Heartburn is a phenomenon that can deprive anyone of peace.person, even the most patient. And it occurs very, very often - almost every person knows what heartburn is not by hearsay, but, so to speak, from their own experience. Heartburn is characterized as a feeling of intense burning along the esophagus, as well as behind the breastbone. Most often, heartburn develops in people with increased acidity of gastric juice, but it can also occur with decreased acidity. In most cases, heartburn appears approximately 30-40 minutes after eating, less often - on an empty stomach. As a rule, heartburn is a direct consequence of the contents of the stomach being thrown into the esophagus. In most cases, people consider heartburn to be something frivolous, not deserving special attention. And they do not even try to understand what causes heartburn. Moreover, even if heartburn is accompanied by such an unpleasant phenomenon as belching and pain in the abdomen. But gastroenterologists are not so optimistic. They claim that heartburn that occurs only once a week increases the risk of stomach cancer by 6 (!) times. As a rule, a person who feels an attack of heartburn drinks a glass of milk or a soda solution, and as soon as the heartburn disappears, he safely forgets about it until the next time. But in fact, the problem does not disappear - it just disguises itself for some time. Let's try to figure out what heartburn is. In addition, it is very important to know exactly what the cause of heartburn is and how to get rid of it. I would like to immediately draw special attention to the following fact - in some cases, a feeling of burning behind the breastbone may indicate the presence of diseases of the cardiovascular system, and not the digestive tract. Most often, such a phenomenon occurs with hypertension or angina. Moreover, it is not so difficult to find out even on your own - take a tablet of validol and observe the reaction of your body. If the burning sensation disappears after a few minutes, then you are a potential patient of a cardiologist.
Causes of heartburn
Heartburn never appears without good reasons. Most often, heartburn appears as a result of such diseases as:
- Chronic gastritis
In most cases, the cause of occurrenceheartburn becomes chronic gastritis - usually with increased acidity. Gastritis, in its essence, is nothing more than an inflammatory process of the gastric mucosa. Most often, gastritis develops under the influence of chemical and physical adverse aggressive factors. In such cases, heartburn occurs soon after eating a large amount of food, usually fatty, spicy or sweet. In addition, heartburn attacks are often provoked by sweets and black bread and, oddly enough, milk. Very often milk is taken to relieve heartburn, but this effect is short-lived.
- Herniated hernia
In the event that a person encounters suchpathology, such as a hernia of the esophageal opening of the diaphragm, constant heartburn is guaranteed. And such a pathology can arise due to weakness of the diaphragmatic muscle, or due to increased pressure in the abdominal cavity. Systematic heavy physical exertion, coughing, constant overeating, constipation can lead to an increase in this pressure.
- Reflux esophagitis
In the event that the valve located betweenstomach and esophagus, is weak, there will be a constant reflux of stomach contents into the esophagus. As a rule, in such cases, heartburn intensifies when bending over and in a horizontal position. Most often, reflux makes itself known in childhood. In addition to a burning sensation along the esophagus, this phenomenon is characterized by vomiting, which occurs immediately after eating, especially if a person takes a horizontal position.
- Stomach ulcer and / or duodenal ulcer
Most people suffering from ulcerative colitisdiseases, sooner or later severe heartburn develops. And there are several reasons for the development of heartburn in this case. Firstly, with gastric ulcer, in most cases, the level of acidity of gastric juice increases sharply. And therefore, even the most insignificant throwing of stomach contents into the esophagus leads to severe irritation of the mucous membrane of the digestive tract. And secondly, reflux increases due to the fact that the contractile function of the stomach decreases several times. This means that the time it takes for food to pass through the stomach increases two to three times. And finally, thirdly, with an advanced form of peptic ulcer, stagnation of food in the stomach is typical. As a result - belching, vomiting and persistent heartburn.
- Symptom of operated stomach
If a sick person has undergone surgery and a stomach resection, not only gastric juice, but also bile and pancreatic juice often enter the esophagus.
- Taking certain medications
A number of medications can also trigger the developmentheartburn. Therefore, if you have heartburn while taking a particular drug, be sure to tell your doctor about it. He will select alternative drugs for you.
