Symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, may include a sore throat and difficulty swallowing.
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Even the most pleasant meal can produce an unpleasant — even painful — aftermath with acid reflux. You may have heartburn, a burning sensation in your chest, or feel the need to repeatedly burp or clear your throat. Heartburn is common for many people, but it could be a sign of a more serious condition known as GERD.
Heartburn or GERD?
Heartburn is a burning pain behind the breastbone. It is the most common gastrointestinal symptom, with more than 60 million Americans suffering from flare-ups at least once a month. Heartburn is triggered by certain foods and drinks, or from eating too much. It often goes away on its own after a few minutes, although it can last hours and require over-the-counter medication.
Occasional heartburn is nothing serious, but its symptoms can mimic gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD.
“These common digestive-related problems often get confused with each other because they share many of the same traits,” says Dr. Lawrence Friedman, assistant chief of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and medical editor of Harvard Health Publishing’s online guide to Cooling Heartburn. “While they are connected, they are quite different.”
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What is GERD?
Severe and recurring heartburn is a symptom of frequent or persistent acid reflux, also known as GERD. For people with GERD, stomach acid rises from the stomach into the esophagus, much like water bubbling up into a sink from a plugged drain. When stomach acid reaches the esophagus, it can ignite heartburn.
Heartburn from GERD often extends from the bottom of the rib cage to the base of the neck and can last for hours. It may be accompanied by a stinging sensation in the throat and a sour taste in the mouth. “You should get checked for GERD if you have heartburn more than twice a week,” says Friedman.
Left alone, GERD can cause complications like esophagitis (inflammation of the esophagus) and occasionally precancerous changes in the lining of the esophagus (called Barrett’s esophagus).
While intense heartburn is the most common symptom of GERD, there are others, including:
- nausea
- Difficulty swallowing
- Sore Throat
- Regurgitation, which may come up as a “wet burp” or as vomit
- Coughing, wheezing, or a constant need to clear your throat
- Hoarseness, especially after waking up
The most common cause of GERD is a malfunction of the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), the muscular ring that separates the esophagus from the stomach. Usually, it functions as a gate. The muscle relaxes when you swallow, which opens the passage between the esophagus and stomach and allows food to pass through.
When the sphincter tightens, it closes the route, keeping food and acidic stomach juices from flowing back up into the esophagus. However, with GERD, the LES relaxes when it shouldn’t, or it weakens and remains partially open. This allows stomach acid to rise into the esophagus.
managing symptoms
For both heartburn and GERD, diet changes and medication can help you stay ahead of discomfort.
Cut back on trigger foods and drinks associated with heartburn, such as mint, fatty and spicy foods, tomatoes, onions, garlic, chocolate, coffee, tea, carbonated beverages and alcohol. Also, try eating smaller meals, sit upright for at least one hour after eating, and avoid eating two hours before bedtime.
Over-the-counter antacids or acid-blocking medications neutralize digestive acids in the stomach and esophagus; these work well for mild and occasional heartburn. Your doctor may recommend acid-reducers like H2 blockers or proton-pump inhibitors (PPI) for persistent or severe symptoms. These drugs are in many over-the-counter products, with stronger versions available by prescription.
Further relief
Many of the self-help remedies for heartburn also help manage GERD. If these don’t provide relief, you may need to consider surgery to tighten your LES.
GERD is also associated with hiatal hernia, where your stomach pokes through a hole in your diaphragm and weakens the ligaments that hold your esophagus in place, making it harder for the LES to work properly.
Almost everyone with a large hiatal hernia has GERD, and hiatal hernias are commonly found in people with GERD who also have moderate or severe esophagitis.
Hiatal hernia usually doesn’t require treatment. “However, you may need surgery to repair the hernia if you have persistent reflux symptoms, you suffer from esophagitis that does not heal with medication, or the hiatal hernia is so large that part of the stomach becomes lodged above the diaphragm,” Friedman says .
8 strategies to help maintain strength as you age
Invest in a trainer
A licensed and credentialed trainer can design a personalized program and teach you proper form and technique. Get referrals from local gyms, and many trainers now offer virtual workouts. After you learn the basics, you can work out on your own.
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get free
Training with free weights, like dumbbells, kettlebells and barbells, is often better for muscle building than machines, Shawn Pedicini, a physical therapist at Harvard-affiliated Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, says. “However, machines are ideal if you have balancing issues or other limitations that make it safer to sit during weight training,” he says. You can also go back and forth between free weights and machines depending on the type of exercise and which muscles you are working on.
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leg up
While you need full-body workouts that address all your major muscles, older adults should pay special attention to their leg muscles: quadriceps and hamstrings (in the thighs), the gluteals (in the buttocks) and the calf muscles. “These are involved in many daily functional movements like squatting and climbing stairs,” Pedicini says. Compound exercises that work different muscles in one movement — like squats, deadlifts and lunges — are great for building leg muscles.
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Weight, reps, sets
Pedicini says fewer reps with heavier weights helps you gain the most muscle. “An ideal routine would be eight repetitions for each exercise for three sets total.” But you can adjust this as needed. “People with movement issues might need to use lighter weights and do more repetitions.”
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Find your pace
Lifting should be done at a seven-second tempo. That means three seconds to lift the weight, a one-second pause and three seconds to lower it. If you can’t lift the weight at least eight times, use a lighter weight. When you can comfortably perform eight reps without completely tiring the muscle, increase the weight. “Muscles grow stronger only if you keep adding resistance,” Pedicini says.
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Two days is plenty
Ideally, you should do weight training at least twice a week. “Two days of full-body training can produce measurable changes in muscle strength,” Pedicini says. You often can feel results after four to six weeks of consistent training.
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Give it a rest
Always allow at least 48 hours between sessions for muscle recovery. Some people prefer to break their workouts into two parts: upper body and lower body. In that case, you can perform upper-body exercises one day and lower-body the next.
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Always raise the bar
Use enough weight so that the last few reps of a lifting routine are challenging.
“Don’t forget to consistently challenge yourself as you progress,” Pedicini says. “It’s necessary to gain the muscle and strength changes you want and need.”
Photo by Sergio Pedemonte on Unsplash
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