Acid
reflux and heartburn are often held synonymously
owning to the fact that heartburn is one of the
most well known symptoms of acid reflux. However,
there are some subtle differences between acid
reflux and heartburn, which need to be
understood in order to get the right kind of
treatment for both.
Acid
reflux and heartburn:
Acid
reflux is a type of disorder, which causes the
acid and the gastric juices to flow back or reflux
from the stomach to the esophagus. When this
happens, among many other symptoms, a person gets
a strange burning sensation in his chest
accompanied by some kind of chest pain. This is
often described as heartburn. Hence, rather than a
disease in itself, heartburn is a symptom of acid
reflux.
Acid reflux causes many other types of
changes in your body. You may get nauseas, which
can be accompanied by vomiting; coughing and
sometimes you may even experience difficulty in
swallowing. Heartburn meanwhile does not cause any
additional physical problem in the person.
Nevertheless, the acid reflux disorder and
heartburn are so entwined with each other that it
is difficult for a person to really understand the
problem he himself is having. However, you can
take into account the common differences
between acid reflux and heartburn, to
understand the nature of both the
problems.
1)
Acid reflux disease is chronic. Meanwhile,
heartburn is more acute in nature. As heartburn is
just a symptom, it usually disappears after
administration of some kind of medication.
2)
Acid reflux disease cannot be treatd if
heartburn is removed by medication. As the causes
of acid reflux are more complex, it takes
something more than a pill to treat this disorder.
If you are unfortunate to go for conventional
treatment, you may even have to undergo surgery to
rectify the problem.
3)
Acid reflux disorder is not caused by
heartburn, as many assume. On the contrary, it
is heartburn, which can be the symptom of this
disease. However, again, you cannot be sure
whether heartburn is caused by acid reflux or some
other problem, until and unless you go through
diagnostic tests.
4)
Heartburn that is not caused by acid
reflux typically is the result of
undigested food, and is treatd very easily.
However, if acid reflux lurks behind heartburn,
then it is sure to resurface as soon as the acid
reflux disorder is triggered by dietary or
lifestyle factors.
Importance
of understanding the
differences:
It
is extremely important that you understand the
difference between acid reflux and heartburn to
get the right kind of treatment. Typically, if
heartburn persists despite all types of
medication, you may well be dealing with acid
reflux. However, many people fear conventional
medication, which is both harsh and expensive to
treat this disorder. Fortunately, you can opt for
a better alternative for conventional medication,
which is in the form of alternate medicine.
Holistic approach is extremely beneficial, as it
can, not only help you figure out the
differences between acid reflux and
heartburn, but also treat the disorders in
the best possible way.
