How to Care for Acid Reflux

A diagnosis of acid reflux does not have to mean the end of your gastronomic world. Depending on the severity of your condition, there are simple lifestyle adjustments and over-the-counter medications that can alleviate your symptoms. More severe cases can be treated medically using prescription drugs.

Instructions

1

Understand the myths about food. It was once believed that you should avoid certain trigger foods to control your acid reflux. However, more recent studies are showing that it isn't so much what you eat as how much and when you eat that triggers acid reflux.

2

Eat more small meals throughout the day. Smaller meals require less acid production to digest. If you keep food in your stomach throughout the day, it binds the stomach acid and prevents it from causing symptoms.

3

Replace refined simple carbohydrates with complex carbohydrates. For example, substitute brown rice for white rice and whole wheat bread and pasta for white bread and regular pasta. Complex carbohydrates require more stomach acid for digestion, leaving less to cause problems. Plus, complex carbohydrates are better for your body in general.

4

Don't lie down. Stay upright for at least 45 to 60 minutes after eating. With hectic lifestyles being what they are, some families are eating later. If your child has acid reflux and he eats right before going to bed, change the routine. Have him eat first, shower and then go to bed.

5

Put gravity to work. Raise the head of your bed about 6 inches. This will give the acid in your stomach an uphill battle to reach your esophagus, which makes it less likely that you will suffer symptoms while you sleep.

6

See your doctor for medical care. Acid reflux, if left uncontrolled, can result in serious injury to your esophagus and has been linked to the development of esophageal cancer. If lifestyle changes aren't working, speak to your doctor about whether you need over-the-counter or prescription medication.