We all know someone who may suffer from acid reflux or heartburn, but when it interferes with a great night sleep it now has the potential to start affecting us during the daytime which can lead to poor performances at work and even drowsiness behind the wheel of a car. With research into medications for acid reflux pointing to negative effects of long-term use, how do we achieve relief in a non-medicinal manner? The key may be using gravity to achieve the results we need!!
We are all familiar with the term heartburn, but what exactly is it? GERD is an acronym for Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease which is a digestive order that affects the ring of muscle between the esophagus and stomach. This allows acid from the stomach to “backup” into the esophagus resulting in what is commonly known as heartburn. As you can imagine, any acid leaking into an area where is not supposed to be can be dangerous. This can cause esophagitis which can be serious. This disorder is very common with over 3 million cases diagnosed every year in the United States. Often doctors prescribe a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) to inhibit the production of acid. Some research has shown that long-term use of these drugs can be potentially dangerous.
Since the acid in our stomach is a liquid, using gravity to prevent it from backing up into the esophagus is a potentially simple fix. How is this achieved you may ask? The easiest way to keep our stomach acid in our stomachs (where it belongs) is by elevating the top part of our body and our bed is a perfect area to attempt this. When we are standing upright the acid in our stomachs cannot bypass the sphincter muscle between the stomach and esophagus, but when we are lying down in bed it is easier for acid to escape our stomach. By placing blocks of wood or maybe bricks under the headboard legs of your bed you can elevate the top part of your bed. Also, a bed wedge or a pillow wedge can be options. There are a number of ways to elevate your bed in order to control acid reflux and they include:
Don’t let acid reflex or GERD control your life!! It may take a little trial and error but by elevating your bed you can take control of your nighttime sleep and minimize the bad effects of acid reflux. Reclaim the night and get that good night’s sleep that you deserve!!
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