Acid Reflux Disease Symptoms

Many people who think they know acid reflux disease symptoms  may be surprised to find out just how varied they can be. I think if you read on, you may expand your thinking.

Acid reflux, of course, is the tendency of acid from the stomach to back up (reflux) into the esophagus. The lining of the esophagus isn’t intended to withstand the acid, so problems can result when there’s acid in the esophagus.

The most common symptom is a burning sensation that most commonly feels like it’s in the lower portion of the chest, hence the common name for it of “heartburn”.

It’s important to note that pain in this location, even burning pain, can be due to a lot of different problems. A lot of men who thought they were having an episode of indigestion were actually having a heart attack (and a lot of men who were afraid they were having a heart attack were really suffering from reflux).

Other common causes of pain in this area are gallbladder disease and ulcer disease.

The main point here is not to assume that all burning pain in the lower chest or upper stomach area is due to acid reflux. If you have any doubt, and especially if the pain is significant and not relieved by antacids, it’s best to get checked out by a physician.

If someone has had repeated episodes of reflux over a long time, it can lead to scarring in the esophagus. The scar tissue can affect the ability to swallow normally, and if it’s bad enough can actually narrow the opening in the esophagus.

In an extreme situation, the ability to swallow solid food can be severely affected, sometimes to the point that something like a poorly chewed piece of meat can get stuck in the esophagus.

This results in a trip to the emergency room to get it removed. Obviously, you don’t want to get to that point.

For more information on an effective, natural treatment system for heartburn follow this link:

Some people may not have any chest or stomach pain at all. Reflux, even reflux that is damaging tissue, can happen without necessarily causing heartburn. Clearly, it’s difficult to diagnosis the problem if it doesn’t cause symptoms.

However, sometimes there are symptoms, only they’re not the usual ones.

On the next page, Unusual Symptoms of Acid Reflux, I’ll go into that in more detail.

And to find out how to eliminate symptoms completely, follow these links:

Heartburn No More