Acid Reflux and Heartburn: What Helps, and When Chest Burning Needs a Visit
Heartburn is common and usually manageable at home. Here's what helps, how it differs from heart pain, and the signs that mean you shouldn't wait.
Acid reflux happens when stomach acid flows back up into the esophagus, causing a burning feeling in the chest or throat (heartburn), a sour taste, or a feeling of food coming back up. It's often set off by large or late meals, spicy or fatty foods, alcohol or lying down after eating, and it usually responds to diet changes and over-the-counter medicine. Chest burning with shortness of breath, sweating or pain spreading to the arm or jaw is different: call 911.
Common symptoms
- Burning in the chest, often after eating or at night
- A sour or bitter taste in the mouth
- Food or liquid coming back up
- Trouble swallowing or a lump-in-the-throat feeling
- A cough, hoarse voice or sore throat, especially in the morning
When reflux happens twice a week or more, it's called gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
Common triggers
- Large meals, or eating within two or three hours of bed
- Fatty, fried or spicy food, chocolate, mint, citrus and tomato
- Coffee, alcohol and carbonated drinks
- Smoking
- Extra weight and pregnancy
- Some medicines, including anti-inflammatory pain relievers
What helps
- Eat smaller meals and stop eating two to three hours before bed
- Raise the head of your bed by six to eight inches, or use a wedge pillow
- Notice and cut back on your own triggers
- Try an over-the-counter antacid for quick relief, or an acid reducer for frequent symptoms, following the label
- Stop smoking and limit alcohol
Heartburn or heart pain?
They can feel alike. Heartburn is more likely when the burning follows a meal, gets worse lying down or bending over, and eases with an antacid. Heart pain is more likely when there's pressure or squeezing, shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, or pain spreading to the arm, back, neck or jaw, or when it comes on with exertion. If you're not sure, treat it as your heart. Our post on heart attack symptoms covers the signs.
When to get seen
Come in if heartburn happens more than twice a week, doesn't improve with over-the-counter medicine, or keeps you up at night. A clinician can talk through prescription options and, when chest symptoms are unclear but not an emergency, may do an EKG. At an AfterOurs clinic, a standard self-pay visit is $175, and a self-pay in-clinic visit never costs more than $330. We contract with all major commercial and government plans, including Colorado Medicaid and Medicare. See our acid reflux page and the cost and insurance page.
Call 911 if you have chest pain or pressure with shortness of breath, sweating, nausea or pain spreading to the arm, back, neck or jaw. Go to the ER if you're vomiting blood or something that looks like coffee grounds, have black or tarry stools, can't swallow, or have food stuck in your throat.
Where to find us
Four clinics across metro Denver, all ages welcome, se habla español:
- Hampden (Southeast Denver): 8 AM–11 PM daily
- Littleton: 8 AM–11 PM daily
- Thornton: 8 AM–11 PM daily
- Highlands: Mon–Fri 5–11 PM, Sat–Sun 8 AM–11 PM
Walk in, or book online.
Medically reviewed by Peter Martinuzzi, MD
This article is general health information, not medical advice for your situation. If you are worried, come in or book a telehealth visit — and if it is an emergency, call 911.