Recent Articles
- Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Symptoms and Treatment
- Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Key Points
- Long-Term Complications of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease
- What Causes Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease?
- What to do When GERD Symptoms Persist
- Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease in Children
- What is Gastroesophageal Reflux Diseasee (GERD)?
Support Groups
Share your health experiences and concerns with others. Find out More...Drugs & Treatments
Search and rate treatments to help others like you. Find out More...Home Treatment
Home treatment measures may help you control the symptoms of mild gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). These include making lifestyle changes and taking antacids, or nonprescription medicines that reduce or block acid. These include H2 blockers (for example, Pepcid) or a proton pump inhibitor (for example, Prilosec OTC).
Lifestyle changes that may help include:- Quitting tobacco use. If you smoke or chew tobacco, stop. The nicotine from tobacco relaxes the valve between the esophagus and stomach (lower esophageal sphincter). This can allow stomach acid and juices to back up (reflux) into the esophagus, which causes the uncomfortable feeling of burning, warmth, heat, or pain just behind the breastbone commonly referred to as heartburn.
- Changing your eating habits. For example, avoid coffee, chocolate, and alcohol and eat smaller, more frequent meals. This may make heartburn less likely to occur. Take your spouse or partner along with you when you see your doctor to discuss diet habits. It will be easier to make changes in your diet if your family understands what you need to do and why.
- Losing weight if you are overweight. Being overweight puts additional pressure on your stomach and increases the likelihood of heartburn occurring. Even losing a few pounds can help.
- Avoiding or reducing pressure on your stomach. This will make heartburn less likely to occur.
- Staying upright after meals. This includes raising the head of your bed to by putting blocks underneath your bed frame or placing a foam wedge under the head of your mattress. This will help prevent stomach acid from flowing into your esophagus when you are sleeping. Using extra pillows does not work.
Along with lifestyle changes, nonprescription medications may be needed to control occasional heartburn. Medications used for home treatment of GERD include antacids, or nonprescription medicines that reduce or block acid. These include H2 blockers (for example, Pepcid) or a proton pump inhibitor (for example, Prilosec OTC). For more information about prescription forms of these drugs, see the Medications section of this topic.
If you have more than mild GERD symptoms or complications of GERD, home treatment alone is unlikely to control your symptoms.