What is it?
- Burning sensation in the lower chest.
- Sometimes with a sour/bitter taste in mouth - often after big meal or lying
- Very mild to severe.
- Can cause you to cough or your voice to become hoarse.
- Lasts minutes or sometimes hours.
What causes it?
- Stomach full of acid to digest food.
- Valve at top of stomach – may be weak and not fully
- The acid in the stomach escapes into oesophagus (tube from the mouth to stomach) and causes a burning sensation.
Can things make it worse?
- Yes - smoking, alcohol, coffee, citrus fruits which are acidic, tomato, chocolate, spicy foods - the list goes on!
- Lying down after eating, being overweight, and some medicines.
How do you diagnose and treat it?
- Often a careful history will give you the answer.
- Can be serious sometimes and need further investigation: endoscope - camera in into the stomach to look for ulcers or ‘burning’ oesophagus.
- Sometimes do a test for a bacteria pylori which can make it worse
- Treat with ‘antacids’ which neutralise acid, or medication which stops acid in the stomach, or if we have the bacteria, antibiotics.
- Can help prevent: being careful what you eat, not eating big meals before bed, losing weight, stop smoking, reduce alcohol.
- If have symptoms see your doctor!
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