Treating heartburn
To get rid of heartburn, you need toto accurately determine the cause of heartburn. It is not so easy to do this on your own, so be sure to consult a gastroenterologist. He will prescribe an examination and select the appropriate treatment that will eliminate heartburn. Well, if heartburn is just a feature of your body, you can try folk remedies for heartburn. Moreover, they are very effective and absolutely harmless. The main thing is that you do not have allergic reactions to one or another component of the recipes.
- Honey and Aloe
One of the most effective methods of treatmentheartburn - honey and aloe. Especially if the heartburn is caused by gastritis or peptic ulcer. Place three aloe leaves in the freezer and leave for two days. After that, defrost the leaves, put them through a meat grinder and place them in a glass container. Add three tablespoons of any natural honey, mix thoroughly with honey - you should get a homogeneous mass. Store it in the refrigerator, in a tightly closed container. The sick person should take half a tablespoon of the resulting mixture before each meal. Heartburn will disappear in literally two or three days, but the treatment must be continued for at least 10 days. And if necessary, it can be extended to a month. As a rule, not only heartburn disappears, but also pain.
- a piece of chalk
Grind 200 grams using a coffee grinderordinary white chalk. Store the chalk in a glass container with a lid, in a dry place. The sick person should take this powder ½ teaspoon before each meal. As a rule, heartburn goes away after two days. But the course of treatment should last at least one month.
- Herbal Remedies
If heartburn is severe and bothers a personconstantly, you can try herbal treatment. You will need one tablespoon of St. John's wort, yarrow and peppermint. Place the herbs in a thermos, pour one liter of boiling water and leave for an hour. Then strain the infusion using gauze, pour into a glass container. Take the infusion half a glass twice a day, before meals. The course of treatment is 10 days. If in addition to heartburn you experience pain in the stomach, ordinary centaury will come to your aid. Place three tablespoons of the herb in an enamel pan, pour a liter of boiling water and boil for 20 minutes. Then turn off the heat, cover the pan with a lid, wrap it in a terry towel and leave to infuse for three hours. Strain the broth using gauze, add three tablespoons of any natural honey. Pour the resulting broth into a glass container and store in the refrigerator. The decoction should be taken every three hours, half a glass. The course of treatment is 14 days.
- Ginger root
Place two tablespoons in a thermoscrushed ginger root, pour two glasses of boiling water, add one tablespoon of natural honey and leave to infuse for one day. After this, strain the infusion using gauze and pour into a glass container. Take two tablespoons of the infusion before each meal. The course of treatment is 21 days.
- Flax-seed
In case heartburn starts to bother youperson at night, you need to prepare the following remedy. Place five tablespoons of flax seeds in an enamel container, pour one liter of boiling water, cover with a lid, wrap in a thick terry towel and leave to infuse for a day. After this, strain the infusion using gauze, add three tablespoons of any natural honey. The duration of the course of treatment is 14 days.
- Peptic Ulcer
In the event that a person suffers from ulcerativestomach diseases, the following decoction will help you. Place half a teaspoon of oregano, St. John's wort, plantain leaves and caraway seeds in an enamel bowl. Pour in one liter of water, bring to a boil. After that, cool the decoction, strain it with gauze and add five tablespoons of freshly squeezed aloe juice. Store the decoction in a glass container in the refrigerator for no more than five days. Take the decoction twice a day. The course of treatment is 30 days.
- Collecting from heartburn and burp
In the event that in addition to heartburn there appearsbelching, the following herbal infusion will help you. Place one teaspoon of oregano, nettle, St. John's wort and plantain leaves in a thermos. Pour one liter of boiling water over the herbs and leave to infuse for two hours. After that, strain the infusion using gauze, add three tablespoons of any natural honey, five tablespoons of butter, mix everything thoroughly and pour into a glass container. Take one tablespoon 3 times a day. The course of treatment is 7 days. Now you know how to cure heartburn. But in no case forget about the need to take preventive measures and consult your doctor in time. Be healthy! We recommend reading: