Is
the healing of the throat should be a part of
acid
reflux treatment?
At
times, the cause of a sore throat may actually be
acid reflux. This can happen to someone even if
they do not have any symptoms of heartburn, and is
sometimes called silent reflux, supraesophageal
reflux, or laryngopharyngeal reflux. Acid reflux
into the larynx occurs when the stomach acid
travels further back from the esophagus to the
larynx. As the vocal cords swell from acid
irritation, their normal vibration is disrupted
resulting in symptoms such as hoarseness,
excessive mucous or phlegm, throat clearing, a
sensation of a lump in the throat, sore throat,
choking spells, wheezing, or a sense of post-nasal
drip.
Acid
reflux affects many voice users like singers,
some of whom may be unaware that the source
of their vocal difficulty is medical and healing
of the throat can be achieved with the
options listed below:
1)
Eating or drinking within three hours of bedtime
or lying down must be avoided.
rest. People suffering
from reflux may have delayed emptying of the
stomach leaving increased amounts of food in the
stomach. Allow time for gastric emptying before
retiring.
2)
Avoid overeating. It
is better to eat several small meals each day than
to eat one or two big
meals.
3)
To avoid intra-abdominal pressure do not wear
tight-fitting
clothing, bending at the waist, or straining after
eating.
4)
Reduce your intake of foods that increase stomach
acid production. These
include fatty, fried, spicy, or acidic
foods, chocolate, caffeine, carbonated
beverages, peppermint/ spearmint, and alcohol.
5)
Elevate the head of your bed with the help of
blocks
or bricks.
6)
Lose weight. You
should lose weight if you are overweight; excess
weight puts pressure on the stomach contents.
7)
Stop the use of any tobacco products. This is
important for overall health too.
8)
Chew sugarless gum. New
research shows post-meal gum chewing appeared to
reduce acid in the esophagus and quell heartburn
symptoms among people with chronic reflux
problems. Gum stimulates saliva production,
which neutralizes acid remaining in the larynx and
esophagus.
9)
Sleep on your left side. The
esophagus enters the stomach on your right
side. Sleeping on your left side may help to
prevent food from the stomach from refluxing into
the esophagus.
10)
Natural home remedies for a sore throat involves
gargling with a mixture of one teaspoon of apple
cider vinegar to half a cup of water, using 3
mouthfuls of mixture each hour. However, do not
swallow the mixture as it acts like a sponge
drawing out throat and mouth microbes and toxins.
Herbs like slippery elm, licorice, fennel, aloe
vera, turmeric are all soothing to the throat and
safe to drink.
It
is best to avoid antacids and acid blockers as
they only relieve heartburn symptoms and do not
treat the root causes of the disease. To cure acid
reflux and complications like sore throat,
holistic approach is the best option. It will take
into account all the aspects like mental,
emotional, spiritual as well as the physical
symptoms to actually heal the body, not just get
rid of the symptoms. The holistic medical
practitioner will make suggestions in addition to
the above which may all be integrated to achieve
health.
