How to Diagnose If You Have Acid Reflux

If you’re wondering how you can diagnose acid reflux, or how you can tell if your frequent heartburn is something more serious such as GERD, you need to know what causes it and know when you have to see your health care professional to have your acid reflux properly diagnosed.

You might know what acid reflux is by the symptoms, but did you know that GERD happens when the esophageal sphincter, or the muscle between your stomach and esophagus doesn’t close properly? This little muscle plays a big role in your healthy digestion by forming a tight seal so that food and acid cannot climb up from your stomach into the esophagus.

Now, you might be able to tell your doctor what’s going on with your body, but your doctor will want to do some tests to find out if you have GERD, or a milder case of acid reflux. There are three fairly common ways to diagnose acid reflux of any kind and you may have to have one or more of these tests to find out if you’re suffering from these.

Heartburn

Since heartburn is the most common symptom of acid reflux, your doctor may just start out be prescribing you a medication to help you with your frequent unbearable heartburn symptoms. However, if you suffer from additional symptoms of GERD or you have very severe heartburn that causes you to throw up or lose sleep, your health care professional may choose to do more tests.

Endoscopy or Biopsy

The next test your doctor may choose is an endoscopy, which is considered to be fairly accurate and can determine if you have acid reflux. This is an uncomfortable process where the tube, with a camera attached is swallowed. The good news is that your doctor will be able to see what’s going on in your body and discover if you have damage to the esophagus.

Since many people who suffer from acid reflux don’t actually have a damaged esophagus, this form of diagnosis of the condition may not be effective for everyone. If, however, you are suffering from an ulcer, this will help your health care professional to find the problem and help you to begin treatment for the problem.

Your doctor may choose to do a biopsy when you have acid reflux like symptoms, but your doctor thinks that you have another condition which is causing your symptoms. In most cases, a biopsy is only used to find out if you have cancer, so this isn’t very common.

Exams and Tests

In many cases, the best way to diagnose acid reflux is by examining the throat and the larynx. When there is inflammation that is not due to any viral or bacterial “bugs” which may be floating around, your doctor can pretty reliably determine that you are suffering from acid reflux.

There is one test, which is not the most pleasant, but is the most effective in diagnosing acid reflux which is called Esophageal Acid Testing. During this procedure, a tube is inserted down the esophagus into the stomach and your acid levels are measured in the esophagus for 24 hours. While this is an uncomfortable test, it is a good way for your doctor to know if you are really suffering from acid reflux.