heartburn and treat it, especially if you feel symptoms often. Over time, ongoing reflux can damage the lining of your esophagus and cause serious problems. The good news is that making changes to certain habits can go a long way to preventing heartburn and other symptoms of GERD.
The following tips will help you avoid heartburn and other GERD symptoms. If these measures are not working, talk to your doctor.
First, avoid foods and beverages that can trigger reflux, such as:
Next, try changing your eating habits:
Make other lifestyle changes as needed:
If you still do not have full relief, try over-the-counter medications:
Call 911 if:
Call your doctor if:
Heartburn is usually easy to diagnose from the symptoms you describe to your doctor. Sometimes, heartburn can be confused with another stomach problem called dyspepsia. If the diagnosis is unclear, then you may be sent to a gastroenterologist for further testing.
First, your doctor will perform a physical examination and ask questions about your heartburn, such as:
The following tests may be performed:
If self care has not been successful, your doctor may consider prescribing you medications to reduce acid secretion. These are stronger than the medications available over the counter. Any sign of bleeding will require a more complicated treatment plan.
ReferencesKahrillas PJ, Shaheen NJ, Vaezi MF, Hiltz SW, Black E, Modlin IM. American Gastrointestinal Association Medical Position Statement on the management of gastroesophageal reflux disease. Gastroenterology. 2008;135:1383-1391.
Wilson JF. In the clinic: gastroesophageal reflux disease. Ann Intern Med. 2008;149:ITC2-1-15.
Eating spicy foods, such as Pizza, may cause a person to feel heartburn. Although the name may imply the heart, heartburn has nothing to do with the heart itself. Heartburn is pain felt in the chest by a burning sensation in the esophagus, which is located close to where the heart is.
Here you can see the pizza passing from the mouth to the esophagus and on to the stomach. At junction between the stomach and esophagus is the lower esophageal sphincter. This muscular sphincter acts as a valve that normally keeps food and stomach acid in the stomach and prevents the stomach's contents from regurgitating back into the esophagus.
However, certain foods may affect the lower esophageal sphincter, making it less effective. That's how heartburn begins. The stomach produces hydrochloric acid to digest food. The stomach has a mucous lining that protects it from hydrochloric acid, but the esophagus does not.
So, when food and stomach acid regurgitate back into the esophagus, a burning feeling is felt near the heart. This feeling is known as heartburn. Antacids may be used to relieve heartburn by making stomach juices less acidic, therefore reducing the burning feeling felt in the esophagus. If heartburn becomes frequent or prolonged, medical intervention may be necessary to correct the problem.
Reviewed ByReview Date: 01/31/2011
David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; and George F. Longstreth, MD, Department of Gastroenterology, Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, San Diego, California. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
Heartburn is a painful burning feeling just below or behind the breastbone. It usually comes from the esophagus. The pain often rises in your chest and may spread to your neck or throat.
Alternative NamesPyrosis; Non-cardiac chest pain
Common CausesAlmost everyone has heartburn sometimes. If you have heartburn very often, you may have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
Normally when food or liquid enters your stomach, a band of muscle at the end of your esophagus closes off the esophagus. This band is called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). If this band does not close tightly enough, contents from the stomach can back up (reflux) into the esophagus. This partly digested material can irritate the esophagus, causing heartburn and other symptoms.
Heartburn is more likely if you have a hiatal hernia. A hiatal hernia is when the top part of the stomach sticks up into the chest cavity. This weakens the LES and makes it easier for acid to back up from the stomach into the esophagus.
Pregnancy and many medications can bring on heartburn or make it worse.
Drugs that can cause heartburn include:
If you think one of your medicines may be causing heartburn, talk to your doctor. Never change or stop taking medicine without talking to your doctor.
Home CareTreat heartburn, especially if you often feel symptoms. Over time, reflux can damage the lining of your esophagus and cause serious problems. The good news is that changing your habits can help prevent heartburn and other symptoms of GERD.
The following tips will help you avoid heartburn and other GERD symptoms. If these measures do not work, talk to your doctor.
First, avoid foods and drinks that can trigger reflux, such as:
Next, try changing your eating habits:
Make other lifestyle changes as needed:
If you still do not have full relief, try over-the-counter medications:
Get urgent medical care if:
Call your doctor if:
Heartburn is usually easy to diagnose from the symptoms you describe to your doctor. Sometimes, heartburn can be confused with another stomach problem called dyspepsia. If the diagnosis is unclear, you may be sent to a doctor called a gastroenterologist for more testing.
First, your doctor will do a physical examination and ask questions about your heartburn, such as:
The following tests may be done:
If you have not been able to improve your symptoms with home care, your doctor may prescribe medicine to reduce acid. These are stronger than over-the-counter medicines. Any sign of bleeding will need more testing and treatment.
ReferencesDeVault KR. Symptoms of esophageal disease. In: Feldman M, Friedman LS, Brandt LJ, eds. Sleisenger and Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease. 9th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2010:chap 12.
Kahrilas PJ, Shaheen NJ, Vaezi MF, Hiltz SW, Black E, Modlin IM. American Gastrointestinal Association Medical Position Statement on the management of gastroesophageal reflux disease. Gastroenterology. 2008;135:1383-1391.
Wilson JF. In the clinic: gastroesophageal reflux disease. Ann Intern Med. 2008;149:ITC2-1-ITC2-15.
Reviewed ByReview Date: 01/31/2011
David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; and George F. Longstreth, MD, Department of Gastroenterology, Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, San Diego, California. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
When you having a serious heartburn that will not go away for 15 minutes the most, seek emergency assistance. This happened to me. I was given a GI cocktail in the emergency room to relieve the pain and it was gone, then a blood test was ordered right away, the result was I am having a heart attack. Troponen enzyme was very high.
Heartburn
Gastroenterologists study heartburn
What you eat actually causes heartburn. Some people get heartburn when they eat Hot Dogs and spaghetti. The process of digestion causes heartburn.
Heartburn is a common symptom of pregnancy but heartburn alone should not be an indication of pregnancy.
What you eat actually causes heartburn. Some people get heartburn when they eat Hot Dogs and spaghetti. The process of digestion causes heartburn.
You can talk with your doctor or go to prilosecotc.com for the symptoms of heartburn. Both will help you in deciding if you actually have a real problem with heartburn of just an occasional problem with heartburn.
Heartburn can give you a toomer.
For some people it will cause heartburn
Heartburn is not deadly. However, some of the conditions that CAUSE heartburn can be harmful to your health. If you have constant heartburn, see your doctor. If you get heartburn once in a while after having 2 of those chili dogs with extra onions, then stop eating those.
The changes of your body may cause heartburn
does banna give you heartburn or indegestion
The duration of Heartburn - film - is 1.8 hours.