GERD Surgery Or Take Medication and Antacids?
There are many people that suffer from GERD or gastro esophageal reflux disorder which is often also known as heartburn. In case you are one of those sufferers you will need to find out about how best to cure the condition. From over-the-counter medications to GERD surgery there are many options to choose from.
Most people however start off by using antacids including those such as Tums and Maalox as well as Mylanta and though each brand uses different ingredients they each do work to neutralize digestive tract acids.
So What Is An Effective Method?
However, GERD surgery is an option that needs to be understood, especially as according to the findings of a study that was conducted by UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas physician came up with the conclusion that surgery was not the most effective treatment option and was in fact no better than taking antacids.
Furthermore, studies have also been conducted on patients that ten years ago have undergone surgery and the results in this case were the opposite: patients that had, fared much better than those that had only taken prescription medicines. So, what is the real conclusion?
Most patients that have tried GERD surgery are actually quite satisfied with the results though at the same time, surprisingly, people that had, were still found to be using antacids and in fact about two-thirds of patients that had undergone surgery were still on medications.
This makes one conclude that in case you are about to undergo GERD surgery you should be very careful that you understand the real reasons for going under the scalpel. In case you think that after surgery your GERD condition will be totally cured then you may find that neither will GERD surgery completely cure your condition and nor will it help in preventing esophageal cancer.
So, you need to weigh the pros and cons very carefully and you must ask questions of your doctor and only if you get satisfactory answers should you proceed further. If you feel the benefits outweigh the risks then you can go ahead with surgery, otherwise, you might as well stay with taking antacids.
It pays to find out which the best medication for heartburn is. This in turn means to understand what the real cause of GERD is and then you need to check as to which medication cures the symptoms in the most effective manner. In this regard you will need to choose between over-the-counter medications, antacids and even H2 blockers.
Treat GERD Without Medication
People often take medication if they suffer from GERD to ease their symptoms but sometimes a better option is to try and treat GERD without medication. Usually, this involves making changes to your lifestyle and in addition a change in diet too will help you achieve the desired goals. To succeed with treating GERD without medication requires first to understand how the stomach and esophagus functions and in addition it pays to also learn what the mechanism is that causes the acid to reflux from the stomach to the esophagus.
Some of the reasons why it does in fact pay to treat GERD without medication is that it is a natural process that helps to clear acid from the stomach and in the process helps to remove the root cause of the acid reflux problem. Treating GERD without medication helps to increase the production of saliva that is able to neutralize whatever acid is present in the stomach. This means that you have to stop smoking and eating spicy foods that would otherwise lead to reducing the amount of saliva and this in turn means that acid levels will continue to remain high and that means that you will have further problems to contend with. Chewing gum is of course good for removing traces of dryness from the mouth.
Chew Well To Digest Your Food
In addition, to treat GERD without medication requires that you also make an effort to chew your food as thoroughly as is possible. The more you mechanically degrade your food the better it is in preparing the stomach to digest the food completely. On the other hand, eating quickly is not good for you as it leads to larger food particles entering the stomach thereby making digestive a bit harder.
Eating small sized meals helps to treat GERD without medication as the smaller is the amount of food that gets into your stomach the easier it will be for the stomach to produce sufficient enzymes. And, there will also be less pressure on the stomach and this means that there will be less chance of suffering from acid reflux.
Lastly, drinking plenty of water is a good and very effective means of treating GERD naturally. If you get enough water into your stomach it promotes washing out of acid and in addition it also helps to quicken the process of emptying the stomach and so prevents acid reflux.
Some people look for quicker solutions to their GERD problem and they are the ones that turn to taking prescription medications for GERD. In fact, turning to using prescription medications is a very usual occurrence and furthermore there are three different classes of medications that you might want to use: Proton Pump Inhibitors, H2 blockers and promotility agents.
