Reflux Lowdown

Are you having a hard time swallowing? Do you also feel a prickly and warm sensation deep down your throat? Are you feeling sick as if the food that you just ate wants to climb back up and force itself to come out? Then, you must be experiencing Acid Reflux.

Those things exactly pertain to the symptoms of Acid Reflux, or Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) in medical terms. What happens here is that the liquid matter in your stomach go up and damage the linings of your esophagus because of their high acidity. This is caused by the malfunctioning or the involuntary relaxation of the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), which then allows the said rising of your stomach’s contents. Certain foods that are rich in caffeine and filled with fat are said to trigger this abnormality because they induce the loosening up of the LES, while spicy and acidic foods such as hot sauce and lemonade add to the high acid level of the stomach.

Some people may believe that only adults can experience this irregularity in the digestive system, but the truth is that children and even infants can be prone to the disease. Here are some of the most perceptible symptoms of Acid Reflux that you have to look out for in you and your children:

* Heartburn is characterized by a burning feeling in the esophagus, and this is usually linked to the regurgitation of the acids from the stomach. The pain that it produces are often focused on the chest, but it can spread out and affect the jaw and the neck, especially the throat. This can also lead to a cough and other kinds of aberrant pains in that area. So the next time that you feel like your throat is itchy, it may not just be a case of a sore throat.

* In children, the most common symptoms of Acid Reflux are extreme salivation, recurring vomiting, coughing, forced spitting out, and other problems involving the respiratory system. Some other usual signs include bad breath, frequent burping and hiccups, and an excessively drooling nose. They can also refuse to eat food because they feel pain in their throats or they have a hard time swallowing what you feed them. Children, especially babies, when laid down flat, often cry when they feel something painful but cannot explain what it is, so parents are advised to be more sensitive regarding this matter.

These symptoms are usually easy to discern because of their characteristics, but sometimes, we find it hard to put away our pride to tell others that something is wrong with us and that we need help. This attitude should be changed for good because GERD is not a simple abnormality that can be treated with simple measures. Immediate response is always needed in such incidents. And now that information about the symptoms of Acid Reflux are easily accessible, it is now our responsibility to protect ourselves and the people that we care about from this rampant disease.