Is Your Lifestyle Making Your GERD Symptoms Worse?

If you experience GERD, it’s not uncommon to experience some hearing loss. That’s because acid reflux can cause damage to the inner ear and nerves. In fact, one study found that as many as 50% of patients with serve reflux disease had some degree of hearing loss. This includes tinnitus and reduced hearing acuity.

If you have GERD, you may wonder what causes it, how it can be treated and if parts of your lifestyle are contributing to it.

What is GERD? 

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or acid reflux occurs when stomach contents come back into the esophagus. Many people have GERD at some point, but only some of them have symptoms that are troublesome enough to need treatment.

GERD occurs when the valve between your stomach and esophagus malfunctions, allowing acidic stomach contents to move up into your esophagus. The acid irritates the lining of your esophagus and can cause heartburn and other symptoms.

Over time, chronic irritation of your esophagus may lead to inflammation, making it difficult to swallow food or fluids. If this happens, you may experience difficulty eating solid foods or drinking liquids other than water, known as dysphagia.

How GERD Can Affect Your Hearing? 

Gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, is a very common condition that can cause many different symptoms. GERD occurs when stomach acid flows back up into the esophagus and causes irritation.

Some people with GERD experience no symptoms; others may have symptoms such as heartburn and regurgitation. However, there are other less common symptoms of GERD such as ear pain, ear ringing, hearing loss and dizziness.

While these symptoms may seem unrelated to your ears or stomach, they are closely connected. The connection lies in the Eustachian tube that connects your middle ear to your throat (where food is normally digested). When this tube becomes inflamed due to GERD, it can cause fluid buildup, which causes pressure on your eardrum and affects hearing.

Although there are some things that you can do to help prevent these symptoms from occurring, there’s not much you can do if they do occur except for getting treatment for GERD itself so that the inflammation goes away and allows normal digestion to take place again without causing problems for other parts of your body such as your ears!

What Lifestyles Cause GERD? 

GERD is a common condition that affects about 20% of Americans. Symptoms include heartburn, regurgitation and acid reflux. The most common cause of GERD is lifestyle-related behavior, but certain medical conditions can also cause it.

In order to prevent GERD symptoms, you should avoid smoking and excessive alcohol consumption. Smoking triggers the production of stomach acid and worsens GERD symptoms. Alcohol consumption can also lead to increased acid production in the stomach and intensify GERD symptoms.

GERD can also be caused by eating foods high in fat content or spicy foods that irritate the esophagus lining. Avoiding these foods will help improve your GERD symptoms.

Here are some of the most common things that contribute to GERD:

• Smoking: Cigarettes contain nicotine and tar, which can irritate the lining of your stomach and reduce its ability to protect itself from acid.
• Caffeine: Drinking too much coffee or other caffeinated beverages can increase your risk of developing GERD by irritating your esophagus.
• Alcohol: Alcohol has been shown to increase acid production in the stomach, leading to more frequent acid reflux episodes. It also increases pressure on the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), which may cause acid reflux even when you’re not eating or drinking anything!
• Red meat: Red meat is high in fat, leading to increased acid production in your stomach. Consuming too much red meat can also cause inflammation in your digestive tract, which makes it harder for food particles to pass through without getting stuck in places where they shouldn’t be.

Is Your Lifestyle Making Your GERD Symptoms Worse? 

The problem is that many people don’t realize they have GERD until they start experiencing other symptoms outside of heartburn, such as ear infections and hearing loss. However, there are some lifestyle habits that can make GERD worse and cause ear issues – and it’s important to know what those are so you can make changes if necessary.

For example, if you’re lying down right now reading this article on your phone (as opposed to sitting up), that might be making your GERD worse. Laying down causes gravity to pull stomach acids backwards into your esophagus, which can cause heartburn. If you notice that you feel queasy after eating while laying down, try sitting up instead! Another thing to watch out for is eating too fast or gulping liquids before swallowing food. This can cause stomach contents to flow backwards into your esophagus instead of staying where they belong in your stomach – which isn’t good for anyone’s digestion!

Lifestyle changes are a good first step to treating GERD.

If you experience GERD, your doctor may recommend that you make some lifestyle changes as a first step to treating GERD. Lifestyle changes can help reduce the symptoms of GERD and prevent it from worsening.

While there are some lifestyle changes that might be difficult to change, these small things can help reduce your GERD symptoms. You can also learn more about this condition and treatment options is by reaching out to an ENT doctor by calling the ENT Specialists at (402) 983-9948.