Wondering how to get rid of heartburn? You’ve come to the right place. While that familiar burning in your chest might seem minor and often passes quickly, knowing how to get rid of heartburn can help prevent this small inconvenience from growing into something worse. Persistent heartburn caused by acid reflux has its own risks and can permanently damage the oesophagus. By learning how to get rid of heartburn at home, you won’t just feel better, you’ll also be improving your digestive health in the long run.
What is Heartburn?
Heartburn is a feeling of any irritation to your oesophagus, and is named for how it feels; it’s a burning feeling in your chest around your heart. The discomfort can rise toward your throat or mouth and may leave a sour or bitter taste. It typically appears after large meals or when lying down, and can last for several minutes to a few hours.
Heartburn is a symptom of something else, it is not a condition in and of itself. How badly it hurts, the way it feels, and how to get rid of heartburn all depend on what caused it.
What Causes Heartburn?
While heartburn is any irritation to your oesophagus, this itself has several possible causes. Heartburn occurs due to various factors, which include:
Acid Reflux
Acid reflux is the most common cause of heartburn, and the two are often mistaken as the same thing. Acid gets into your oesophagus when the pressure in your stomach exceeds the strength of the valve muscles in your lower oesophagus, causing them to fail to close the oesophagus and acid to splash upwards. Lying down immediately after eating also creates reflux as gravity no longer helps keep stomach acid in the stomach.
GORD
High occurrences of acid reflux can be a symptom of GORD. Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) or chronic acid reflux is a chronic breakdown of the barrier between your stomach and oesophagus, allowing your stomach contents to flow upward. Over time, this damage may cause complications including strictures (narrowing that makes swallowing difficult) and precancerous changes called Barrett’s oesophagus.
Bile Reflux
Bile, a digestive fluid from your small intestine, can also get into your oesophagus when the muscles between your stomach and small intestine fail at the same time as the muscles between your stomach and oesophagus. This is caused by high pressure in the small intestine, and can be caused by large or fatty meals, when lying down, or after stomach or gallbladder surgery.
Some Foods
Eating certain foods may lead to heartburn. Acidic foods and drinks can aggravate and irritate the oesophageal lining directly. These specific foods include spicy foods, alcohol, citrus fruits and juices, tomatoes, and carbonated beverages. Other foods like chocolate contain chemicals which can relax the muscles between your oesophagus and stomach, leading to reflux which causes heartburn.
Medications
Some medications, particularly anti-inflammatory drugs and aspirin contain acids which can agitate the oesophagus. They can also block chemicals that normally stimulate mucus production, reducing your throat’s protection against acids. NSAIDs in particular can delay gastric emptying of the stomach.
Lifestyle
Stress and smoking can both reduce the effectiveness of your lower oesophagus muscles, and smoking also increases stomach acid production. Pressure on your stomach from being overweight or pregnant can push its contents upward, causing reflux. Hormones from pregnancy also slow the movement of food through the body, keeping the stomach full for longer which increases pressure, and, in turn the chances of reflux and heartburn.
Medical Heartburn Treatments
The best medications for how to get rid of heartburn depends on how serious your heartburn symptoms are. For occasional heartburn that is only mild, consider over-the-counter medicines like using antacids to reduce the amount of acid in your stomach for quick relief.
Acid blockers, histamine receptor antagonists (h2 blockers), and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) work by blocking and reducing stomach acid production, giving the damaged oesophageal tissue the time to recover. These treatment options are available over-the-counter, but stronger versions require a prescription.
If over-the-counter medications don’t work for you, or if you experience symptoms often (two or more times a week), it’s best to check with your doctor for further advice. They can recommend treatments, simple medications, whether you need to see a gastroenterologist, or if you need medicines or surgery.
Home Remedies for Heartburn
When heartburn strikes, you don’t always need to go to a pharmacy or doctor for help. When you know how to get rid of heartburn at home, it’s easily treated with these simple indigestion relief remedies:
Drink Water
Drinking a glass of water rinses stomach acid from your oesophagus and dilutes the acid in your stomach.
Sugar-Free Gum
Chewing gum stimulates saliva production, which helps neutralise acid in your oesophagus. Sugar-free gum is recommended as sugar can actually increase stomach acid production.
Baking soda (Sodium Bicarbonate)
Baking soda is a base (alkaline) that neutralises stomach acid, raising the pH (acidity) in your stomach and oesophagus. Mix half a teaspoon in half a glass of water and drink for quick relief. Avoid using this remedy regularly as just half a teaspoon of baking soda contains more than a quarter of your recommended daily intake of sodium. You should also not take baking soda if you’re pregnant, on a low-sodium diet, over 60, or have been diagnosed with GORD, as it can cause serious side effects such as irregular heart rhythms (arrhythmias) and kidney damage.
Preventing Heartburn
Prevention is always better than cure, and this is no different when it comes to how to get rid of heartburn. Here are some simple diet and lifestyle changes you can make in your daily life to lessen the likelihood or impact of heartburn:
Lifestyle Changes
- Lose weight. Excess weight puts pressure on your stomach, increasing the likelihood of acid reflux.
- Quit smoking. Smoking weakens the lower oesophageal muscles and increases stomach acid production.
- Limit alcohol. Alcohol relaxes the oesophageal muscles and increases acid production.
- Manage stress. Stress increases gastric acid production and slows digestion, causing food and acid to remain in your stomach longer.
- Wear loose clothing. Tight clothing around your waist puts pressure on your stomach and can trigger reflux or regurgitation.
- Elevate your head while sleeping. Raising the head of your bed by 15-20cm prevents acid from flowing back into your oesophagus while you sleep. Using a foam wedge or put blocks under the bed legs for a better angle, as putting extra pillows creates a bend in your body which can put more pressure on your stomach.
Dietary Changes
- Eat small meals. Large meals put more pressure on your stomach and the lower oesophageal sphincter, making reflux more likely.
- Eat slowly. Taking your time while eating helps reduce the amount of air you swallow and the pressure in your stomach.
- Avoid eating close to bedtime. Leave at least 2-3 hours between your last meal and lying down for bedtime so your stomach has time to empty.
- Avoid foods associated with reflux. As a reminder, these include spicy foods, fatty or fried foods, tomatoes, citrus, chocolate, caffeine, alcohol, and carbonated beverages.
Beyond Heartburn Home Remedies
By knowing how to get rid of heartburn at home, you can not only treat this nuisance yourself, you can keep it from growing into a bigger problem. But when heartburn does turn out to be a symptom of something bigger, then home remedies won’t be enough to help. Heartburn can mimic the chest pain symptoms of cardiac arrest, and through a first aid training course, you can learn not only how to spot the difference, but how to step in and help in a real emergency.
FAQs
Does Milk Help Prevent Heartburn?
Milk often provides temporary relief from heartburn because it sticks to the oesophagus wall, creating a coat which neutralises stomach acid. However, milk also stimulates acid production, which can worsen symptoms later.
Who Can Get Heartburn?
Anyone can get heartburn. However, people who are overweight, pregnant women, smokers, and those who frequently consume spicy or fatty foods face higher risks. Heartburn also tends to occur more frequently in adults over 40.
Does Apple Cider Vinegar Get Rid of Acid Reflux?
Despite popular claims, there’s no scientific evidence that apple cider vinegar relieves acid reflux or heartburn. Because it’s acidic (pH 2-3), it can actually irritate your oesophagus and worsen symptoms.
