Heartburn or GERD can Kill

Heartburn is a common annoyance. The busy lifestyle, quick meals, fatty or spicy foods all contribute to the occasional need of a chewable pain reliever. The acceptance of heartburn as an inconvenient, but natural, part of the daily grind can blind you to the warning that a severe heartburn symptom can bring.

Heartburn as a Disorder

Heartburn can be a symptom as well as a disorder. Simple heartburn or GERD can be controlled and dealt with. However, heartburn can signal the presence of a much more serious problem. If it’s heartburn, you will have a burning sensation in the chest usually after eating. There may be a spread of the burning to the throat, sometimes accompanied by a bad taste, difficulty in swallowing, belching, coughing, hoarseness and/or wheezing.

It can become worse by lying down or bending over or by eating. Relief can come from an antacid. While the more severe heartburn symptoms may be mistaken for a heart attack, simple heartburn is usually not made worse by exercise. If there is any concern that the pain may signal a heart attack, get help quickly.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Ringing In The Ears

By Aidan Ashcroft

Have you ever experienced a strange and unusual sensation of ringing or buzzing in your ears? If so, then you've probably searched for the source without success. Or, you may have been at a rock concert, or at an airport, or another location with loud noises and experienced these sensations there. If you have had this ringing in the ears more than once, without really knowing why, then you probably have what we call tinnitus. This article will outline the causes of this ringing in the ears and how it works.

The Inner Ear

In order to understand why you can hear this ringing sound, you will first need to understand some basic facts about the ear. The ears are complex organs that consist of the inner ear and the outer ear. The ears detect sounds through delicate sensors that are located inside the ears and when a sound wave is detected, the sound wave travels from the outer ear into the inner ear. The cochlea is located inside the inner ear which is a spiral shaped organ filled with liquid and covered with tiny hair. Sound is produced when the sound wave travels inside the cochlea which causes the hair to stand up due to the vibration and finally signals are sent to our brain.

Understanding what causes ringing sounds in the ear

The inner ear is very delicate and the hair strands located on the cochlea are very sensitive. Damage to these hair strands and the inner ear primarily causes these loud ringing sounds. These days loud music is the biggest culprit that can damage the years and earlier on loud construction would cause damage to the inner ear. Hearing loud music or other loud noises for a short time span can cause temporary ringing sounds in the ear but when a person is constantly exposed to a loud sound that is when the situation becomes serious. Constant exposure to loud sounds can cause permanent damage such as hear loss.

Other common reasons that cause a loud ringing sound in the ear include medical conditions such as sinus infections or ear infections. When a person has fever, cold or cough he can also experience ringing sounds in the ear because each of our senses are connected and when one sense is not well, then the others are affected. Prolonged stress can cause the body to act different and prolonged stress can also cause these ringing sounds.

Ringing in the ears, if left untreated, will become serious. If you have experienced these symptoms for a prolonged period of time, and they continue to occur, then you have probably had your cochlea damaged to some degree. If this is the case, talk to a doctor right away. Regardless of if you currently have this condition or not, in case you do at some point in the future this information is good to know so you can be prepared.

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