The burning sensation in the stomach is familiar to almost every adult and is already habitually not perceived as a serious disruption of the digestive tract. Getting rid of an unpleasant symptom comes from 1-2 lingual tablets or a bag with a gel enveloping the mucous membrane of the esophagus, and the cause of the possible disease remains unclear until the onset of critical complications.
Burning and accompanying symptoms
Often, burning in the stomach occurs as a single symptom, but with constant ignoring of the symptom, a seemingly insignificant deviation in the work of the gastrointestinal tract “overgrows” with details, among which there may be observed:
- nausea and vomiting;
- bitter or sour burping;
- persistent sour taste on the tongue;
- voice changes to hoarseness or hoarseness;
- tingling in the process of swallowing food;
- dry cough without dynamics of transition to wet cough.
In addition, pain can intensify, starting with a slight burning sensation in the stomach and growing to cutting pains between the shoulder blades or on the left side of the chest. A characteristic sign of obvious malfunctions in the intestines and digestive tract as a whole will be halitosis, not interrupted by any local refreshing means.
Gastritis as a cause of burning
Gastritis is a generalizing term that combines several pathologies of various origins that develop and proceed in approximately the same scenario and in the same direction - affecting the gastric mucosa. In total, gastritis is divided into two main forms and several subspecies that characterize the symptoms of acute course.
The simplest gastritis occurs as a result of eating food that irritates the walls of the stomach and provokes thinning of the tissues of the mucosa. The natural acidic environment of the stomach, while continuing to affect the damaged mucosa with the same intensity, gradually corrodes it, leading to the development of the disease. The primary and main sign indicating this pathology will be a burning sensation in the stomach.
Other causes of gastritis can be:
- colonization of the intestinal bacterium Helicobacter pylori;
- chronic neurosis;
- some drugs;
- aggressive factors of production.
It has been proven that in the largest risk group for gastritis are people who abuse alcohol and smoke more than 7 cigarettes during the day.
Pregnancy is the cause of heartburn
Burning in the stomach during pregnancy refers to the symptoms of acid dyspepsia, that is, heartburn, provoked by compression of the digestive tract by a large fetus. This happens after the 20th week of pregnancy, when the pressing force of the muscular sphincter of the esophagus is weakened and the gastric juice is able to seep into the esophagus.
Another cause of burning in the stomach over a long period may be hormonal levels that fluctuate at high levels. As a result of the increased release of secretions, the digestive process slows down many times and this manifests itself in discomfort almost immediately after eating, especially spicy, fried or oily.
Drug response
Medicines taken in precisely prescribed dosages and at that time (regarding meals), which is indicated in the annotation, rarely cause side effects in the form of burning and pain in the stomach. The exception is preparations containing salicylic acid or the active formula of iron or potassium as the main active element. Such drugs cause irritation - pain, pain, burning, if taken too often or drunk on an empty stomach.
Try to take only those drugs that are controversial, which have a protective and slowly soluble coating. They slip faster into the stomach, without irritating the delicate walls of the esophagus as they move, and are activated only when most of the negative aggressive reaction is absorbed by the acidic environment of the stomach.
Incorrect power
Illiterate can be called nutrition, if its nature does not apply to the generally accepted rules of the culture of eating. In isolated cases of deviation from these rules, strong problems with the stomach should not occur, since the digestive system has a certain margin of safety and the ability to quickly recover. However, the accumulation of periodically stratified factors of gross violation of food culture will sooner or later lead to one of the severe forms of gastritis, as mentioned above.
The main serious "crimes" against the stomach are:
- snacks "on the run" dryly;
- irregularity of food (from case to case);
- lack of hot meals in the daily diet;
- synthetic, low-quality food (fast food);
- stale foods;
- abuse of spices, hot spices and preservatives.
A serious and increasingly common cause of burning in the stomach and esophagus is systematic overeating. Alarmed by the stretched walls of the muscle sac - the stomach - the pain receptors, they begin, first as they “eat up”, and then “out of habit” stimulate the brain with irritating signals. In response, the brain sends pain signals that are not always recognized as epistragial, and the problem continues to accumulate.
