Burning in the stomach

Many people encountered such an unpleasant phenomenon as a burning sensation in the stomach. Some people feel this sensation occasionally, after eating spicy dishes, others notice it often. Drugs or a glass of soda can help get rid of discomfort, but only for a while. Burning in the stomach is a symptom of serious abnormalities of the digestive tract or even mucous membrane damage, so without treatment such a condition is threatening with serious consequences.

General description of

The function of the stomach is not only to digest food. It also protects the body from toxins and microorganisms caught with food. To do this, it produces mucus and hydrochloric acid. Sometimes the gastric mucosa loses its protective functions and integrity. Therefore, aggressive enzymes and hydrochloric acid act on it destructively. This causes a burning sensation in the stomach. It turns out that this symptom does not arise simply because the burning sensation always indicates some pathology in the digestive tract.

It is necessary to distinguish this phenomenon from heartburn, which is more common and easier to treat. Heartburn in the stomach is not localized, it represents an unpleasant sensation behind the sternum and in the throat. They are caused by throwing the contents of the stomach together with hydrochloric acid into the esophagus. The cause of heartburn is most often the pathology of the valve, which blocks the entrance to the stomach, a condition called reflux-esophagitis. The throwing of acidic stomach contents into the esophagus can also occur with ulcers or gastritis with increased acidity.

Causes of

The most common burning sensation in the stomach after eating. This can happen even in a person with a healthy digestive tract. If this is a rare phenomenon, you just have to notice which foods cause these unpleasant sensations and abandon them. Most often, burning in the stomach after eating appears when drinking alcoholic or carbonated drinks, coffee, very acidic, hot or fatty foods, fast food. Long-term fasting or overeating can also lead to irritation of the mucosa and the appearance of discomfort.

Frequent or persistent burning, not even associated with eating, indicates the presence of gastrointestinal pathologies. Prolonged violation of the diet or food in the dry place leads to damage to the gastric mucosa, the occurrence of gastritis or peptic ulcer. In this case, the burned mucous will react with pain to the most ordinary food. Discomfort will appear after consuming sour-milk products, citrus, whole-grain bread, vegetables with coarse fiber, salted, smoked or pickled dishes. Such food leads to the release of a large amount of hydrochloric acid, which irritates the mucous.

But sometimes the causes of burning can be not related to any gastrointestinal diseases, or to an improper diet. This condition can be caused by such factors:

• psychological overload, stress, depression;
• obesity, the presence of fatty deposits in the abdomen;
• by smoking;
• by frequent intake of antibiotics, hormones or NSAIDs;
• adverse environmental conditions, low water quality;
• with oncological diseases;
• by intestinal infections.

Most often, such discomfort occurs with improper nutrition

Sometimes this feeling occurs in women during pregnancy. Hormonal changes, especially an increase in the synthesis of progesterone, can trigger the appearance of burning sensation. A squeezing of the gastrointestinal tract in the late stages of pregnancy leads to a violation of digestion.

The sensation of burning in the stomach may manifest itself differently depending on the cause of this condition. If this phenomenon is temporary, due to inaccuracies in the diet, you can get rid of unpleasant sensations yourself. But when the burning in the stomach and esophagus tortures a person constantly, accompanied by other symptoms, it is necessary to consult a doctor. After all, this necessarily indicates the presence of pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract.

Most often this condition occurs with acute or chronic gastritis or peptic ulcer disease. But severe burning can also occur with pancreatitis, duodenitis, reflux, esophagitis. Sometimes there is also a casting of bile in the stomach, while it irritates the mucosa and corrodes it.

Consequences of

Even if heartburn and stomach pain occur occasionally, it is necessary to be examined. After all, the slightest damage to the mucous membrane can lead to serious consequences. Most often an inflammatory process develops. Without treatment, it progresses, the inflammation becomes chronic - gastritis develops. The affected mucous membrane can no longer perform normally its functions, therefore digestion slows down, there is an eructation, nausea, flatulence.

In neglected cases, the acid content of the stomach corrodes the damaged mucosa and forms an ulcer. Moreover, there can be several such erosive formations. In this case, violations of the stomach negatively affect the functioning of all the organs of the digestive tract. Inflammation of the pancreas, duodenal ulcer develops, the liver and gallbladder suffers, the work of the intestine is disrupted. Therefore, if the stomach is occasionally bitten, it is necessary to consult a doctor.

Diagnosis

When a patient goes to a medical institution with complaints about what he has in his stomach, he is not prescribed treatment immediately. Only means that temporarily relieve pain can be recommended. For the appointment of more serious therapy, the whole digestive tract is first examined. This helps to identify all the violations in its functioning and to determine why such a symptom has appeared.

