Preventing Heartburn at Night - Nighttime Heartburn Can Be Potentially Dangerous
All heartburn attacks are unpleasant and in most cases, painful and distressing.
If you suffer from heartburn on a regular basis you need to take some form of treatment, which by preventing heartburn attacks, ensures that your condition doesn't worsen and develop into something quite serious.
When acid reflux occurs to produce those distressing heartburn symptoms, damage is being caused to the relatively delicate lining of your gullet (esophagus).
If these attacks are only occasional, the lining is able to recover and no long term harm is caused.
Regular or chronic heartburn on the other hand, needs to be taken very seriously.
When the esophagus lining suffers repeated attacks from the stomach acid and is not able to recover, complications may develop, which can have serious consequences and in extreme cases, can result in esophageal cancer.
Preventing heartburn by taking the appropriate remedy or treatment is a priority.
So, why should we be more concerned about night-time heartburn? What makes night-time a potentially dangerous time? The main reason why this is so is because when we are lying in bed, we make it much easier for acid reflux to occur as gravity is no longer helping to retain the stomach contents where they belong - in the stomach.
If, as in the case of many chronic heartburn sufferers, the mechanism that should prevent acid flowing back from the stomach has become weakened, it is much easier for acid reflux to occur.
The consequence of this is that there is a much more prolonged contact between the acid and the esophagus lining, which leads to the deterioration of the lining resulting in the serious complications previously mentioned.
So what steps can we take to help prevent acid reflux occurring at night? The following steps are highly recommended: •Don't make the final meal of the day a large one and avoid eating those foods that are known to trigger acid reflux.
•Don't go to bed on a full stomach - allow three hours after eating before turning in.
•Don't lie down after eating your final meal •Avoid alcohol or caffeine late at night •Raising the head of the bed by about six inches will help gravity do its work.
•DON'T SMOKE •Have a supply of antacids to hand to get quick relief in case a heartburn attack strikes.
These steps may seem rather basic, especially to someone who has been told that medication is the only answer to heartburn.
However, in combination, they have proved to be highly effective in reducing the incidence of night-time heartburn for many people.
If this brief information has given you cause to think how natural remedies might prove effective in preventing heartburn then you should investigate how many heartburn sufferers are finding that they can control their problem, by totally natural means, without relying on drug based medication.
What do you have to lose...
except your heartburn!
If you suffer from heartburn on a regular basis you need to take some form of treatment, which by preventing heartburn attacks, ensures that your condition doesn't worsen and develop into something quite serious.
When acid reflux occurs to produce those distressing heartburn symptoms, damage is being caused to the relatively delicate lining of your gullet (esophagus).
If these attacks are only occasional, the lining is able to recover and no long term harm is caused.
Regular or chronic heartburn on the other hand, needs to be taken very seriously.
When the esophagus lining suffers repeated attacks from the stomach acid and is not able to recover, complications may develop, which can have serious consequences and in extreme cases, can result in esophageal cancer.
Preventing heartburn by taking the appropriate remedy or treatment is a priority.
So, why should we be more concerned about night-time heartburn? What makes night-time a potentially dangerous time? The main reason why this is so is because when we are lying in bed, we make it much easier for acid reflux to occur as gravity is no longer helping to retain the stomach contents where they belong - in the stomach.
If, as in the case of many chronic heartburn sufferers, the mechanism that should prevent acid flowing back from the stomach has become weakened, it is much easier for acid reflux to occur.
The consequence of this is that there is a much more prolonged contact between the acid and the esophagus lining, which leads to the deterioration of the lining resulting in the serious complications previously mentioned.
So what steps can we take to help prevent acid reflux occurring at night? The following steps are highly recommended: •Don't make the final meal of the day a large one and avoid eating those foods that are known to trigger acid reflux.
•Don't go to bed on a full stomach - allow three hours after eating before turning in.
•Don't lie down after eating your final meal •Avoid alcohol or caffeine late at night •Raising the head of the bed by about six inches will help gravity do its work.
•DON'T SMOKE •Have a supply of antacids to hand to get quick relief in case a heartburn attack strikes.
These steps may seem rather basic, especially to someone who has been told that medication is the only answer to heartburn.
However, in combination, they have proved to be highly effective in reducing the incidence of night-time heartburn for many people.
If this brief information has given you cause to think how natural remedies might prove effective in preventing heartburn then you should investigate how many heartburn sufferers are finding that they can control their problem, by totally natural means, without relying on drug based medication.
What do you have to lose...
except your heartburn!