Acid reflux, sore throat, and a burning sensation in your chest — if you have these symptoms, you may wonder what’s causing them and how to treat them.
In this article, we explain why stomach acid in your throat can cause a burning sensation, the connection between acid reflux and sore throat, and how to treat these symptoms.
We also review the symptoms of acid reflux and gastroesophageal disease (GERD), their causes and triggers, and the complications that may follow if acid reflux or GERD are not treated.
Acid reflux occurs when stomach acid and contents flow back up towards your throat, irritating your oesophagus (also called a food pipe or gullet).
The stomach fluid that comes back up has many substances that can irritate the lining of your oesophagus, including gastric acid, digestive enzymes, and bile salts. These all can cause a burning sensation in the middle of your chest, called heartburn.
Heartburn can travel up and down your oesophagus, causing a burning throat and an acid taste in your mouth.
If acid reflux persists for 3 times a week or more, or it disrupts your daily activities, this may be a sign of a chronic condition called GERD. In GERD, the oesophagus can become inflamed, leading to more symptoms, some of which can be severe. These symptoms include:
Other people with GERD can also experience:
Having some of these symptoms doesn’t necessarily mean you have GERD. GERD is a complex condition that should be diagnosed by a doctor.
There are many treatment options for acid reflux and GERD, including:
Several home remedies can help alleviate a burning or sore throat due to acid reflux. These include:
To discover more ways to get quick relief for acid reflux, read our articles, Remedies for acid reflux, and What medication can I take for GERD?
Everyone gets heartburn and acid reflux from time to time. But for most people, symptoms are brief and not troublesome.
However, in the case of GERD or chronic acid reflux, symptoms can be bothersome and interfere with your quality of life. Episodes can last anywhere between several minutes to hours on end. Usually, people with GERD experience acid reflux more than half the time.
Some experts divide GERD into three stages of severity based on the frequency of acid reflux episodes:
See a healthcare professional if you experience acid reflux on most days or if they haven’t gone away with simple lifestyle modifications or over-the-counter medication.
Acid reflux and heartburn can be caused by many things, including:
A very common cause of GERD is that the muscular ring inside your tummy called the lower oesophageal sphincter (LOS) isn’t as tight as it should be, letting stomach acid and other food contents escape from the stomach and up into the oesophagus. Several things can cause this muscle to loosen excessively, including:
Other risk factors for GERD include smoking, obesity, and having a family history of the condition.
The main symptoms of acid reflux are heartburn (the burning, painful feeling in the middle of your chest, which can travel up your throat) and regurgitation (stomach contents and acid flowing back up, causing a bitter, acid taste in the mouth).
However, in many cases, GERD and acid reflux can have other symptoms, as we’ve seen above, and many of these symptoms can overlap with other conditions. For example, the chest pain from GERD can be hard to distinguish from a heart condition. Other symptoms, like bloating and nausea, can overlap with those of indigestion. And finally, a chronic cough can be due to a lung condition.
To best distinguish between acid reflux/GERD and other conditions, your physician may do the following tests:
Having acid reflux constantly can seriously interfere with one’s quality of life. In the long run, it can lead to complications if it’s not treated.
Over time, your oesophagus can become inflamed if it is repeatedly exposed to acid. This can lead to inflammation, damage its lining, and even change the structure of its cells.
This can lead to scar tissue, narrowing of the oesophagus, difficulty swallowing, or, in some cases, a condition called Barrett’s oesophagus.
In Barrett’s oesophagus, the type of cells that line the food pipe transform to resemble a different kind of cell — the cells that normally line your intestines. This can raise the risk of developing cancer of the oesophagus.
Other potential complications include:
With timely treatment, you can prevent these complications. Learning the signs of GERD and receiving a diagnosis and treatment early are key.
Acid reflux can cause a burning throat or chest because when the stomach acid travels back up, it irritates the lining inside your oesophagus. In some cases, stomach acid can reflux all the way into the mouth, which can damage your teeth and gums and cause a bitter, acid taste in the mouth.
There are plenty of over-the-counter treatments and home remedies for a burning throat and a sore throat from acid reflux. Explore our range of Gaviscon alginates and antacids here and our Guardium PPIs here.
If you keep getting acid reflux or your symptoms don’t respond to over-the-counter medication and simple lifestyle changes, see your doctor. Recurring acid reflux may be a sign of GERD.
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