OTC and Prescription Heartburn Cures
If you feel a burning sensation in your chest mixed with the uncomfortable feeling of acid reflux, you have joined the club of those who are dealing with the unfortunate problem of heartburn which also is refered to as indigestion. No one wants to “deal” with heartburn, they want it to stop and with good reason. Heartburn is an incredibly uncomfortable condition to have to suffer through and any reprieve one can find would be well received. Of course, this yields the obvious question in regards to what type of heartburn cures are out there. Well, there are quite a number of them, but the type of cure that you seek will need to be based upon the severity of the heartburn as well as how much heartburn relief you want.
Over The Counter Heartburn Cures
One thing that should be noted here is that over the counter (OTC) treatments for heartburn are not so much heartburn cures as they are heartburn relief. That is, OTC products such as Zantac, etc will aid in reducing the discomfort of heartburn, but if one has serious underlying gastrointestinal problems OTC medicine will not do the proverbial trick.
That said, OTC medicine is relatively inexpensive and easy to acquire. That is, there is no need for a prescription and many drug stores and convenience stores are open 24 hrs a day. This way if a person suffers a bout of heartburn at 3AM, the person can purchase an OTC relief aid immediately as opposed to waiting for a doctor’s appointment and a prescription as well as having the prescription filled.
Prescription Medicine Heartburn Cures
If the condition that is causing the indigestion is severe, then there will be a need for prescription heartburn cures that can alleviate the serious problems and symptoms that may result from the condition. What needs to be understood here is that this is not a situation where one can select any particular prescription medication as different prescriptions will be based upon different underlying conditions. For example, Ranitidine HCL will be used when the underlying condition is ulcers; Aciphex will be used when the underlying condition is severe heartburn; Nexium will be used when the underlying condition is GERD; and so on.
As one can see, heartburn is a condition that is not incurable as there are a number of remedies that fall within the categories of over the counter or prescription medicine. As such, one can find a specific remedy for the precise problem of heartburn. It is also a good idea to try to discover the causes of the indigestion.
Indigestion has many root causes, and some of them are easier to address than others. A few common causes of indigestion are: eating too fast, overeating, drinking too much alcohol, eating greasy or fatty foods, eating spicy foods, smoking tobacco, emotional trauma, and drugs such as aspirin or antibiotics. Simply changing day-to-day habits or behaviors can stop indigestion that stems from these causes.
