Heartburn occurs more often to anyone than you might think. It is a symptom of burning or painful sensation in the area behind the breastbone due to the reflux of acid back into the esophagus from the stomach.
The treatment approach to heartburn involves interplay of two opposing viewpoints in medicine. One is the more commonly known approach of using Western medicine. The other is a more holistic and natural approach, which looks not only at the specific disease condition, but on the overall health as well. We will see how they differ in views and approaches in the next paragraphs.
Conventional Treatment for Heartburn Symptoms
The Western or conventional approach to treating heartburn requires treating the body in separate organs.
The methods employed aim to make the patient comfortable by calming any pain with drugs and ointments, which function as patches to the symptoms of disease. For the most part, this can be done through prescription of medications.
Some of the anti-reflux medications work well, but work only temporarily in providing relief. In order to eliminate the cause completely, you must first provide a suitable, healthy environment for the body to thrive once again. This is one thing that is overlooked by conventional medicine. Since it focuses too much on what you are feeling now, rather than on what you can do to prevent further occurrences, the effects can be temporary. To make things worse, anti-reflux medications have long lasting side effects, most of which are serious.
That being said, here are some information about these drugs and their effect on acid reflux:
Antacid are drugs, which are aimed at neutralizing stomach acid by emptying the acid from the stomach. These work very fast at lessening the acid in the reflux liquid. The problem with calcium-based antacids is that they also stimulate the release of a hormone called gastrin that is mainly responsible for stimulating the production of stomach acid, which is counterproductive. Antacids may also lead to diarrhea, constipation, and nauseas.
Foaming agents are drugs that help cover your stomach contents with foam to prevent acid reflux. However, if your esophagus is damaged, these foaming agents are of no use.
H2 blockers suppress acid production by attaching themselves the receptor cells in the stomach. They do this to prevent the production of histamine, which stimulates acid production.
Another drug used for anti-reflux are proton pump inhibitors. These work by inhibiting the production of acid in the stomach, while helping your esophagus to heal in the case of inflammation as they protect it for any contact with acid reflux.
Yet another method in treating acid reflux, especially when medications do not work to your advantage, is surgery. Doctors may recommend this when the regurgitation is chronic, or when large amounts of drugs are needed to control their symptoms.
Alternative Treatment for Heartburn Symptoms
The aim of holistic medicine is to conform to the laws of nature. It is not preoccupied on the diagnoses and cures of a specific condition because it believes in coaxing the body to complete restoration in order for it to function more effectively, thus eliminating the existence of disease.
Natural medicine perceives the body as a whole that function as a system. When something goes wrong in one area, the whole body is affected. Therefore, in order to treat acid reflux, you must treat the whole body as well.
For this reason, holistic medicine aims to avoid any intrusive approaches to healing but rather nourishes the approach of building a strong immune system, increasing the body’s functionality and enhancing spiritual and mental strength and abilities.
Alternative medicine achieves this through the following methods:
Aromatherapy uses essential oils form aromatic extracts of flowers, plants, woods, and herbs for medicinal purposes. Essential oils have been used for thousands of years to balance the body’s system and help the body heal effectively.
Bone and joint massage is a great way to help stimulate organs and glands related fungal upsurges that contribute to heartburn.
Another helpful massage is lymph drainage message. The lymph is responsible for expelling toxins and fluid drainage. When you have acid reflux due to Candida overgrowth, this method can help flush out the toxins and waste products that contribute to this overgrowth. A similar method is digestive massage. It works by stimulating peristalsis, or the movement of food into the intestines from the stomach. As food emptying is increased, the incidence of acid reflux is decreased.
Acupuncture is an ancient healing art aimed at controlling pain and fighting many illness symptoms by inserting needles through the skin in specific areas known as energy junctions.
Acupuncture helps direct energy to the site where energy is poor or blocked. By clearing the way, illness is prevented and health is restored.
Lifestyle and dietary changes are also part of this alternative approach to treating heartburn. A simple, uninvasive, and natural approach is believed to be the most important factor in treating acid reflux.
Whatever approaches you take, make sure to find one that suits best for. Sometimes, a combination of both methods is most effective. You can try several approaches at one and find one that will provide you with the ultimate relief.
From the age of about 19 I started suffering with heartburn, acid reflux, GERD – call it whatever you want ... It was bloody hell. I’m 41 now ... and have been free from it for 4 ½ years ... in those 4 ½ years I haven’t had it once ... yep not even once … and like thousands of others I’ve shown … I gonna tell you how to get rid of it for good (full stop). 
