Are You Wondering "What Does Heartburn Feel Like?"
Heartburn (medical term - pyrosis) is a condition that no one wants to feel. It hurts, and isn't always easy to get rid of. It can also be mistaken for other things, like a heart attack, so it is important to really know exactly what heartburn does feel like.
Heartburn is a painful, burning feeling in the lower chest, often accompanied by a bitter or sour taste in the throat and mouth. It is usually just below the breastbone, but can also rise up to the neck, throat, or jaw. Sometimes it burns in the throat, cause difficulty in swallowing, or give one a persistent cough.
When and for How Long Does Heartburn Feel Like What It Does?
If often occurs after eating too big of a meal, or while lying down, and can last from a few minutes to a few hours. For those who need to know "what does heartburn feel like", this is a quick explanation of the condition, as well as what causes it.
Heartburn actually has nothing to do with the heart, despite the name. It is called "heart burn" because the burning feeling is generally felt in the breastbone, right by where the heart is. The tricky thing is, sometimes heart problems can feel similar to heartburn. Another issue is, the hydrochloric acid from the stomach that comes up to the esophagus, causing heartburn, does so because of an underlying problem with the cardiac sphincter, which is a valve that unfortunately includes the word "cardiac" - an adjective that refers to the heart, adding to the confusion.
Why Does Heartburn Feel Like What It Does?
The acidic contents of the stomach getting up to the lower esophagus are what cause the physical sensation of heartburn. Generally, the lower esophygeal sphincter (or LES) contracts to keep the contents of the stomach separate from the esophagus. When, on occasion, this sphincter relaxes, like while swallowing, the gastric acid with stomach contents can come back upwards. This is called "reflux" and can become Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) if it happens much.
Normally, peristalsis (muscular contractions in the esophagus that normally help the food move down and past the LES) usually can clear out the stomach contents without them returning to the esophagus. But if heartburn happens often, it can lead to GERD, gastritis (inflamed stomach lining), hiatal hernia, peptic ulcer, or esophagitis (an inflamed lining of the esophagus). Each of these situations comes with their own host of complications. Once one knows what heartburn does feel like, one can deal with the symptoms of heartburn before it complicates into another condition.
