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Heartburn & GERD - Treatment Overview
- Topic Overview
-
Health Tools
- Cause
- Symptoms
- What Happens
- What Increases Your Risk
- When To Call a Doctor
- Exams and Tests
- Treatment Overview
- Prevention
- Home Treatment
- Medications
- Surgery
- Other Places To Get Help
- Related Information
- References
- Credits
Treatment for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is aimed at:
- Reducing backflow, or reflux, of stomach acid and juices into the esophagus.
- Preventing damage to the lining of the esophagus, or helping to heal the lining if damage has occurred.
- Keeping GERD from coming back.
- Preventing health problems that can occur because of GERD.
Treatment starts with changing habits, avoiding things that trigger your symptoms, and taking nonprescription medicines that reduce or block acids. If you still have symptoms after taking medicines for a few weeks, you may need prescription medicines. You may need to keep up with treatment over the long term to prevent GERD symptoms from coming back. If GERD keeps coming back or gets worse, you may want to think about surgery.
Change habits
Making lifestyle changes is an important part of treating symptoms of GERD. Quitting smoking, losing weight if you need to, and changing your eating habits can all help you feel better. For more information, see Home Treatment.
Take medicines
If you have been using nonprescription medicines to treat your symptoms for longer than 2 weeks, talk to your doctor. Stomach acid could be causing damage to your esophagus. If you have GERD symptoms often, or if they are very bad, your doctor may recommend that you use prescription medicines.
Be sure to continue to take medicines as instructed by your doctor, because stopping treatment will often bring symptoms back. For more information, see Medications.
Avoid your triggers
An important part of treating GERD is avoiding triggers. These things can include:
- Spicy foods.
- Fatty foods.
- Drinks that contain caffeine or alcohol.
- Certain medicines.
If you think that your symptoms are worse after you eat a certain food, you can stop eating that food to see if it helps.
If you think a medicine is making your symptoms worse, talk to your doctor.
Watch for changes
If your symptoms don't get better with treatment, or if they get worse, your doctor may suggest that you take your medicine more often. Or you may be switched to a higher dose or a stronger medicine.
Your doctor may also refer you to a specialist for an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Sometimes, GERD leads to other health problems, such as Barrett's esophagus. Part of your treatment may involve more endoscopies and other tests to monitor your health.
Sometimes surgery is needed, such as when medicines don't relieve symptoms or if you're unable to take medicines over a long period of time. Surgery can have benefits but can also cause problems with swallowing and burping. Some people still need to take medicines after surgery. And some people need to have surgery again. For more information, see Surgery.
Also see:
| By: | Healthwise Staff | Last Revised: May 11, 2011 |
| Medical Review: | Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine Peter J. Kahrilas, MD - Gastroenterology | |
© 1995-2011 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.
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