Are Severe Heartburn Symptoms Life Threatening?

While some people experience heartburn at some point in their life, many of those that do experience heartburn also experience severe heartburn symptoms that can be very painful and debilitating. 

Almost 10 percent of the population experience some form of heartburn at one point in their lives. 

Approximately twenty-five percent of pregnant women experience heartburn during their pregnancies.  As common as heartburn can be, severe heartburn can lead to serious injury if not treated quickly and correctly. 

While severe heartburn symptoms can be very painful they are rarely life threatening and can be treated with medication if the symptoms persist.

What Can Happen?

Severe heartburn symptoms are not anything that will affect the heart, as many people may fear.  In fact heartburn is really a problem with the throat and it just happens that the pain that is felt is in the chest area, which is why many people fear they are having a heart attack when they experience severe heartburn symptoms. 

Severe heartburn symptoms occur when the cardiac sphincter muscle of the stomach does not close properly or quickly enough to prevent the acid from the stomach to get into the throat and climb up. 

The lower esophagus can be damaged when people experience severe heartburn symptoms and they do not get it treated.  If your severe heartburn symptoms are persistent and regular medication does not help then you could have a condition called GERD or gastro esophageal reflux disease. 

If GERD is left untreated it can lead to more severe problems such as inflammation of the esophagus and ulcers.

 
Affects Of Not Treating The Symptoms

A medical professional will have to evaluate your condition if your severe heartburn symptoms are left untreated and it leads to GERD or other serious conditions. 

Some patients experience a narrowing of their esophagus because of the scarring that occurs in the throat from the acid that comes up from the stomach.  The narrowing of the esophagus can make it hard to swallow food and pills. 

Severe heartburn symptoms can lead to a chronic cough and hoarseness of the voice because the throat is inflamed.  Severe heartburn symptoms can lead to pneumonia and dental problems if left untreated for a long period. 

Severe heartburn symptoms cause very intense pain that lasts a long time and can be very debilitating.  These heartburn signs and symptoms can be very misleading and many people ignore them because they do not last for a very long time.  

A professional should be consulted immediately if severe heartburn symptoms persist and regular over the counter medication does not help.