What is Acid Reflux?

Diagram of Acid Reflux

So you are wondering, “what is acid reflux?” Well, acid reflux, aka gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or gastro-oesphageal reflux disease (GORD), is a symptom resulting from acid coming up from your stomach and into your esophagus.

Without getting into the technical details too much (check out the article on Wikipedia if you want those), acid reflux is a pain (literally and otherwise).  Symptoms of acid reflux in adults can include:

Heartburn – (ouch!)Difficulty swallowingregurgitation and less commonly;nauseachest painand an increase in saliva production.

Sounds like fun, right?   There are other less common symptoms; but these are generally only present when accompanied by some sort of injury to the esophagus.  These symptoms include long-lasting cough, asthma, dental enamel erosion, and some other rare and unsavory symptoms.  Again, check the wikipedia entry if you want more details.

Acid reflux symptoms in children are often difficult to detect as kids often cannot articulate the feelings they are having.  Some common symptoms include:

Repeated vomiting (yuck)coughingwheezingcrying (LOTS of it.  It will generally be very hard to console the child).food refusal or somewhat oppositely, crying for foodlack of weight gainbad breathburping (can be funny, but true!)

Now you are probably wondering how to prevent acid reflux.  Here are some simple tips:

What is Acid Reflux?

Avoid acidic foods and substances!  Makes sense right?  Foods like fruit, juices, coffee tea, peppermint, chocolate, onions(!) and tea, as well as substances like caffeine, nicotine and alcohol can all be triggers for acid reflux.

Lose weight!  While it isn’t clear why, gaining even just a little weight can increase your risk of getting the condition.

Eat meals that are smaller.  Bigger meals equal more stomach acid production.

Avoid eating close to your bedtime.

Sleep on your left side or with your upper body raised.  Huh?  We know this sounds like voodoo medicine, but it has been found that raising the head of your bed by up to 30 degress, or sleeping sitting up can offer relief.

In addition, there are some great products on the market to help you beat your GERD; for your convenience, we have put together some acid reflux product reviews. Currently, our highest recommended and rated product for helping and preventing acid reflux is Great Taste No Pain!

Hopefully you now have a better sense of what acid reflux is and how to prevent it!

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