How To Treat Your Heartburn Symptoms

There are many types of heartburn treatments to take depending on your heartburn symptoms. See what heartburn relief is right for you and your type of heartburn.

How Heartburn Occurs

Why Heartburn Happens

Heartburn involves a ring of muscles called the lower esophageal sphincter or LES. It acts like a one-way valve allowing food into the stomach. When the LES stops functioning properly and loosens, strong stomach acid refluxes or backs up into the esophagus, irritating its sensitive lining, which can be painful and uncomfortable. This can cause you to feel a burning sensation in your chest or throat.

What Heartburn Feels Like

One of the classic symptoms of heartburn is the unpleasant sensation of burning inside your body. Generally, this sensation is centered around your chest and throat where your stomach acid is most active and can do the most damage. You might also have this weird, acidic taste in your mouth that’s unpleasant and surely doesn’t mix well with the chocolate cake you’re trying to eat for your cousin’s birthday.

Types of Heartburn

There are a few types of heartburn, depending on the frequency and intensity of the episodes.

Occasional Heartburn


Episodic or occasional heartburn refers to infrequent flare-ups that can often be predictable. For example, after going to an all-you-can-eat-buffet and indulging a little too much, you might expect to experience some heartburn on the ride home. This type of heartburn is usually treated with antacids. Treating your heartburn with antacids can work by neutralizing the acid in your stomach, however antacids only provide short-term relief of 1-3 hours.


Frequent Heartburn


At the other end of the spectrum is severe or persistent heartburn. This describes painful, long-lasting episodes of heartburn and may occur most days if not all the time. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been eating healthy and avoided caffeine and alcohol. Persistent heartburn should be assessed and treated by a doctor.

For many people, it’s frequent heartburn that’s the problem. This means you’re experiencing heartburn symptoms at least two or more days a week. You may have made some adjustments to your routine and monitored your food intake, which helped, but if your heartburn is still bothering you, those adjustments might not have been enough. If you’re having symptoms that often, antacids will neutralize your stomach acid but then the heartburn can return a few hours later. To treat frequent heartburn, you could consider trying a medicine that can reduce the acid in your stomach.

Your Heartburn Relief Options

There are various heartburn medications available to treat frequent heartburn. But there are key distinctions between two main groups: acid controllers/H2 blockers and proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs).

Acid Controllers or H2 Blockers


Acid controllers/H2 blockers partially reduce the amount of acid produced by the millions of tiny pumps in your stomach. They can take up to 30 minutes to begin working but they may only be effective for up to 12 hours. If you’re looking for 24-hour relief, you’ll probably need to take more than one dose to achieve this.


Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs)


PPIs reduce stomach acid production, blocking the heartburn.* PPIs like Prilosec OTC are the most commonly recommended product for frequent heartburn. Though they may take 1-4 days to reach full effect, PPIs will block the acid that causes frequent heartburn for a full 24 hours. The best part is you only have to take one pill in the morning.*

Treat Your Frequent Heartburn with Prilosec OTC

Prilosec OTC is a PPI that can block heartburn all day and all night.*

With just one pill in the morning, the unique-delayed release formula reduces acid production.* Prilosec OTC is to be taken for 14 days, up to 3 times a year, unless directed by your doctor. Frequent heartburn can get in the way of daily activities and take away from fun memories you’re making with friends and family. Why choose the hassle of treating your heartburn with medicines that you’ll need to take multiple times a day? Prilosec OTC allows you to take one pill in the morning and live with less worry about when your heartburn flare ups will return.* Talk to your doctor about Prilosec OTC – it might be the right over-the-counter medicine for you.

Other Ways to Treat Your Heartburn

Changing your lifestyle and diet can help managing heartburn symptoms.

Over-the-counter medicines can provide the relief you’re looking for but making lifestyle changes can also help improve daily life. It could be something simple like wearing a looser pair of jeans or eating dinner an hour earlier every night. Try some of these easy remedies to help with your heartburn.

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Between 20-30 percent of adult Americans experience heartburn symptoms weekly making them frequent heartburn sufferers. See how Prilosec OTC helped people.

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Why Prilosec OTC Works for Jennifer

See why Jennifer recommends Prilosec OTC to other frequent heartburn sufferers.

With one Prilosec OTC pill in the morning, block your heartburn all day and all night.

  • Es posible mientras se toma Prilosec OTC. Los inhibidores de la bomba de protones como Prilosec OTC actúan de un modo distinto cuando se usan para tratar la acidez estomacal durante 14 días. Comparado con la forma en que los antiácidos y los bloqueadores H2 actúan en la acidez estomacal. Toma todos los medicamentos para la acidez estomacal según las indicaciones. No debes tomar durante más de 14 días ni con una frecuencia mayor a cada 4 meses, a menos que lo indique un médico. No es para alivio inmediato.

†^IQVIA Encuesta ProVoice™ de IQVIA, enero de 2005 - marzo de 2021

** Cálculo de PG basado en parte en los grupos familiares que compran el producto informados por Nielsen Company a través de su servicio Homescan Panel en Estados Unidos para Prilosec OTC durante el período comprendido entre el 31 de agosto de 2003 y el 25 de junio de 2016

AVISO: Es posible que vendamos sus datos personales sensibles.