Year after year 30% of all Houstonians struggle with recurrent heartburn, food regurgitation, persistent dry cough and constant bloating. These are some of the symptoms that indicate GERD also known as acid reflux. Acid reflux is a chronic medical problem that affects many aspects of your life. Left untreated, acid reflux symptoms will continue to slowly get worse, insidiously deteriorating your quality of life. “I cannot believe how I have lived with heartburn all this time”, our patients at Houston Heartburn and Reflux Center report after Nissen fundoplication surgery. For most GERD patients, acid reflux becomes part of their daily life. They wake up with a sour mouth taste, they end their lunch with burning chest pain, and they have difficulty sleeping at night due to constant cough and food regurgitation.
Fortunately, GERD is treatable and even curable. Let 2019 be the year you get rid of acid reflux and regain your normal life. Start with lifestyle changes. Quit smoking, lose weight, reduce alcohol intake, avoid large meals and eating late at night. If these simple lifestyle changes do not help you check our reflux specialists at Houston heartburn and Reflux Center. Get evaluated by expert acid reflux doctors to stage and confirm your acid reflux problem. Constantly quenching the burn in your throat and esophagus with Tums, Rolaids, Zantac, Nexium, Prilosec…is not a solution for acid reflux. These medications simply reduce stomach acid secretion. They do not stop acid reflux. Stomach acid secretion, however, is part of normal digestion whether you have GERD or not. Medications like proton pump inhibitors simply mask acid reflux symptoms giving you the illusion that reflux is under control. If you are in the habit of popping Nexium and Prilosec in the morning, and indulging in large meals that trigger acid reflux, you are doing yourself a disservice. You are masking an important signal from your stomach alerting you about a serious problem.
For 2019, Houston Heartburn and Reflux Center invites you to stop self-medicating acid reflux. Get the help you need to overcome GERD and start enjoying your life again. You deserve it!!