What Is Acid Reflux? Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments

What Causes Acid Reflux?

Acid reflux is usually a result of your stomach doing the opposite of what it’s meant to. Instead of stomach acids staying down to help digest foods within your body, they travel up into your mouth and throat.

One of the main acid reflux causes is a muscle problem. Everyone has a valve connecting their stomach to the end of their throat – known as the lower esophageal sphincter. When this muscle weakens and fails to close fully, acid can escape from the stomach to your throat. This can then irritate and inflame the esophagus lining³.

Potential triggers for this process, and wider acid reflux symptoms, include:

• A hiatal hernia. This is when some of your stomach is pushed higher than the diaphragm³

• Pregnancy or obesity. Being pregnant or having a higher weight can increase the pressure on your diaphragm muscles, which are key to supporting the lower esophageal sphincter²

• Lying down after a large meal. You may experience symptoms if you lie down within three hours of eating, or go to bed/sleep⁴

• Lifestyle factors. Other possible acid reflux causes include smoking, eating lots of fried foods, drinking alcohol, and taking certain medicines for other conditions²

Acid Reflux Symptoms

Acid reflux can lead to a range of unpleasant symptoms, such as:

• Heartburn. This intense burning feeling can occur behind your breastbone. Heartburn may also appear at the center of your chest or the back of your throat¹

• Acidic taste. You might experience acid regurgitation in your mouth and upper throat⁵

• Sore throat or dry cough. Some people experience cold or asthma-like symptoms too, including wheezing or coughing, due to the irritation caused by the stomach fluids¹

• Acid indigestion. This can leave you with a burning sensation around your stomach area¹

• Nauseous feeling. This may occur soon after eating, and be a sign that acid reflux is about to happen¹

What Does Acid Reflux Feel Like

Acid reflux symptoms can make you feel very uncomfortable. Heartburn can cause a burning sensation in your upper body, which may be alarming. This might get even worse if you bend over or lie down⁴.

Meanwhile, acid indigestion and inflamed tissues in your mouth and esophagus can make you feel like you’re shorter of breath or experiencing a sore throat¹.

What’s more, regurgitated acid isn’t generally a flavor you’d choose to have in your mouth. It can leave a quite literally sour and bitter taste when it strikes.

Acid Reflux vs Heartburn

When discussing acid reflux vs heartburn, people often confuse them for the same thing. But they’re not.

• Acid reflux is when acidic fluids escape from your stomach back into your throat and mouth. It might also be referred to as ‘GERD’ if it becomes a medium or long-term issue¹.

• Heartburn is one of the main symptoms of acid reflux, causing chest pain behind your breastbone or burning sensations around the back of your throat.

Heartburn and acid reflux shouldn’t cause you discomfort for too long if it’s only occasional, and over-the-counter medications such as antacids could help⁶.

If you’re suffering from regular heartburn, check with a healthcare professional to see if it could be linked to a more serious condition.

Learn more about the differences between acid reflux, heartburn and GERD with our helpful guide.

Acid Reflux Treatment and Home Remedies

A variety of treatment options and home remedies for acid reflux can help relieve the main symptoms – or even help you to prevent them in the first place.

Try to minimize bouts of acid reflux through…

Lifestyle Changes

Making certain alterations to your daily routine can sometimes be helpful:

• Changes to your diet. Alcohol, citrus fruits, fatty foods, spicy dishes and even chocolate have all been linked to acid reflux symptoms⁷. So, avoiding or at least reducing your intake of these might be advisable. Read our acid reflux diet guide for more details

• Improved posture. Slouching or lying down after eating is thought to increase the risk of acid reflux⁴. As a result, it might be worth thinking carefully about your posture during and after meal-times. Standing up, or sitting with a straight back, are preferable

• Tweaking your eating habits. Leaving a gap of two to three hours between dinner and bedtime may prove a simple yet effective acid reflux treatment. Losing excess weight¹ may also help lower the risk of symptoms

• Quitting smoking. Smoking can weaken your lower esophageal sphincter or even slow your digestion down – so consider reducing or cutting out smoking altogether¹

• Reducing meal sizes. Eating smaller dishes could speed up the digestive process and lower acid levels in your stomach to begin with¹

Acid Reflux Medications

There are three main types of non-prescription acid reflux medication:⁶

• Antacids. These treatments aim to neutralize acid in your stomach, while providing quick relief

• Histamine (H2) blockers. These medicines are all about lowering acid production, and typically provide longer-lasting relief

• Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). These are designed to block the production of acid. Meanwhile, they have the potential to heal esophagus damage. However, there have been growing concerns around these treatments⁸

PEPCID COMPLETE® offers fast-acting relief from heartburn and acid indigestion. This over-the-counter chewable tablet contains an antacid, plus an H2 blocker, combining two of the most popular medications in one.

It relieves heartburn and acid indigestion for up to 12 hours with just one tablet.*

Meanwhile, PEPCID AC® Maximum Strength, Icy Cool Mint is an H2 blocker that offers long-lasting relief from heartburn symptoms and acid indigestion. It also has an added cooling sensation for irritated mouths and throats.

_{*Based on 9-hour acid control studies during the day and 12-hour acid control studies during the night. Acid control does not imply symptom relief.}

Other Options for Acid Reflux Relief

If conventional acid reflux remedies don’t work, your doctor might recommend prescription-strength treatments or further testing. For example, an X-ray or upper endoscopy⁹. That way, they can check if you’re suffering from GERD, rather than short-term acid reflux.

Want to know more? Check out our in-depth guide to learn all about the differences between acid reflux medicines.

References

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6140167/

2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4636482/

3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK441938/

4. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16393212/

5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3975977/

6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK526049/

7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10458865/

8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7887997/

9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4133436/