Heartburn - Symptoms, Treatment, Homeopathic Remedies
Using Homeopathy for Heartburn
Virtually everyone has experienced heartburn - the painful, burning sensation below the sternum that occurs when food or digestive acid is regurgitated from the stomach back into the esophagus due to a weak seal in the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). This unpleasant feeling can be mild, moderate, or severe, and in some cases indicates serious disease states. Most of us just toss back some antacid and the problem quickly passes - but taking antacids on an ongoing basis is not a good idea. Their possible side effects include diarrhea and constipation, and they can interfere with how one's body absorbs other medications. Even for the very occasional bout of heartburn, the natural, homeopathic mode of treatment is a better way to proceed for our overall wellbeing.
Heartburn can indicate more serious gastrointestinal maladies or other diseases - indeed, the feeling could be a warning sign that someone is having a heart attack. Often persistent heartburn points to acid reflux disease (also called gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD), but it is possible to suffer from GERD without having chronic heartburn. The definition of heartburn is always an instance of acid reflux, the presence of the condition does not mean that one has GERD. Often times it is merely a temporary quirk in our digestive system's functioning, brought about by a combination of foods or other health factors.
Conventional Treatment Treats the Symptoms Not the Cause
Conventional treatment for recurring heartburn covers a lot of territory. The first set of recommendations is to modify lifestyle - for example, eat sitting up, walk after eating, never smoke during a meal - as this causes you to swallow small amounts of air, which form pockets in the digestive tract (or better yet, quit smoking), eat smaller meals, avoid alcohol, chocolate, mint, spicy food, coffee, and over-the-counter pain relievers, chew food thoroughly, lose weight, wear looser fitting clothing, raise the head of your bed 6 to 8 inches (with a foam wedge), and don't lie down soon after eating.
Most of all, heartburn sufferers should try to identify which foods cause the problem more than others and avoid them if possible. One easy way to do this is by maintaining a daily food diary, and then systematically removing various food types (fried and fatty foods are usually but not always prove to be the culprits).
Many people take medications. The down side is that it may mask a bigger problem, and over-use may create dependency on more and more drugs instead of fully resolving the complaint. As mentioned, antacids such as Tums, Mylanta, or Maalox are a popular and very widely available choice; these alkaline remedies neutralize acid on contact. Liquid preparations generally act most quickly and effectively. There are several antacids, like Gaviscon, that contain alginate, a foaming agent that creates a barrier between the stomach and esophagus. Pepto-Bismol is another over-used choice; its chemical mechanism is to coat the esophagus. But it should not be used for prolonged periods. There are also some over-the-counter acid-reducing medications such as cimetidine and rantidine which can provide longer-term relief. (Some of the other powerful medications such as long-term acid blockers are profiled in our article on acid reflux disease.)
Homeopathy Matches Your Individual Symptoms to a Homeopathic Remedy So You Feel Better Right Away
There are numerous alternative, integrative approaches to heartburn, including, most prominently, the use of ginger root: taking some (at least 500 mg.) of fresh ground ginger with every meal, adding it to food or making a tea. Not only does this seem to absorb the acids but it also can calm the nerves as a corollary benefit. Papaya enzyme tablets and capsules are another popular alternative, taken after a meal with water. There are proponents of increasing dietary fiber to help alleviate persistent heartburn, as for drinking various green and herbal teas: peppermint, chamomile, and licorice root. Even something as simple as drinking more water can help. Somewhat paradoxically, ingesting apple cider vinegar (one teaspoon mixed into half a glass of water) is supposed to be helpful with heartburn as well.
In treating heartburn, a skillful homeopath will assess the patient's emotional characteristics, constitutional attributes, and the precise nature of the symptoms in order to choose an effective remedy that will alleviate the severity and frequency of the problem. The homeopathic remedy also readuces the future recurrence of the symptoms and can support the patient to eliminate the use of medications.
Among the numerous possible homeopathic remedies that can help with heartburn are the following: Nux vomica, Arsenicum album, Carbo vegetabilis, Lycopodium, Bryonia, Natrum carbonicum, and Pulsatilla.