Stress
A severe burning sensation in the stomach, accompanied by an upset bowel and even sharp pains, can occur due to neurosis or frequent stressful situations. Due to a nervous shock, the entire human body, including the stomach, undergoes severe oxygen starvation - the blood flow begins to move more slowly and the supply of the digestive tract with nutrients decreases several times.
It is believed that more than half of the population of European countries are prone to symptoms of so-called nervous gastritis. They even give statistics on the disease of stomach cancer, which in almost 20% of all cases originates from the defeat of the body at the mental level, already after it develops into the pure physiology of gastritis, ulcers, pancreatitis or oncology.
It is possible to understand that burning in the stomach occurred precisely from nerves, by the order of exclusion of other negative factors: alcohol and smoking addiction, stable “sitting on drugs”, improper nutrition. If none of these examples suits your lifestyle, but there are frequent stresses, then the reason for the diagnosis has been found.
Diagnostics
A gastroenterologist is involved in the diagnosis of diseases associated with pain and burning in the stomach. From the entire set of diagnostic studies, the doctor will choose several (with the obligatory donation of blood for analysis) that are most responsive to the symptoms collected in the anamnesis, as well as focusing on the results of a physical examination performed by oneself.
All tests and visual examinations in the absence of an “acute abdomen” are performed on an outpatient basis:
- Gastroscopy is an endoscopic examination that provides a real-time image on the monitor and allows you to assess the condition of all the digestive system organs where the camera will access;
- radiography of a hollow organ (stomach), which helps to identify any deviations in the form of pathological proliferation or damage to the tissues of the stomach;
- a sample of exhaled air, to determine in it Helicobacter pylori;
- a sample of tissue of the gastric mucosa (biopsy), which analyzes the presence of tumor growth.
Taking a sample of gastric juice, as well as a clinical blood test, with suspected gastritis are mandatory.
Traditional methods of treating burning in the stomach
The most "popular" method - drinking soda 1% solution - is recommended to be used only as a last resort and in the absence of other means at hand. A little slower, but safer for the gastric mucosa, is milk with a high degree of fat or mineral water without gas (4-5 large sips).
A universal remedy in the treatment of all types of gastritis is raw juice of young potatoes. You need to drink it regularly - 1/3 cup in the morning on an empty stomach and before a night's sleep; just for 3 weeks. Unpleasant to taste, a liquid rich in starches normalizes the acidity of the body, envelops the mucous membrane and at the same time serves as a unique source of iron - in potatoes it is even more than in apples. The tool is suitable for adults and children from five years.
Temporary relief is obtained by chewing and swallowing a piece of calamus root or horse sorrel. You can even prepare complex herbal infusions from equally taken chamomile flowers, leaves of plantain and St. John's wort perforated. However, such a tool will act only during the period while it is being taken.
It is impossible to cure gastritis or stop the development of complications only by using alternative therapy. In this way, the symptoms are eliminated - burning, pain, or indigestion - but full treatment is carried out only with medications.
Drug therapy
After receiving the diagnostic results, the patient is prescribed a treatment regimen with complaints of burning sensation in the stomach. Necessarily among the drugs will be:
- antacids, soothing irritated esophagus ("Rennie", "Almagel");
- gastroprotectors protecting the mucous membranes of the digestive system ("Tribimol", "De Nol");
- alginates that prevent the effects of stomach acid on the walls of the stomach (Tagamet, Zantak);
- prokinetics - metabolic accelerators due to increased intestinal motility ("Fractal", "Cerucal").
It is worth saying that even the most effective treatment prescribed will lead to half the result without reviewing and correctly assessing the factors that led to the disease - poor nutrition, stress, excess weight, bad habits. Responsibility for recovery, transferred entirely to doctors and funds taken, in 100% of cases leads to relapses and worsening of the general condition.