This Article is Written and/or Reviewed by RefluxMD Medical Authors Team and Reviewers

It’s not unusual for us to receive questions from our members, and they usually are very specific. However, once in a while we get the BIG broad questions, and this always serves as a good teaching moment for all of us.

Your question

What is the best GERD treatment?

RefluxMD GERD guide response

WOW, that is the best question of the week and thank you for asking it! Frankly, if we had a simple answer to your question we could get our website down to three pages! But, as I’m sure you know, this is a very difficult question because there are so many factors to consider.

I am going to take two different directions to answer your question. The first has to do with the types of things you can do to manage your symptoms and address your underlying medical problem. The second is to discuss the progression of GERD and how it impacts the selection of those alternatives.

But first, the most important thing to remember before making any decision to treat GERD is that you must have the necessary tests to validate that you have GERD. Too often GERD is diagnosed by reported symptoms or the PPI test. Both of these are highly prone to error, resulting in inappropriate treatment for a condition that does not exist. We think a good test to consider is pH testing, and a good article for you to review is: What to expect from ambulatory pH testing .

GERD Treatment alternatives

If GERD has been diagnosed and validated, there are several major alternatives:

Weight Loss

The top recommendation by GERD experts is to maintain a healthy body mass index (BMI) to reduce pressure on the diaphragm. There is substantial evidence that losing weight will eliminate GERD symptoms for many adults that are overweight. We strongly recommend our very detailed cornerstone article, How excess weight is destroying your lower esophageal sphincter (and driving your GERD symptoms).

Diet

Everyone with GERD should focus on his or her diet for a number of reasons. Medical research has found a significant reduction (and sometimes elimination) of GERD symptoms by adopting a GERD-friendly diet. Identification of trigger foods is very important, as is portion control. We cover everything you need to know about a GERD-friendly diet is our article, 5 steps to an effective acid reflux diet.

Lifestyle Changes

There are several choices that can impact GERD, including smoking, excessive weight, clothing, and sleeping with your head elevated to name a few. We summarized several of these in an article titled Adjusting your Lifestyle.

Medications

There are three major categories of medications: antacids, H2 blockers, and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). RefluxMD believes that taking the least powerful drug only when necessary is the best model to follow. There are pros and cons to each, so we suggest that you read GERD Medication Overview: What you need to know . We also encourage you to learn more about the potential health risks with PPIs if taken daily over a long-term; Are long-term PPIs the right choice for treating acid reflux?

Surgery

Of all the alternatives, the only treatment that will stop reflux disease is surgery. Since the disease is a result of a damaged lower esophageal sphincter, the only way to restore the function of the LES is via surgery. We have a good overview of surgical alternatives in an article titled Overview of Surgical Alternatives .

This short video from WTHN News 8 in New Haven, Connecticut, explains the surgical alternative and highlights two different treatment options:

The impact of your GERD stage

GERD has distinct stages and knowing your stage is very important because the appropriate treatment strategy depends on the severity of your disease. This shouldn’t be surprising. Clearly, the treatment for someone with occasional heartburn will be dramatically different than that for someone with Barrett’s Esophagus. This is explained in an article titled The Progressive Stages of GERD .

Without this information, it is almost impossible to establish a rational approach to managing your disease. As Lewis Carol wrote in the book Alice in Wonderland; “When you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”

We think if you don’t know where you are, you can’t develop a path to relief and good health. Unfortunately, as reflux disease progresses, certain options are no longer available and more dramatic GERD treatment options must be considered.

If you don’t know your GERD stage, take a moment today and find your starting point. RefluxMD’s Stage Finder will provide you with an easy to understand assessment of your disease, as well as information on acid reflux and your GERD treatment options.

Thank you for your question!

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