There are numerous causes for heartburn and sometimes it may take some time to figure out what they are. They can be different for every person who suffers, yet the symptoms are common among most sufferers. The frequency of the episodes of heartburn may also offer clues on the causes for heartburn, but in some cases individual record-keeping may be needed to learn how to avoid the incidences of indigestion.

Regardless of what prompts an individual feeling of burning pain in the chest, the basic causes for heartburn is when acid in the stomach refluxes into the esophagus. The lining in the stomach is designed to tolerate being exposed to the stomach acid, which has the same make up as battery acid, the esophagus has no such protection. When the acid makes its way into the esophagus, the sensitive lining can become irritated, causing the inferno felt by the individual.

It is the individual triggers that make determining the causes for heartburn difficult in some people. Those rarely suffer from indigestion can usually narrow the hunt for the cause down fairly quickly. Others, who may suffer more frequently, may have to devise a food diary to determine their causes for heartburn.

Tracking Consumption May Lead To Offender

By tracking everything a person eats and when can help determine the causes for heartburn for that person. It will be necessary to wrote down what and how much of each bit of food consumed as well as the when the onset of heartburn first appeared to come up with the triggers. Once it has been determined that certain foods cause an episode of heartburn, those foods can be avoided to prevent heartburn from occurring.

While most of the time, the culprit may be obvious. In other instances, it may be a combination of certain foods that trigger an attack and to the inexperienced may be missed as one of the causes for heartburn. Taking the food diary to the doctor may help shed some light on to the exact causes for heartburn for each individual.

Gastrointestinal Reflux Disease, GERD, may be diagnosed if the heartburn exists more often than twice a week for a period of up to six weeks. However, in most cases frequent heartburn can be traced to a weakened lower esophageal sphincter (LES) muscle, which will allow food to reflux into the esophagus. GERD and problems with the LES are the most common causes for heartburn experienced by a majority of heartburn sufferers.

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