Before going into the symptoms of a hiatal hernia let's just give a general overview of what we are talking about.
A hiatal hernia occurs when a small part of the stomach begins pushing up through the diaphragm.
Many times this won't lead to any form of symptoms.
But many that are suffering from this disease know that symptoms can arrive over time.
When symptoms do come about they are first led by gastroesophageal reflux disease that comes about.
This is called GERD.
This is where stomach acids and digestive enzymes work in the esophagus through a weakened sphincter.
The sphincter is supposed to act as a one way door between the esophagus and stomach.
Hiatal hernia will weaken the sphincter muscle over time.
At first these symptoms can be mild and then build over time.
Heartburn will also become prevalent to people with this disease.
This where acid will come back up the esophagus and in extreme cases back into the mouth.
This will happen most times after a meal.
Next up is an influence of gas into your system.
A hiatal hernia is one of the top reasons for excessive belching.
This can become very uncomfortable over time for you and those around you.
As time progress you may experience more symptoms including abdominal discomfort.
This abdominal pain can also venture into your chest.
This happens because the stomach becomes trapped above the diaphragm.
Also a protrusion of the stomach through the diaphragm muscle can occur.
In rare cases a fixed hiatal hernia will cut off the blood to the trapped portion of the stomach.
This can cause great pain quickly and serious illness.
When one suffers from this it is called strangulated hiatal hernia and they need immediate medical attention.
Below I compiled a list of most frequent symptoms.
Note that some symptoms are not specific just to hiatus hernia and could be related to some other disease.
So please make sure to consult with your doctor before making any decisions.
- excessive burping - excessive belching - sour taste in the mouth - chest pain (could be easily confused with heart attack since pain occurs in a similar location - don't wait and call 911 if you're not sure what it is).
- heartburn - swallowing difficulties (dysphagia) At this moment there is no easy way to reverse or remove hiatal hernia.
So the best way is just to mitigate its symptoms.
Most popular treatment options include losing weight, not eating acidic food, PPIs like prilosec and nexium, tums, wedge pillow.