Heartburn - Measures for Self-Care

Heartburn - Measures for Self-Care
Symptoms
Pain or a burning in the chest after eating and/or after bending over or lying down. Also, belching and a burning feeling in the throat.
Measures for Self-Care

• Sit straight while eating. Sit up, stand up or walk after you have eaten. Don't lie down!
• If heartburn bothers you at night, raise the head of the bed by 6 inches.
• Shed some kilos if are overweight.
• Don't wear tight-fitting clothes.
• Eat small quantities. Limit your intake of alcohol.
• Limit the consumption of foods and beverages that contain gas, such as potatoes and such as soft drinks.
• Don't eat or drink anything two to three hours before bedtime.
• Antacids, such as Tums, can help relieve heartburn.
• Don't smoke at all.
• If you have to take medicines such as aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen sodium, or medicines for arthritis, take them along with food.

Call your doctor for

• Stools that are tar-like and black in colours.
• Pain that goes through to your back or gripping pain in the upper abdomen.
• Difficulty in swallowing.
• Heartburn that occurs frequently.

Get Immediate Care for

• Heartburn accompanied by a tightness or pain in the chest which spreads to the neck, jaw, or arm; a feeling of discomfort in the chest with sweating or shortness of breath, nausea and/or vomiting or uneven pulse or heartbeart.
• Heartburn leading to vomiting blood or what looks like coffee grounds.