To determine the cause of this condition and choose the right treatment, a complete examination of the digestive tract

condition is necessary. For this, an x-ray of the stomach, an endoscopic examination, a study of the composition of gastric juice can be prescribed. There are also blood tests that help determine the presence of enzymes, a lack of mineral substances, bacterial infections, helminths. Especially often the blood is checked for antibodies to the Helicobacter pilori bacterium, which in many cases is the cause of gastritis and ulcers.

Treatment of

If a single manifestation of discomfort in the stomach can be removed with a periodic intake of medications, then in the presence of diseases of the digestive tract organs, complex treatment is necessarily prescribed. Only a combination of several therapeutic methods will help to avoid the progression of pathology and eliminate discomfort.

Complex treatment necessarily includes the intake of medications prescribed by a doctor and a special diet. In addition, after consultation with a specialist, you can alleviate the condition of the patient with the help of folk methods. For normal operation of the gastrointestinal tract it is important to abandon bad habits, to avoid stresses and infectious diseases.

But it's not always possible to visit a doctor right away so that he can prescribe a treatment. Therefore, every person needs to know what to do in order to get rid of burning. Most often it is recommended to dissolve a teaspoon of soda in a glass of warm water and drink. Mineral water, from which it is preliminary necessary to release gases, activated coal, also helps well. These methods will help neutralize hydrochloric acid, but if the causes of the pathology are not eliminated, the burning sensation will appear again after a while.

If burning occurs often, you should stop using many foods that can cause such discomfort

Power

The most important thing to do when burning frequently occurs is to reconsider your diet. It is necessary to abandon the use of carbonated drinks, coffee, alcohol, fried and fatty foods, spicy, smoked and pickled products. Burning can cause the use of yeast dough, baked pastry, chips, canned food, chocolate. It is unacceptable to overeat, but prolonged fasting is also harmful to the stomach.

You need to eat kasha, vegetable soups, stewed vegetables, salads. You can eat lean meat or fish, dairy products. It helps to relieve burning almonds. You need to beat them with boiling water and take off the skin, and then eat, chewing well. When it burns in the stomach, it is also recommended to drink mineral water without gas, a decoction of grains of oats or flaxseeds. It is useful to eat buckwheat porridge more often. You can grind this cereal in a coffee grinder and take flour three times a day for half a teaspoon.

Medical therapy

For the removal of burning sensation in the stomach, there are several groups of drugs. Most often, several funds are allocated in the complex. After all, they remove individual symptoms of pathology: nausea, flatulence, slowed digestion, pain and burning sensation in the stomach. They need to be taken by courses, they facilitate the patient's condition well. But without adherence to a special diet, even the strongest drugs will be ineffective. Therefore, if the stomach often hurts and heartburn occurs several times a week, it is advisable to reconsider your eating habits.

Now on sale a lot of funds for heartburn and burning, but they have only a temporary effect.

. No special remedies that remove such a symptom. We use drugs that protect the gastric mucosa, reduce the acidity of the gastric juice, improve digestion, promote a lesser release of hydrochloric acid, and also quickly relieve the stomach of food.

• The most common means of pain and burning in the stomach are antacids. They envelop the mucous, protecting it from an aggressive environment, reduce acidity, reduce pain. This is Almagel, Gaviscon, Fosfalugel, Rennie, Maalox.
• Also effective are gastroprotectors, which protect the walls of the stomach, increase the resistance of mucous to acids, accelerate regenerative processes. These are De Nol, Escape, Novobismol, Bismuth Nitrate, Ulgastran, Omeprazole.
• To prevent fermentation and decay of food in the stomach and faster digestion, it is recommended to take enzyme preparations. The most common Mezim, Festal, Creon.
• There are also medicines that improve the motility of the gastrointestinal tract, eliminating discomfort and accompanying burning symptoms - nausea, flatulence, belching, bloating. These are Motilium, Ganaton, Domperidon, Cerukal.

Folk remedies

It is often recommended to use folk methods in addition to medicines. Usually it is herbs used in the form of broths or infusions. Many effective fees can be purchased at the pharmacy, while others need to be prepared independently.

Well help to relieve burning sensations in the esophagus and stomach such charges:

• flax seeds, yarrow, lemon balm, peony, roots of aira and licorice;
• leaves mint, nettle, buckthorn bark, licorice roots, ayr and valerian;
• plantain, chamomile and St. John's wort;
• mixture of ground seeds, roots and leaves of Angelica.

It helps to get rid of heartburn and burning in the esophagus, the reception of potato juice. It should be drunk in a third of a glass half an hour before meals 3 times a day. It is also recommended to drink a decoction of chamomile or dog rose instead of tea.

Even infrequent burning in the stomach should be a reason to call a doctor. After all, such sensations appear only when the protective functions of the mucous membrane are violated, which can lead to serious pathologies. Timely treatment will help prevent complications and normalize digestion.